Yeah, another update...
Promised myself last update until I finish this chapter of Silence, aka no more stories until I finish. Probably won't keep that promise, I break them too easily, but hells know I'll try.
Previous Chapters: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
"So, what do you think of this carving?"
"Errr, it's very beautiful," Isaac said, staring listlessly at the ice carving with a hint of boredom in his eyes. For sure, it was definitely beautiful, a translucent unicorn with every single hair in his mane detailed and intricate, but they'd been going through a gallery of them for at least an hour. At the beginning Isaac had been enthralled with them and stopped to marvel at every single one, examining them with the awe of a child who'd just been exposed to a new world (and in all respects he really was one) and trying to keep count of how many statues were in that massive cavern, but after two hundred and seventeen he gave up, his interest in the properties of ice having dropped drastically.
He slid an obligatory glance as they walked by yet another dragon (though this one had wings and was falling) before continuing to stare at the back of Mia's head as if there was some hypnotic element there that could simply not make his gaze focus on something else.
He was thinking about how the soft blue hair Mia had suited her and this place perfectly. She looked like a goddess strutting to her pedestal in the center of an ice palace, although they'd passed the center long ago, marked with two gargantuan carvings, one of them an eerie two-headed dragon, and one of them... well, words couldn't describe it quite accurately.
It had spikes trailing down its back, and wings protruding from massive disfigured shoulder blades. There were holes in those ice wings, icicles in them making it seem like the holes were eating away at the wings like maggots devour a human body. But what were most terrifying were its eyes - carved into clear translucent ice yet seeming glowing an eerie red once one stopped looking at it directly.
"Isaac, are you listening to me?"
Mia had her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side in an annoyed stance, although her face betrayed her posture with the upwards quirk tugging on her lips.
Isaac turned red and stuttered out an incomprehensible excuse, but Mia just flapped wtih one hand, saying, "This cave is boring anyway."
He tried to tell her that the ice carvings were very interesting indeed, there were just too many of them, but Mia continued, saying, "The sculptures are very beautiful and all, but remembering all the stories about them and reciting them every time someone comes through? Eugh!" At the last word her face twisted into a clown-like expression, causing Isaac to laugh.
Mia grinned, then said, "Well, since you aren't listening to me and I don't want to talk about these ice carvings some more anyway, how about we just get out of here?"
Isaac nodded enthusiastically. "Un!"
Suddenly Mia took off, hair flying behind her, yelling, "Bet you can't reach the end before I do!"
Taking up this challenge, Isaac raced down the path as well, but promptly slid and cracked his body against the ground.
Laughter reverberated all down the imperious glacial palace, even as a giant mystical figure glowed briefly and pulsed in the center.
Mia won very obviously, but the margin was a little smaller than expected. Still, she wasted no time gloating about it to Isaac, who took it in stride, used to being humbled, though not in this friendly kind of teasing way.
They were still trotting at a brisk pace on the pebbled path back to the village when Mia stopped abruptly and frowned. Isaac glanced around confusedly, not feeling the disturbance in the air; he ran after Mia when she suddenly took off on another, smaller path, snow crunching beneath their feet.
He was about to ask what was distressing Mia so when she yelled, "Someone else has entered the lighthouse!"
Isaac froze at the entrance even as Mia rushed inside, motioning for him to follow.
He'd forgotten.
Forgotten what he really was, even though no one knew him here and therefore it was like having a new, fresh start with people who actually had a kind word for him and offered him shelter and care. Forgotten the mission that was thrown upon him, his burden to redeem him. Forgotten, if only for a moment, the tendrils of darkness that wrapped themselves around him, tucked snugly into the contours of his body.
He looked up, trying to see through the frosty air the top of the stone lighthouse, seeing no light and heaving a relieved and bitter sigh. When Mia called out to him, "Isaac, hurry up!" he shrugged off the doubts clustering around him and caught up to her, steps echoing across the smooth tiles.
He stopped beside a dismayed Mia, who was staring at the granite statue rested firmly in front of the entrance. Deep scratch marks on the floor to the right of it showed that it had been moved from its original resting place.
"This statue is blocking the way..." she muttered, hands clenched into tight fists around her.
Isaac studied the structure for a moment, then stepped forward and closed his eyes, letting the psyenergy massed inside him to flow out and form into a giant white hand, (personally he thought it'd always been rather silly that it had to be a white hand, it looked like the dainty gloves that people wore when they wanted others to know just how rich and snobby they were) which shoved the statue back to its original place, thus opening the previously blocked hallway.
