Felix of Vale

It was done. Yes, Saturos and Menardi were gone, but Venus Lighthouse had been lit, the Jupiter and Mars Stars were accounted for, and Felix and Sheba were unharmed.

With a brilliant flash of light and Earth energy, the Venus Beacon finally appeared above the Aerie. The ground began to shake. Felix was able to keep his balance, his Psynergy warning him of what the Lighthouse's power was doing.

It did not immediately occur to him that not everyone had that advantage.

At that moment, Isaac and his group reached the top of the Aerie. "Isaac..." said Felix warningly.

Saturos and Menardi turned to face the newcomers. "So! You've come to stop us?" Saturos asked.

"You see what your defiance has brought us, Felix?" accused Menardi.

Felix cut her off. "I don't need to be rescued, Isaac. Just wait, and you can see the power of this beacon's light!" Turning to Saturos, he added, "Now, will you let Sheba go?"

"Silence!" roared Saturos. "You'd best step carefully, Felix, or the both of you will suffer."

The Water Adept with Isaac - Mia, Felix thought her name might be - whispered something to Ivan, next to her. He nodded and called out, "We won't let you lay a hand on Sheba - or Felix!"

Menardi arched an eyebrow, clearly considering that. "So you're worried about her too, are you?"

Saturos smirked. "Don't worry. We won't hurt her... if you meet our conditions."

Menardi shot him a glance. "What are you doing, Saturos?" she asked under her breath.

"Leave this to me," he muttered back. Turning to Sheba, he called, "Sheba! Do you remember the rod connected to Hesperia?"

Alarmed, Sheba tried to remember. "The... Rod of Hesperia?"

"The rod we need to reach Jupiter Lighthouse!" Saturos snapped, clearly annoyed.

Eyes wide, Sheba nodded. "Ye-yes..." she answered in a small voice.

Gesturing to Isaac and his friends, Saturos said "These people have a rod. Is it the one?"

Sheba moved forward, only to be stopped by Menardi's sharp "Can't you do it from where you are?" She nodded nervously and started her Psynergy. Felix couldn't tell exactly what she was doing, though he guessed it had something to do with Mind Read.

She kept it up longer than Felix expected. Longer than the Proxians had expected, too, it seemed; she only stopped at Saturos' "Well?"

"It... might be..." offered Sheba tentatively.

Saturos frowned. "It 'might be'? Don't you know?"

That, Felix decided, was enough. "Don't yell at her!" he shouted, stepping between them.

"We're not yelling," hissed Menardi. "We just want a straight answer. So, Sheba...?"

"Their minds are veiled," the Wind Adept explained, "I cannot tell for certain, but... I think it's the rod."

The Proxians conferred quietly for a moment. Then Saturos addressed Isaac's group. "Do you know the terms we will require before we agree not to harm Sheba?"

Isaac nodded, scowling. "You want Ivan's rod."

"Ah, you're smarter than I thought. Yes, give us the Shaman's Rod and Sheba will not be harmed. Do you accept?"

Isaac nodded again, almost without hesitation. "If it'll save Sheba, you can have it."

"What?" asked Garet. "That's Master Hammet's! He trusted it to you, Ivan!"

Menardi looked at him oddly. "Don't you care what happens to Sheba?"

At Garet's hesitant nod, Saturos snarled, "Then you will give us the rod!"

Garet backed off, scowling furiously, and Isaac held out the rod in question. "Go get it, Felix," said Saturos.

Felix started. "Me?" Right after all that?

"You are still loyal to us, aren't you?" asked Saturos archly.

"Go on, Felix," added Menardi.

Felix sighed, but walked over to Isaac and took the rod. He tried to give him a look, to say 'You don't need to do this,' but he had no idea if Isaac got the message. He tried to hand it off to Saturos, but was waved off. "Keep it safe," the Proxian told him. Felix shrugged and returned to the other side of the aerie.

Sheba started to head toward Isaac's group, but stopped at Menardi's barked "Where do you think you're going?"

Mia turned to Menardi. "We gave you the rod, so now you're letting Sheba go, right?"

