Silence: Chapter 3 Edit
Silence
By Tiger Dauthi
Original Date Published: 5/6/2003
Current Date: 3/11/2005
Whee, edits! Actually, looking at this chapter, it wasn't so bad after all. No seriously, compared to the second chapter. But the ideas don't mesh anymore!
They say, that for every choice, there is another choice, another possibility, that leads to several more choices, several more possibilities. They say, that there are different universes, different paradoxes co-existing togehter, in the same lifeline, different versions of different worlds. But then, what if? What if, no matter what choice you made, the end result would still be the same? What if, even if you did nothing, the end result would still be the same? What if it was inevitable?
Move!
The batch of straw wobbled up, some stray sticks falling off, and slowly moved to the right, eventually settling down and weaving itself into the thatched roof. The gangly boy controlling it stood on the roof, beads of sweat streaming down his face from the scorching sun.
A gesture and another mind command caused the bundle of straw resting on the ground to make its way to the other hole in the roof, patching it up. The boy repeated the movement one more time before climbing down the ladder, allowing the shade of the roof to shelter him from the sweltering sun. His ice blue eyes squinted against the light as his mother climbed up the ladder, inspecting for other holes in the roof.
A burble of angry voices made its way to his ear, causing him to turn his head towards the sound. Garet and Jenna were heading towards him, furiously arguing about who damaged who's property.
"You brute, you burned up my tree stump!"
"Couldn't be helped, I'm a Fire Adept. Besides, your flame storm destroyed all the grass inmy backyard!"
Dora turned her head at this sound as well, and smiled at the two teens.
"Well hello there! Have you two come for Isaac?"
Jenna's voice sweetened, and she gave a sugary smile to Dora, evidently trying to give her a good impression.
"Yes, Kraden wants us to go to his house for some new studies."
It worked rather well, since Dora only frowned for a brief moment before replying, "Well, once I'm done inspecting the roof, Isaac can go."
Dora clambered up the ladder and scurried about, stooping and scrutinizing each patch closely. After a few moments she rose up with a bright smile and said, "Well, everything is just fine. Your psyenergy has gotten so much better, Isaac! You're growing up to be just like your dad-"
A choked look slithered over her face, but she quickly shook it off and said cheerfully, (maybe too cheerfully) "Run along now, Isaac. You don't want Kraden to wait. I'll just..."
Walking towards the ladder, she stepped on one of the patches, which promptly collapsed. Yanking her foot out of the hole, Dora grinned, embarassed.
"What a stupid mistake." She took a step back, and Garet called out in a panicked voice, "Not there, Mrs. Sol!"
Dora jumped back, but it was already too late to keep the straw from falling. Unfortunately, the spot she landed on was yet another weak part of the roof. With a creaking sound it crashed onto the floor, spreading pieces of yellow straw everywhere. Isaac grimaced at the spectacle. He'd spent three hours working on the roof, and in five minutes, it was all destroyed.
Dora sighed and told them, "Don't worry. I'll work on it by myself. Run along now, you three."
Hesitantly they left the site. When there was no crash from the house behind them, they became reassured, and lazily walked towards their next destination.
~*~*~
Kraden smiled at the giggling kids. Ah, to be young again...
Smirking at himself, he shook his head. Jenna was currently trying to beat Garet up, for some snide remark Garet had made. Isaac though... Isaac was silently walking on the path, ahead of everyone. Sometimes, I swear that boy is even older than me.
Suddenly Isaac stopped. Garet crashed into him, which caused Jenna to crash into Garet. The two would've started fighting again if they hadn't seen a disciple of the Great Healer. Clad in pristine white robes, he was walking around the entrance of Mt. Aleph, so that no one would be able to enter. That included the one old man and three Adepts crouching behind the bushes.
Jenna eyed the disciple's movements carefully, and when the guy's back was turned, she whispered, "Now!"
All of them rushed into the entrance of Mt. Aleph and Sol Sanctum.
Upon entering, the first words out of Garet's mouth were, "It's huge..."
The sanctum was carved out of marble, reflecting the rays of the sun filtering in through the slits in the roof. Chalky white dust sparkled in the air, giving a mysterious beauty to the room. Great statues stood regally on the other half of the chamber, a reminder of the age and the power of the Sanctum.
Kraden smiled, and looked joyfully around.
"Yes, it's magnificent, isn't it?" Then his smile turned to a frown. "I've never been able to find anything else here besides this one room though."
Garet strode up to the statue in the middle and punched it with all his power. The statue showed no sign of breaking though, instead leaving Garet with a bloody fist.
"Oww..."
Jenna sneered at Garet. "Punching stone statues is not the smartest thing to do."
Garet glared at Jenna. "Well, do you have something better in mind?"
The biting remarks soon evolved into one of their heated arguments again. While Garet and Jenna yelled at each other, (Kraden was trying to be a peacemaker, worried their sounds would carry outside) Isaac walked up to the statue and raised his arms, his face contorting to the intense expression of someone using psyenergy. After several rings of magic floated from his body, a giant hand formed and pushed the statue to the left, revealing a passageway behind.
The fighting trailed off as they stared at the dark hall that lay in front of Isaac. Grinning, Kraden bustled over and congratulated the boy. "Very good work, Isaac! Now let's go see what's in the rest of this place."
~*~*~
Kraden frantically yelled something at Isaac. Ignoring the panicked pleas, Isaac pushed the statue into place. The sanctum began to rumble. Stones fell and statues crumbled. Uttering an earsplitting shriek, Kraden leapt out of a gargantuan stone's path and yelped, "I told you to stop! You were supposed to debug the trap first! Now our village will be slaughtered in an avalanche again!"