He turned to smile at Mia, but stopped and cursed softly to himself at her expression of utter amazement. This wasn't Vale. Psyenergy wasn't known here. A dark look coming over his face, he took a step back and was prepared to take off when a soft touch on his arm froze him in his place.
"Did you do that?" Mia murmured.
Isaac nodded his head, "Yes," his mouth set into a grim line and his face hard.
"I knew it... I saw a ghostly force pushing it!"
Isaac spun around to face her in amazement.
"Y-you can see it? You can see psyenergy?"
"Psyenergy... Is that what you call that power?"
Dumbly Isaac nodded. Mia continued, "It's similar to my healing power Ply, which I used on you. It's a special power handed down to members of the Mercury Clan,
from generation to generation, generated through meditation. It was once much stronger..."
Suddenly the tower gave off an ominous rumble, a few bits of debris floating from the ceiling after the dust and motions subsided. Mia shook her head, not having time to ask anymore questions, and hurried through the entrance, followed by a curious and worried Isaac.
A monster jumped out in front of Mia, blue and scaly, causing her to emit a small shriek. Quickly Isaac stepped in front of her and calmly brought his sword down, cracking it upon the lizard-like monster's skull. It stepped back, hissing, saliva dripping from its glistening white fangs, before springing off its hind legs in a frenzied attack. Isaac side-stepped its assault and then sliced at the creature again, sword slicing cleanly through its head this time.
The monster's blue blood splattered all over him, he glanced at Mia, ashamed at the horrific display, (though it had been very necessary) then attended to a small scratch the lizard had left on him, waiting for her reaction.
Mia rushed over and laid her hands down over Isaac's own, and he felt a brief mystical surge of power; he was floating, soaring through the sky, the atmosphere beautiful and great. When the warmth receded he found pale smooth skin where blood used to be oozing out of it. Mia breathed a small sigh of relief and exclaimed, "You've saved me again, haven't you!"
She looked around and said, "Only those of the Mercury clan are permitted to enter this place. I would've left you here and told you to go back to the village to warn everyone if there'd been trouble. However, I sense something special about you." At this she flashed him a huge smile, and unconsciously Isaac felt himself grinning back, the death smell filling the room forgotten.
"I feel that I can trust you..."
She tugged on his arm now, then began walking towards the top of the lighthouse, eyes purposeful and stride confident.
Along the way they encountered an ever-increasing number of monsters, some of which they hid from and some of which they fought as a way to keep their senses honed. Isaac never really got tired because of Mia's constant healing, so they didn't have to worry about being overwhelmed by monsters unless Mia was too depleted of energy or a surprise attack took them down. Together they were an astounding team, Isaac positively glowing in Mia's aura and striking down the monsters in a deadly whirl, Mia protected and projecting comforting rays, the core that held Isaac in and alive.
When a mouse-like creature jumped in front of them Isaac was on it in an instant, blade snaking quick and weakening wounds like a rapier, even though it was not designed to be one. The monster got progressively slower and slower from the blood loss and pain until it finally slowed enough so that Isaac ran it through with one powerful stab.
He panted, the exertion being a decent amount, but what disturbed him more was the memory fighting it had triggered.
He ran a hand through the wet blond hair plastered to his forehead, eyes squeezed shut.
Garet. Jenna. Kraden. Everyone. He'd completely forgotten about them. The fact that this was a lighthouse continued to lurk in his mind, but he'd set it back as he set about demolishing the monsters, basking in the presence of a grateful Mia.
Garet and Jenna had been the only people to not care about his predicament, to treat him as a normal person. And he'd paid them back by living while they died, by putting aside the mission that would save their family and the people they cared about, by putting someone he hadn't been with as long and didn't know as well closer to his heart.
A hand on his shoulder caused him to flick his glance up, directly into concerned sky blue eyes. He sighed and the corners of his mouth quirked up into an involuntary smile. He couldn't help it. Mia showed him so much unlimitless kindness, so much soft mystery...
Hadn't she said something about healing powers?
"Mia?" he asked softly.
"Yeah?"
"How much stronger was Ply before?"
"I don't know. People say it was very strong though, that it could heal completely mangled people and leave their skin so smooth it was like they'd been pampered their whole life and never had to endure a scratch or something."
"...could it bring people back from the dead?"
Mia started, a storm beginning to brew in her eyes, and frowned.
"Like I said, I don't know. But why do you ask?"
"J-just curious, I guess."
Isaac felt warm arms wrap around him, and blushed as Mia laid her head on his shoulder.