"Whatever do you mean?" asked Saturos, sounding all innocence.

"You said you'd free Sheba if we gave you the rod," reminded Ivan.

Saturos laughed. "You seem to have misunderstood. I said we wouldn't harm her... but I never said we'd let her go!"

Felix wasn't happy to hear that, but before he could say anything Garet burst out, "You're changing the deal?"

"Not at all," said Menardi lightly. "It's not our fault if you misinterpreted the terms!"

"Besides, if we were to release Sheba... she'd be in quite a fix," Saturos added.

"What do you mean?" asked Mia.

Menardi shook her head. "You don't expect her to get back to Lalivero on her own, do you?"

Puzzled, Ivan answered, "What do you mean? We're going to take... her... oh."

"Exactly," said Saturos with a smirk. "You won't be going back at all."

Garet pulled out his axe. "You're the ones who aren't going anywhere!" he bellowed.

"Bring it on, whelp!" Saturos retorted, his sword seeming to appear in his hand. "You won't live long enough to regret your stupidity!"

"Prepare to experience firsthand the power of a master Fire Adept," growled Menardi, already swinging her scythe.

Saturos wasn't happy.

( Actually, nobody was happy. )

Saturos stopped them at the Alpine Crossing. "With the bridge at Vault out, this is the only way to get from northern Angara to Gondowan. If we can keep Isaac's group from coming through we should be free. Alex, Felix, do you think you can block the pass?"

Felix looked around uncertainly. Yes, he could work with earth, but this pass looked very stable. Alex nodded, though, and said, "Of course we can." He gestured for Felix to follow him. "Just do as I say."

Felix watched Alex make water well up in minuscule cracks in the stone. He froze it, then pointed to a particular spot. "Shake things up right there when I say now." Once Felix had nodded Alex turned back to the rock face, concentrating, then barked "Now!"

They repeated this several times at various points, but nothing much looked like it was happening. Then Alex led Felix back to where Saturos and the others were waiting and told him, "Loose the largest quake you can just where that rock is."

Felix started to do so. He was dimly aware that Jenna was shouting something, but all of his concentration was going to his Psynergy. Once the quake was going he realized what she was saying - "No! Stop! He'll be crushed!" - but it was too late to change anything now. Not necessarily too late to help afterward, though. He looked to see where she was pointing, and headed in that direction...

Only to be blocked by Saturos. "Come along. I don't imagine this will stop them forever, not when they have all the elements in their group." He, Menardi, and Alex herded the others onward toward the desert.

Menardi burst into the Proxians' room at the inn. "Felix! Come on. Kraden's taking some kids to Sol Sanctum."

Felix nodded, made sure his mask was secure, and followed Menardi up to Mount Aleph, sneaking past the guard easily enough. Saturos was waiting for them.

Mendardi scowled. "Where is Alex?"

Saturos sighed. "You know how he is, Menardi. He said he had to deal with something, but he'd be there when we needed him."

Menardi nodded tersely, still scowling, and the three of them trailed Kraden's group through the Sanctum. After several mazes and puzzles, they came to a room with a sun emblem on the floor, one that glowed brightly.

"We wait here," whispered Saturos. "The passage doesn't go much further, and if something happens we'll be able to see it from here and react accordingly."

They hadn't waited very long when the emblem's light flashed briefly blue, and one quarter of it began to flash between sun and moon, settling on moon in a few seconds. Saturos and Menardi jerked, but when nothing else happened, they calmed and continued to watch. After a few moments each of the other quarters also changed in similar fashion, until the sun emblem was replaced by the moon and its light was a steady blue. A peculiar beam of blue light seemed to emanate from a spot on the far wall.

A moment later, Kraden, Isaac, Garet, and Jenna arrived from the next room. Kraden was very excited, encouraging Isaac to look for further secrets. Isaac obediently went over and examined the source of the beam.

Immediately it widened into a shimmering blue portal. "Ah-ha! This has to be it!" crowed Kraden. "Let's go, Isaac!" Isaac nodded and stepped into the portal, the other Valeans following a moment later, and Kraden bringing up the rear.

