Hello! These will be short stories involving the protagonists and some others. One chapter per character. It may include personal pairings. I hope you enjoy it!


ISAAC

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Isaac sighed deeply. Again. Standing on the deck, leaning with his elbows on the gunwale, eyes closed and his forehead resting over his crossed hands. His mind was a chaos of decisions and choices, but none of them were any pleasant, to say the least.

He just couldn't stop thinking about it. How everything ended up to be.

Felix was with him, at the wheel, just a few steps away. It was their turn to watch tonight, Garet and Jenna wouldn't come to replace them until sunrise... so they could very well have a bit of a chat.

"Isaac," he called him, quietly but perfectly audible in the peaceful night.

The blond adept looked up, and Felix made a move with his head telling the other to come closer.

"What's bothering you?" he asked when Isaac was next to him.

"Many things, actually," admitted the younger boy, almost sighing tiredly again.

"Anything in special?"

"Well..." Isaac thought a little how to put it in words. "I'm just having a difficult time getting over how much of an idiot I am."

"What do you mean?" inquired Felix, confused.

"All this time," his friend tried to explain, rubbing his forehead, "since the very moment the task was bestowed upon Garet and me, I thought we were doing the right thing. That I was playing the great hero here: going on an adventure, chasing after the bad guys, trying to rescue my friend and my teacher, solving mysteries, killing monsters, helping people in need... as saving-the-world stuff, get it?"

"Yes. And?"

"And now that I actually know the truth, I feel like the most stupid boy in Weyard. We were chasing after a lie, a ruse, trying to stop the real good guys! My friends didn't need to be saved, having you protecting them; mysteries only led to more mysteries, and although we actually helped people with their troubles, we still didn't have the slightest clue about what we were really getting ourselves into. Yeah, such a big hero I am!"

Felix listened to him in silence. Neither of them were talkative people, but even they needed to rant sometimes to stress out.

"Isaac," he spoke calmly. "You were never wrong, you simply didn't know all the truth. You chose to do the right thing with the little you knew."

His friend looked at him again, not very convinced, so Felix continued.

"What did you know? That a group of strangers appeared in your home village, assaulted a sacred mountain, stole valuable relics from an ancient temple and kidnapped two people, before abandoning you and Garet to your likely death in an erupting volcano. Not exactly what anyone would take as good references."

"Yes, but they..."

"They did it out of desperation and fear, true, but how could you know? They were still bad things to do. It's not your fault everything ended like that. We were raised with the belief of Alchemy destroying the world if it was ever released. Don't you think I also was scared out of my pants at first?"

"Really?" Isaac doubted, raising an eyebrow. "You were scared 'out of your pants'?"

Felix couldn't help a little smile.

"Yes, of course I was. The fact that right now I could give you one hell of a battle doesn't mean it was always like that. Believe me, Menardi was an awesome warrioress as much as she was an awful instructor."

With the mention of the Proxian, a shadow fell over Isaac's face. There was something he wanted to ask, but wasn't sure how. After all, they all had just recently joined parties for a common goal, and any misunderstanding could be lethal to their teamwork.

"How did it feel? Doing what you did..." he shut up abruptly. "Sorry, that hasn't come out the way I intended. I meant..."

"I had to wear a mask," Felix interrupted, not taking offense. "Going back home after three years, the purpose I was there for, and only to leave again... it couldn't be me. So I wore a mask, making another person doing all that."

"Well, I hope you don't order us any meanie play like that, now that you've got more underlings to command," Isaac attempted to joke.

"Underlings?" the older venusian repeated, shaking his head. "No, nothing of the sort. You're still the leader of your group, Isaac. I need partners, not underlings. And in fact, more times than not I would appreciate some help about what to do next, since Kraden only cares about scientific matters and such."

Hearing that, a small smile crept upon the blond's face. It felt good being friends again, specially knowing the harsh task waiting ahead; knowing that Felix may very well be considered a traitor to the teachings of the village, but was still a nice person after all. And the same... the same could be said about himself... right? They all were about to violate Vale's most sacred laws, but they were doing it for the greater good.

Feeling reassured, Isaac extended a hand towards Felix. He, without hesitating a second, took one of his off the wheel and shook firmly his fellow adept's.

"I am glad to have you and Garet by my side again. And I'm sure Jenna is very happy too."

Isaac's heart skipped a beat at the female's name, but tried not to show any different reaction.

"Me too (cough)... I mean, we are too. Ehm... I'll go up the mast to watch now."

Felix saw him scurrying away, curious about his odd slip with words, but didn't say anything.

And the night became silent once again.


Thanks for reading and reviewing! :D