"People die. No one likes it when it happens to their close friends, but people die, and that's just how life goes. And if they died, who is it for you to say they should be brought back? Things happen for a reason. No matter how much you despise the deaths of people close to you, eventually you'll have to get over it, meet new people... let new people into your life."
Isaac clenched his eyes shut and hugged Mia's waist as tight as he could, sensing that they had moved on to an entirely different subject.
"I guess you're somewhat right. I have a new person in my life that's really special to me," he whispered into her ear, thinking of their brief moments together and the catalyst that caused this to happen.
Mia blushed, feeling his breath tickle her ear, and mumbled into the slightly damp cloth of his shoulder, "And I have someone new in my life too, someone who's more important to me than anyone else in the world."
And it happened because of Alex.
The lighthouse suddenly shook again, and they broke apart, thoughts swiming turbulently in their heads. Mia smiled shyly at Isaac and he smiled shyly right back, both sensing that something... different had happened.
Tentatively Mia reached her hand out, and Isaac took it, loving the feel of her silky skin sliding against his own callused hands. Sweeping his eyes across the room he squeezed her hand lightly and they began walking, the air around them sizzling with power and magic.
A blast of wind screamed across them when they emerged from the slate gray steps to the cobbled roof of the lighthouse, hands still linked together. Isaac regretfully let his hand slip away from Mia's as he strode out in front of her, sword held in both hands in front of him in a defensive position.
Saturos and Menardi stood there, arms crossed, smiling darkly as light exploded behind them, bathing them in a blue glow. Isaac started to run at them in a mindless desperation, but stopped abruptly when Mia collapsed to her knees.
"I have failed in the one duty placed upon me..." she murmured. "This is terrible."
A man emerged from behind Saturos, a hideous green and white mask adorning his face, unruly brown hair sticking out everywhere. He seemed to recognize Isaac, for he took a tiny step towards him, hesitated, and then continued walking. At a still-safe distance he stopped, and then slowly slid off the mask with one burly hand.
"So it's you, Isaac!"
"Felix," Isaac breathed out, eyes open in astonishment. The wind blew both their words away though, and they were left facing each other, Isaac's sword still held at ready and Felix still in his defensive position.
Menardi squinted at them and jumped back a bit. Then, realizing what she'd just done, she ran a manicured hand through her blond hair and forcefully took a step forward, though her shoulders were trembling. Nervously she laughed, "Heh heh! Those kids are still alive?"
She took a look at Mia and frowned. "Where's the other one?"
Isaac gritted his teeth at this reminder and yelled, "We're after the Elemental Stars!"
Menardi's shoulder sagged as Saturos took a tiny step towards her, trying to reassure himself with her presence.
"In other words, they've come to stop us," she hissed venomously, though there was a terrified lilt in her voice. As if the next words were too heavy to say, she forced out slowly, "Then we have no choice... Let's take care of them now, before they can do any harm!" She stepped forward, baring her sharp teeth in what was meant to be a predatory smile, her fingertips beginning to spark with fire.
Saturos put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Menardi... wait!"
Menardi whipped around, her face falling, and cried, "Oh, Saturos, they want to..."
Quietly he touched her cheek and said, "I know." Turning to face Isaac he yelled, "You have endured so much, and now you want to throw your life away?!"
When Isaac didn't respond, continuing to gaze at them with a stone-faced expression, Saturos sighed in defeat and said, "Fine. If that is your wish, prepare to have it granted."
Now it was Menardi's turn to look worried and sneak glances at Saturos.
"Saturos... Are you going to fight them alone?"
Haltingly he said, "I want to see how much their powers have developed."
"Are you sure about this, Saturos?"
Bravely he yelled, "Leave me be! Head for the next lighthouse-now!"
At this Menardi turned around and called, "Felix!" then rushed away. Isaac briefly considered going after them, but faced with a formidable opponent he decided to stay right where he was instead.
Saturos snarled, "If you wish to get them, you'll have to beat me first!"
Isaac answered that by taking another step forward, sword held slightly to the side, reading for offensive action now on this rocky slippery battlefield, but froze again when Mia reached for his blue sleeve and yelled, "No! Get back!"
Saturos taunted, "What's the matter?"
Mia gave a dirty glare at him before yelling to Isaac, "Saturos is extremely powerful." Narrowing her eyes she got into a battle-ready stance, aligning herself with Isaac. "We'll have to match his strength..."
"Match me? Pah! You think you can match the great Saturos?"