The Proxians and Felix crept toward the portal, Saturos motioning the others to be quiet. Soon they could clearly hear a conversation on the other side of the portal - Kraden seemed to be giving a lecture on the Elements and the Elemental Stars. When he began talking about the Stone of Sages - how it could "transmute crude lead into gold, even thwart death itself!" Saturos shook his head. At Felix's questioning look he muttered something about taking metaphors too seriously.

Eventually Kraden convinced Isaac and Garet to collect the stars from him, and supplied them with woven-Mythril bags. "Convenient," whispered Menardi. "We won't need to get them ourselves, then."

After a moment there were rumbling sounds from the other side of the portal, followed by Kraden saying, "Good, good! Now go fetch the others!" The sequence repeated, and when the rumbling began for the third time Saturos nodded to Menardi. Gesturing for Felix to stay where he was, they stepped through.

At that point something apparently went wrong. Since only sound passed through the portal, Felix couldn't tell what happened, but before long Saturos was saying "It looks like they've spotted us."

Menardi responded, "I thought we'd be safe until we'd gotten all of the Stars."

Kraden, in apparent astonishment and outrage, spluttered, "You mean to steal the Elemental Stars?"

"Master Kraden, are you calling us thieves?" asked Saturos mockingly.

"I seem to recall you stealing our information," added Menardi.

Felix jerked as Jenna said, "What will you do with us once you have the Elemental Stars?"

Kraden, either melodramatic or panicked, cut in, "I'm sure they'll do us in once they no longer need us!"

At that point Felix impulsively stepped through the portal. "Relax... You will not be hurt." Looking to Saturos, he added, "That was our agreement, wasn't it?"

Saturos shook his head. "That all depends on how well they cooperate."

Menardi nodded. "They'll be safe, as long as they hand over the Elemental Stars." Turning to look at Jenna, she added, "Isn't that enough?" Felix scowled behind his mask.

Turning to look at Isaac and Garet, Saturos called, "You heard us. If you want to save your friends, then give us the Elemental Stars!"

Isaac nodded, and Kraden protested, "No, Isaac! You must not give them the Stars!"

Saturos turned and raised an eyebrow, and Kraden continued, "What guarantee do we have once we've given you the Elemental Stars?"

Menardi blinked. "Guarantee... Ah, I have one." The others turned to look at her. "You will have to remove your mask," she told Felix.

"But..." he protested weakly.

Saturos grinned. "A fine idea. He will be our guarantee." He nodded. "Under the circumstances, we have little choice. Felix! Remove your mask!" The last was in a grand voice, as though he were on stage.

Felix dithered as the Valeans reacted to the name, until Menardi mockingly asked, "What's wrong, Felix? Don't you want them to feel safe?"

Seeing Jenna's distress and confusion, Felix relented. "Very well." He reached behind his head, unhooked the straps, and pulled the mask off his face.

"I-It's not possible..." squeaked Jenna.

Felix nodded. "I know I've distressed you, Jenna. It was a miracle that I survived that day..."

"We are the ones who saved him," added Saturos.

"We saw him floating unconscious in the river as we passed," Menardi continued.

Turning back to Jenna, Felix concluded, "I've been with them ever since... I've experienced a great deal."

Jenna looked like she was about to cry. "But why? Why did you leave me alone..."

Felix shook his head, knowing this wasn't the time for long explanations, even if she were willing to believe. "Jenna..."

"My own brother... I thought you were dead!" she protested.

"Save this teary reunion for later," growled Saturos, clearly impatient.

"Yes. The Elemental Stars come first," said Menardi.

"Is this acceptable?" Saturos asked Isaac. "Felix would not allow us to harm you, much less his sister."

Garet nodded, and was on his way to give them to Menardi when Alex warped in front of him. "Will you permit me to relieve you of those Elemental Stars?" asked the Mercury Adept.

"Alex, you're late!" called Saturos, although he was obviously relieved that the group's final member had arrived.

When Garet had given the Stars to Alex, the latter smiled. "I'm afraid I must apologize in advance, for you will be bringing us the remaining Elemental Star, as well."