Isaac stood there, horror drawn on his face. Garet grabbed his shirt and dragged him along, yelling, "It doesn't matter who set it off! We all worked on this together, and if we don't get out, we're gonna be crushed!"
All four started bolting for the stairs. Entering the next room, they barely noticed that the Sol sign in the room had changed to Luna, instead rushing headlong for the doorway. Suddenly, a giant stone dropped from the ceiling, casting a dark shadow over Jenna. She stared terrified at the stone, then crumpled, flying, as Garet barreled into her from behind. A sickening crunch was heard, and Isaac stared blankly at the purple-tinted fluid streaming from the cracked skull of the spiky red- haired boy. Soon a pool of red had gathered around Garet. Stones continued rolling into it and soon were coated with the substance, splashing red onto everyone. It was as if they were there to guard the mass of splintered bones, a small grave for the brave soul.
Sharp fingernails dug into Isaac's hand. He turned his head to see Jenna, pulling him along out of the room, even as tears streaked down her face. Kraden was already disappearing down the next passageway.
Another great slab of stone descended from the ceiling, and Isaac slammed Jenna through the room as the stone dropped. Jenna screamed as the stone crashed onto the ground, but there was no sound of snapping bones. Startled, she looked around the room, but there was no blue-eyed blond to be found anywhere in the room, not even under the stone. She prayed quickly for the teen, then bolted out the doorway, droplets of water marking the path she took.
With a horrific boom, Sol Sanctum collapsed unto itself, setting off its final method of trapping the intruders who had dared to steal its treasure within. No one was going to get out alive. Only two had escaped ever, and it wanted it to stay that way.
Unfortunately for the Sanctum, it, like everything else, rarely got what it wanted.
Isaac propelled himself backwards as the stone crashed down. His neck hit a tiny hole in the wall of the room, and as the debris and dust swirled all around, he was sucked into a blue portal, and disappeared.
Emerging from the portal in a bright flash of light, he blinked. A quick sweep around the room told him all he needed to know. These were the four Elemental Stars, the legends that Kraden had raved about forever when they had had lessons. The stars were supposedly guarded inside the Sol Sanctum, and they were the essence of Alchemy.
The legend went that should these Stars be taken out of the world and put into their rightful resting place, the four lighthouses that marked the ends of the world, true Alchemy would be released, and the world would be destroyed by a hailstorm of terrible monsters. No one knew if this was true or not, but if the legend of Sol Sanctum was, this was probably quite true as well. Isaac was slightly hesitant about gathering the four stars, but decided that he owed it to Kraden to get them; besides, he wasn't about to go around and light up the lighthouses.
Isaac hopped from one stone to the next. Finally, with all four stars clutched in his hands, he rushed out of the portal, just in time to be buried under a statue. His left hand, gripping three of the four stars, slowly relaxed, and the shimmering mythril bags rolled out of his hand.
~*~*~
A shadow flitted by. Stooping, he gathered up the bags, then frowned at the boy. There should be another one, the Mars Star... Musing that it was probably lost somewhere else inside the ruins, Saturos retreated, content with just three for now. He would come back another day, when it was safer and there was less debris. A small thought kept on nagging at his mind. He'd seen that boy before somewhere, at some point... Shrugging the thought off, he hurried to the red-eyed blond standing at the top of the hill.
"Did you check to see if he was dead?"
Saturos groaned. He'd completely forgotten about it. "I forgot about it, Menardi. Anyway, he can't be alive, buried under all that rubble. Even if he was, if he stays out there for a day, he'll definitely die. The Mars Star will be ours."
They set out across the hills, waiting for another day.
~*~*~
"Over here! I found another one!"
The motley search crew rushed over to the figure, and set out to excavate the rocks atop of the person. Kay squinted at the blond-haired boy and started.
"That's Isaac!"
One man stopped, mopping the sweat off his brow with a grimy cloth. Sadly he said, "This one's gonna be hard for Dora. She lost her husband three years ago, and now she's lost Isaac too. All her relatives are dead as well."
Another man scowled at the speaker and said, "Don't say that! We don't know if Isaac's dead, if this is indeed Isaac!"
The other man shrugged, putting the cloth back into his pocket. Making no other reply, he started channeling energy to lift a rock. It wasn't likely that Isaac, or whoever this person was, was going to be alive. None of the other people they'd found had been, and it'd been two days since the Sanctum had collapsed. It was surprising that there were even people at the Sanctum, as it was off limits to everyone. Kraden could've answered for that, as he was notorious for sneaking into restricted and usually dangerous areas just to observe what was inside them. No one could've asked for a better Alchemy professor though. It was too bad he was dead now, his body found near the entrance. Kraden's face had borne the eternally thankful expression of someone who had finally gotten freedom. It was rather ironic that he'd gotten killed right at that point.
Suddenly shouts arose from the people in the area. They'd turned the boy over and detected a heartbeat.
"It's Isaac! And he's alive!"
Everyone bolted, carrying the body down the hill, weaving through the ruins. Depositing the boy at the healer's, they went back to the rubble searching with renewed effort, spirits raised dramatically.
~*~*~
"Your son has several broken ribs, and only his left arm was not broken. He is suffering from dehydration and lack of a good supply of oxygen. Despite that, he has no internal bleeding. It's a miracle. He's going to live."
~*~*~
"We mourn the deaths of 19 people. Aaron, Garet, Jenna..."
Heh.