His eyes were trained upon Mia, and she got the feeling that his cocky words were really only spoken to her, and not meant for Isaac at all. But he should be speaking to Isaac, for he was the one who was actually fighting, and there was no frozen chance in hell that Isaac was stronger than this monstrous force mocking them in front.
Isaac merely quirked the corners of his mouth up and said, "Yes."
A slightly afraid scowl graced Saturos's pallid blue features and he said, "You overestimate your chances. Fine then... I'll just teach you all a lesson!"
He hadn't taken more than a couple steps before he stumbled, but he quickly uprighted himself and glanced worriedly at the brilliant blue light still blasting from the beacon in the center of the lighthouse. Mia frowned and asked, "What happened? Saturos is moving strangely."
"What’s this!? The light of Mercury... It’s weakening my Psynergy! I must finish this quickly... Come on,fools!"
With a battlecry, he charged Isaac, who screamed and did the same thing. Saturos quickly brought his sword up, which Isaac parried, but then blew a small fireball into Isaac's stomach, causing him to yelp in pain. Ignoring it Isaac slid his sword out of the deadlock they had and whipped a horizontal cut that Saturos was barely able to dodge, the steel of Isaac's blade nipping his armor instead.
Isaac raised his hand and let golden light gather in his hand, commanding stone spikes to shoot out of the ground. Saturos had to drop the offensive for a while and concentrate instead on not being impaled by the spikes, which shook ominously right where they were about to emerge. Still he was grazed on his left arm, and the only thing he was glad for was that Isaac couldn't attack him while this assault raged on for fear of being struck through himself.
Suddenly Saturos found himself being hit by hail stones as well, which while were not quite so damaging, were very painful and couldn't be avoided. Cursing he put an arm to his forehead and continued to try to avoid the still emerging spikes. Isaac stared on, surprised, then snuck a grateful look at Mia, who grinned and waggled her fingers, reverberating with blue light. It was at this moment that the spikes receded for the last time, and he barely had time to bring up his sword to parry Saturos's attack, caught off-guard because of the brief look. The sword jarred all feeling out of his left arm, which had been the weak arm and so couldn't block nearly as well. The tip of Saturos's sword ran across Isaac's left shoulder, and he winced as it cut a deep gash.
As soon as it happened though a blue light began pulsing against Isaac, and he found his skin good as new and his arm feeling perfectly fine again. He didn't bother wasting time thanking Mia but instead launched an assault, stabbing and slicing with a quick flurry of attacks, both hands on the hilt for better control.
Saturos reeled from this sudden change of pace, and had to keep on taking steps back, unable to do fire magic because both hands had to be used to defend decently against this onslaught. The beam of light pulsed and he slid, the only thing saving him from a painful death his quick reflexes and daring to hold the blade of his sword, bringing it up against the vertical slash of Isaac's sword. They clanged with a harsh loud sound, and as soon as it struck Saturos rolled away again.
They were both breathing heavily by now, the gasps for air reaching each other's ears even in this howling wind, ears tuned to the enemie's fatigue and power.
Saturos had a giant fire in his red eyes, so bright that it was like a blaze that would burn itself out. He flicked a quick glance at the blue-haired figure cautiously stepping towards Isaac, quarterstaff held out towards Saturos for defense. Realizing that he could do no more than that Saturos sprinted towards Mia, sword at his waist and behind him so he could get the most powerful slash.
Mia flinched and held out her staff in a blind hope of preventing his frenzied attack, but she was no warrior and knew that he would probably dispatch her very easily.
Saturos knew this too and smiled darkly, his sword just about to sweep right over her staff and slice through Mia's neck when Isaac appeared in front of him out of no where, and calmly stuck his sword right through Saturos's gut. Saturos still had enough momentum to continue the attack, and his sword jammed itself into Isaac's neck, screaming a horrible sound as it scraped against Isaac's bones.
They stared at each other for a moment, almost-kin but definitely not, bloody red eyes matching bloody red eyes, power emanating from both of them, before falling, crumpling right next to each other.
Mia stared at them, the lifeblood oozing out of them and being drinked up greedily by the dehydrated dusty stones, the wind spraying droplets of their blood into her clothes, blending into the wool and staining it an ugly purple. What was really a few seconds seemed like an eternity to her, as a male doppelganger of Mia materialized in front of her, wind swirling around him and blowing away even more blood.
The man began to speak, uttering, "He had been weakened..."
Mia did not even seem to hear the man. The only indication that she'd recognized the voice at all was the sudden shriek that ripped out of her, despairing and terrible to hear.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The tower began to rumble and the light glowed ever brighter, as Mia began to float, wind blowing a mini tornado around her, infused with ultrabright blue light.