Garet sighed, and as Alex turned to leave, called, "Wait a minute! You want us to grab the other one, too?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "Oh, did you not understand me?"

Garet scowled. "You said you'd set Jenna free once we gave you the Elemental Stars. You promised..."

Saturos shook his head. "Yes, once you've given us all the Stars." When Garet continued to hesitate, he added, "Waiting won't help," in a threatening tone.

Glowering, Garet nodded. "Thank you for your cooperation," Alex said mockingly. "We'll be waiting for the rest."

Garet and Isaac glumly made their way across the treacherous platforms until they came to the statue holding the Mars Star. As they presumably had with the others, they placed a Mythril bag over the Star, waited for the rumbling to stop, and gathered the bag containing the Star. This time, though, the rumbling started again once the Star had been removed, and more heavily. It sounded like the cavern was exploding around them. The water on the floor evaporated, revealing lava-filled cracks, and the whole chamber shook furiously.

"What's the matter? What happened?" demanded Menardi.

"No!" Saturos snarled. "Not again!"

Alex, by contrast, didn't seem agitated at all. "Without the energy of the Elemental Stars, the chamber is collapsing." And indeed, chunks of rock were beginning to fall.

Kraden, too, seemed fascinated rather than terrified. "This must be more of Alchemy's power!"

After a minute or two, the shaking stopped. "It's over! But what was it?" asked Menardi.

"What's that!?" shrieked Jenna, at almost the same moment that Saturos cried, "No!"

Felix turned to follow their gaze, and saw an enormous boulder with a single blinking eye floating several feet above the chamber floor.

"Could that be... the Wise One?" wondered Kraden.

"Such power..." muttered Alex. "Incredible!"

The stone - the Wise One - pulsed with power that resonated through the Star Chamber. Felix couldn't tell what it was doing, but it seemed to be drawing something toward itself from all directions.

"It must be the guardian of the Elemental Stars!" decided Saturos.

"This doesn't look good," shouted Felix over the suddenly-renewed shaking. "Maybe we should escape while we can."

"But we need the Mars Star!" protested Menardi. "We can't just leave without it!"

"I agree with Felix. We're no match for the guardian." Somehow Alex managed to be heard clearly without raising his voice.

Saturos appeared to be struggling with a decision. Finally he said, "The Mars Star will have to wait for another day."

"What about Isaac and Garet?" asked Jenna. "You can't just leave them here!"

Saturos' face grew hard. "Forget them. They won't make it out alive."

"There... is a chance they might survive," said Menardi.

Saturos grimaced. "Anything is possible. What are you suggesting we do?"

"We take this 'Jenna' with us," offered Alex. "If they survive, they will want her back. And if they want her back, they will bring us the Star." He shook his head. "Regardless, Kraden must come with us. He is connected to all of this."

"Alex..." Felix protested, "Are you breaking our promise?"

"Conditions have changed since we made it."

"Jenna's not part of this. I won't let you hurt her!" Felix's had found the hilt of his sword.

"Do what you will with me," offered Kraden. "Just let Jenna go."

Saturos gave him a look. "Your bravery speaks well of you, old man, but you cannot help the girl now."

Menardi turned a similar look on Felix. "If we leave Jenna here, she will surely die. Is that what you want?"

Felix had no response to that, at least not before Alex pointed out, "Perhaps we ought to continue this elsewhere."

"Felix..." pleaded Jenna. He sighed and nodded to Saturos.

Menardi moved to stand behind Jenna. "Hurry," she urged, pushing Jenna toward the portal. Felix scowled, but even that was more than Menardi was willing to accept. "Who do you think we are?" she demanded. "You owe us your life!"

"Menardi!" cautioned Saturos. She grimaced and nodded. Saturos offered Kraden a small bow. "Master Kraden, you will be joining us, of course!"

Each of them proceeded through the portal. Just before she went, Jenna turned and called, "Isaac, Garet! Don't die!"

When Felix went through he heard Alex behind him saying, "The Mars Star... A pity that we have to leave it, but perhaps we'll be seeing it soon..."

Then they were all through and running for their lives out of the Sanctum.