Previous Chapters: 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
"So, what do you think of this carving?"
"Errr, it's very beautiful," Isaac said, staring listlessly at the ice carving with a hint of boredom in his eyes. For sure, it was definitely beautiful, a translucent unicorn with every single hair in his mane detailed and intricate, but they'd been going through a gallery of them for at least an hour. At the beginning Isaac had been enthralled with them and stopped to marvel at every single one, examining them with the awe of a child who'd just been exposed to a new world (and in all respects he really was one) and trying to keep count of how many statues were in that massive cavern, but after two hundred and seventeen he gave up, his interest in the properties of ice having dropped drastically.
He slid an obligatory glance as they walked by yet another dragon (though this one had wings and was falling) before continuing to stare at the back of Mia's head as if there was some hypnotic element there that could simply not make his gaze focus on something else.
He was thinking about how the soft blue hair Mia had suited her and this place perfectly. She looked like a goddess strutting to her pedestal in the center of an ice palace, although they'd passed the center long ago, marked with two gargantuan carvings, one of them an eerie two-headed dragon, and one of them... well, words couldn't describe it quite accurately.
It had spikes trailing down its back, and wings protruding from massive disfigured shoulder blades. There were holes in those ice wings, icicles in them making it seem like the holes were eating away at the wings like maggots devour a human body. But what were most terrifying were its eyes - carved into clear translucent ice yet seeming glowing an eerie red once one stopped looking at it directly.
"Isaac, are you listening to me?"
Mia had her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side in an annoyed stance, although her face betrayed her posture with the upwards quirk tugging on her lips.
Isaac turned red and stuttered out an incomprehensible excuse, but Mia just flapped wtih one hand, saying, "This cave is boring anyway."
He tried to tell her that the ice carvings were very interesting indeed, there were just too many of them, but Mia continued, saying, "The sculptures are very beautiful and all, but remembering all the stories about them and reciting them every time someone comes through? Eugh!" At the last word her face twisted into a clown-like expression, causing Isaac to laugh.
Mia grinned, then said, "Well, since you aren't listening to me and I don't want to talk about these ice carvings some more anyway, how about we just get out of here?"
Isaac nodded enthusiastically. "Un!"
Suddenly Mia took off, hair flying behind her, yelling, "Bet you can't reach the end before I do!"
Taking up this challenge, Isaac raced down the path as well, but promptly slid and cracked his body against the ground.
Laughter reverberated all down the imperious glacial palace, even as a giant mystical figure glowed briefly and pulsed in the center.
Mia won very obviously, but the margin was a little smaller than expected. Still, she wasted no time gloating about it to Isaac, who took it in stride, used to being humbled, though not in this friendly kind of teasing way.
They were still trotting at a brisk pace on the pebbled path back to the village when Mia stopped abruptly and frowned. Isaac glanced around confusedly, not feeling the disturbance in the air; he ran after Mia when she suddenly took off on another, smaller path, snow crunching beneath their feet.
He was about to ask what was distressing Mia so when she yelled, "Someone else has entered the lighthouse!"
Isaac froze at the entrance even as Mia rushed inside, motioning for him to follow.
He'd forgotten.
Forgotten what he really was, even though no one knew him here and therefore it was like having a new, fresh start with people who actually had a kind word for him and offered him shelter and care. Forgotten the mission that was thrown upon him, his burden to redeem him. Forgotten, if only for a moment, the tendrils of darkness that wrapped themselves around him, tucked snugly into the contours of his body.
He looked up, trying to see through the frosty air the top of the stone lighthouse, seeing no light and heaving a relieved and bitter sigh. When Mia called out to him, "Isaac, hurry up!" he shrugged off the doubts clustering around him and caught up to her, steps echoing across the smooth tiles.
He stopped beside a dismayed Mia, who was staring at the granite statue rested firmly in front of the entrance. Deep scratch marks on the floor to the right of it showed that it had been moved from its original resting place.
"This statue is blocking the way..." she muttered, hands clenched into tight fists around her.
Isaac studied the structure for a moment, then stepped forward and closed his eyes, letting the psyenergy massed inside him to flow out and form into a giant white hand, (personally he thought it'd always been rather silly that it had to be a white hand, it looked like the dainty gloves that people wore when they wanted others to know just how rich and snobby they were) which shoved the statue back to its original place, thus opening the previously blocked hallway.
He turned to smile at Mia, but stopped and cursed softly to himself at her expression of utter amazement. This wasn't Vale. Psyenergy wasn't known here. A dark look coming over his face, he took a step back and was prepared to take off when a soft touch on his arm froze him in his place.
"Did you do that?" Mia murmured.
Isaac nodded his head, "Yes," his mouth set into a grim line and his face hard.
"I knew it... I saw a ghostly force pushing it!"
Isaac spun around to face her in amazement.
"Y-you can see it? You can see psyenergy?"
"Psyenergy... Is that what you call that power?"
Dumbly Isaac nodded. Mia continued, "It's similar to my healing power Ply, which I used on you. It's a special power handed down to members of the Mercury Clan,
from generation to generation, generated through meditation. It was once much stronger..."
Suddenly the tower gave off an ominous rumble, a few bits of debris floating from the ceiling after the dust and motions subsided. Mia shook her head, not having time to ask anymore questions, and hurried through the entrance, followed by a curious and worried Isaac.
A monster jumped out in front of Mia, blue and scaly, causing her to emit a small shriek. Quickly Isaac stepped in front of her and calmly brought his sword down, cracking it upon the lizard-like monster's skull. It stepped back, hissing, saliva dripping from its glistening white fangs, before springing off its hind legs in a frenzied attack. Isaac side-stepped its assault and then sliced at the creature again, sword slicing cleanly through its head this time.
The monster's blue blood splattered all over him, he glanced at Mia, ashamed at the horrific display, (though it had been very necessary) then attended to a small scratch the lizard had left on him, waiting for her reaction.
Mia rushed over and laid her hands down over Isaac's own, and he felt a brief mystical surge of power; he was floating, soaring through the sky, the atmosphere beautiful and great. When the warmth receded he found pale smooth skin where blood used to be oozing out of it. Mia breathed a small sigh of relief and exclaimed, "You've saved me again, haven't you!"
She looked around and said, "Only those of the Mercury clan are permitted to enter this place. I would've left you here and told you to go back to the village to warn everyone if there'd been trouble. However, I sense something special about you." At this she flashed him a huge smile, and unconsciously Isaac felt himself grinning back, the death smell filling the room forgotten.
"I feel that I can trust you..."
She tugged on his arm now, then began walking towards the top of the lighthouse, eyes purposeful and stride confident.
Along the way they encountered an ever-increasing number of monsters, some of which they hid from and some of which they fought as a way to keep their senses honed. Isaac never really got tired because of Mia's constant healing, so they didn't have to worry about being overwhelmed by monsters unless Mia was too depleted of energy or a surprise attack took them down. Together they were an astounding team, Isaac positively glowing in Mia's aura and striking down the monsters in a deadly whirl, Mia protected and projecting comforting rays, the core that held Isaac in and alive.
When a mouse-like creature jumped in front of them Isaac was on it in an instant, blade snaking quick and weakening wounds like a rapier, even though it was not designed to be one. The monster got progressively slower and slower from the blood loss and pain until it finally slowed enough so that Isaac ran it through with one powerful stab.
He panted, the exertion being a decent amount, but what disturbed him more was the memory fighting it had triggered.
He ran a hand through the wet blond hair plastered to his forehead, eyes squeezed shut.
Garet. Jenna. Kraden. Everyone. He'd completely forgotten about them. The fact that this was a lighthouse continued to lurk in his mind, but he'd set it back as he set about demolishing the monsters, basking in the presence of a grateful Mia.
Garet and Jenna had been the only people to not care about his predicament, to treat him as a normal person. And he'd paid them back by living while they died, by putting aside the mission that would save their family and the people they cared about, by putting someone he hadn't been with as long and didn't know as well closer to his heart.
A hand on his shoulder caused him to flick his glance up, directly into concerned sky blue eyes. He sighed and the corners of his mouth quirked up into an involuntary smile. He couldn't help it. Mia showed him so much unlimitless kindness, so much soft mystery...
Hadn't she said something about healing powers?
"Mia?" he asked softly.
"Yeah?"
"How much stronger was Ply before?"
"I don't know. People say it was very strong though, that it could heal completely mangled people and leave their skin so smooth it was like they'd been pampered their whole life and never had to endure a scratch or something."
"...could it bring people back from the dead?"
Mia started, a storm beginning to brew in her eyes, and frowned.
"Like I said, I don't know. But why do you ask?"
"J-just curious, I guess."
Isaac felt warm arms wrap around him, and blushed as Mia laid her head on his shoulder.
"People die. No one likes it when it happens to their close friends, but people die, and that's just how life goes. And if they died, who is it for you to say they should be brought back? Things happen for a reason. No matter how much you despise the deaths of people close to you, eventually you'll have to get over it, meet new people... let new people into your life."
Isaac clenched his eyes shut and hugged Mia's waist as tight as he could, sensing that they had moved on to an entirely different subject.
"I guess you're somewhat right. I have a new person in my life that's really special to me," he whispered into her ear, thinking of their brief moments together and the catalyst that caused this to happen.
Mia blushed, feeling his breath tickle her ear, and mumbled into the slightly damp cloth of his shoulder, "And I have someone new in my life too, someone who's more important to me than anyone else in the world."
And it happened because of Alex.
The lighthouse suddenly shook again, and they broke apart, thoughts swiming turbulently in their heads. Mia smiled shyly at Isaac and he smiled shyly right back, both sensing that something... different had happened.
Tentatively Mia reached her hand out, and Isaac took it, loving the feel of her silky skin sliding against his own callused hands. Sweeping his eyes across the room he squeezed her hand lightly and they began walking, the air around them sizzling with power and magic.
A blast of wind screamed across them when they emerged from the slate gray steps to the cobbled roof of the lighthouse, hands still linked together. Isaac regretfully let his hand slip away from Mia's as he strode out in front of her, sword held in both hands in front of him in a defensive position.
Saturos and Menardi stood there, arms crossed, smiling darkly as light exploded behind them, bathing them in a blue glow. Isaac started to run at them in a mindless desperation, but stopped abruptly when Mia collapsed to her knees.
"I have failed in the one duty placed upon me..." she murmured. "This is terrible."
A man emerged from behind Saturos, a hideous green and white mask adorning his face, unruly brown hair sticking out everywhere. He seemed to recognize Isaac, for he took a tiny step towards him, hesitated, and then continued walking. At a still-safe distance he stopped, and then slowly slid off the mask with one burly hand.
"So it's you, Isaac!"
"Felix," Isaac breathed out, eyes open in astonishment. The wind blew both their words away though, and they were left facing each other, Isaac's sword still held at ready and Felix still in his defensive position.
Menardi squinted at them and jumped back a bit. Then, realizing what she'd just done, she ran a manicured hand through her blond hair and forcefully took a step forward, though her shoulders were trembling. Nervously she laughed, "Heh heh! Those kids are still alive?"
She took a look at Mia and frowned. "Where's the other one?"
Isaac gritted his teeth at this reminder and yelled, "We're after the Elemental Stars!"
Menardi's shoulder sagged as Saturos took a tiny step towards her, trying to reassure himself with her presence.
"In other words, they've come to stop us," she hissed venomously, though there was a terrified lilt in her voice. As if the next words were too heavy to say, she forced out slowly, "Then we have no choice... Let's take care of them now, before they can do any harm!" She stepped forward, baring her sharp teeth in what was meant to be a predatory smile, her fingertips beginning to spark with fire.
Saturos put a hand on her shoulder and said, "Menardi... wait!"
Menardi whipped around, her face falling, and cried, "Oh, Saturos, they want to..."
Quietly he touched her cheek and said, "I know." Turning to face Isaac he yelled, "You have endured so much, and now you want to throw your life away?!"
When Isaac didn't respond, continuing to gaze at them with a stone-faced expression, Saturos sighed in defeat and said, "Fine. If that is your wish, prepare to have it granted."
Now it was Menardi's turn to look worried and sneak glances at Saturos.
"Saturos... Are you going to fight them alone?"
Haltingly he said, "I want to see how much their powers have developed."
"Are you sure about this, Saturos?"
Bravely he yelled, "Leave me be! Head for the next lighthouse-now!"
At this Menardi turned around and called, "Felix!" then rushed away. Isaac briefly considered going after them, but faced with a formidable opponent he decided to stay right where he was instead.
Saturos snarled, "If you wish to get them, you'll have to beat me first!"
Isaac answered that by taking another step forward, sword held slightly to the side, reading for offensive action now on this rocky slippery battlefield, but froze again when Mia reached for his blue sleeve and yelled, "No! Get back!"
Saturos taunted, "What's the matter?"
Mia gave a dirty glare at him before yelling to Isaac, "Saturos is extremely powerful." Narrowing her eyes she got into a battle-ready stance, aligning herself with Isaac. "We'll have to match his strength..."
"Match me? Pah! You think you can match the great Saturos?"
His eyes were trained upon Mia, and she got the feeling that his cocky words were really only spoken to her, and not meant for Isaac at all. But he should be speaking to Isaac, for he was the one who was actually fighting, and there was no frozen chance in hell that Isaac was stronger than this monstrous force mocking them in front.
Isaac merely quirked the corners of his mouth up and said, "Yes."
A slightly afraid scowl graced Saturos's pallid blue features and he said, "You overestimate your chances. Fine then... I'll just teach you all a lesson!"
He hadn't taken more than a couple steps before he stumbled, but he quickly uprighted himself and glanced worriedly at the brilliant blue light still blasting from the beacon in the center of the lighthouse. Mia frowned and asked, "What happened? Saturos is moving strangely."
"What’s this!? The light of Mercury... It’s weakening my Psynergy! I must finish this quickly... Come on,fools!"
With a battlecry, he charged Isaac, who screamed and did the same thing. Saturos quickly brought his sword up, which Isaac parried, but then blew a small fireball into Isaac's stomach, causing him to yelp in pain. Ignoring it Isaac slid his sword out of the deadlock they had and whipped a horizontal cut that Saturos was barely able to dodge, the steel of Isaac's blade nipping his armor instead.
Isaac raised his hand and let golden light gather in his hand, commanding stone spikes to shoot out of the ground. Saturos had to drop the offensive for a while and concentrate instead on not being impaled by the spikes, which shook ominously right where they were about to emerge. Still he was grazed on his left arm, and the only thing he was glad for was that Isaac couldn't attack him while this assault raged on for fear of being struck through himself.
Suddenly Saturos found himself being hit by hail stones as well, which while were not quite so damaging, were very painful and couldn't be avoided. Cursing he put an arm to his forehead and continued to try to avoid the still emerging spikes. Isaac stared on, surprised, then snuck a grateful look at Mia, who grinned and waggled her fingers, reverberating with blue light. It was at this moment that the spikes receded for the last time, and he barely had time to bring up his sword to parry Saturos's attack, caught off-guard because of the brief look. The sword jarred all feeling out of his left arm, which had been the weak arm and so couldn't block nearly as well. The tip of Saturos's sword ran across Isaac's left shoulder, and he winced as it cut a deep gash.
As soon as it happened though a blue light began pulsing against Isaac, and he found his skin good as new and his arm feeling perfectly fine again. He didn't bother wasting time thanking Mia but instead launched an assault, stabbing and slicing with a quick flurry of attacks, both hands on the hilt for better control.
Saturos reeled from this sudden change of pace, and had to keep on taking steps back, unable to do fire magic because both hands had to be used to defend decently against this onslaught. The beam of light pulsed and he slid, the only thing saving him from a painful death his quick reflexes and daring to hold the blade of his sword, bringing it up against the vertical slash of Isaac's sword. They clanged with a harsh loud sound, and as soon as it struck Saturos rolled away again.
They were both breathing heavily by now, the gasps for air reaching each other's ears even in this howling wind, ears tuned to the enemie's fatigue and power.
Saturos had a giant fire in his red eyes, so bright that it was like a blaze that would burn itself out. He flicked a quick glance at the blue-haired figure cautiously stepping towards Isaac, quarterstaff held out towards Saturos for defense. Realizing that he could do no more than that Saturos sprinted towards Mia, sword at his waist and behind him so he could get the most powerful slash.
Mia flinched and held out her staff in a blind hope of preventing his frenzied attack, but she was no warrior and knew that he would probably dispatch her very easily.
Saturos knew this too and smiled darkly, his sword just about to sweep right over her staff and slice through Mia's neck when Isaac appeared in front of him out of no where, and calmly stuck his sword right through Saturos's gut. Saturos still had enough momentum to continue the attack, and his sword jammed itself into Isaac's neck, screaming a horrible sound as it scraped against Isaac's bones.
They stared at each other for a moment, almost-kin but definitely not, bloody red eyes matching bloody red eyes, power emanating from both of them, before falling, crumpling right next to each other.
Mia stared at them, the lifeblood oozing out of them and being drinked up greedily by the dehydrated dusty stones, the wind spraying droplets of their blood into her clothes, blending into the wool and staining it an ugly purple. What was really a few seconds seemed like an eternity to her, as a male doppelganger of Mia materialized in front of her, wind swirling around him and blowing away even more blood.
The man began to speak, uttering, "He had been weakened..."
Mia did not even seem to hear the man. The only indication that she'd recognized the voice at all was the sudden shriek that ripped out of her, despairing and terrible to hear.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The tower began to rumble and the light glowed ever brighter, as Mia began to float, wind blowing a mini tornado around her, infused with ultrabright blue light.