Hello! We hope you enjoy this first chapter in Felix's story!


"Jenna, take off your mask!" The blonde woman called out. The rest of the situation dissolved around him as the name struck with all he had felt over the past three years all at once.

Jenna…? It couldn't be…


Water rushed and rumbled over the rocks at the base of the waterfall, splashing and slipping along before finding its place in the river and continuing downstream. Felix had become used to this as the white noise playing in the background of his thoughts now.

Every day for three years Felix found himself on the side of the river he had tried to reach that night. He stared, although blankly, at the crushed bridge and wreckage of his former home, his former life, his former family.

Every day he wondered how different things might have been if he had been quicker, if they had all gotten across, if Jenna hadn't pushed him to safety.

Maybe he should have been in her place. She was his little sister, it was his job to keep her safe and to protect her and instead she was the one who sacrificed herself for him. Sometimes, during the rainy and dark days when the night was fresher in his mind, he had wished Jenna never pushed him.

At least he could be with his family then.

"Felix, dear,"

The voice broke him from his thoughts, bringing his gaze from the river to the source behind him. His grandmother was calling to him from the doorway to her–his–home.

"It's almost time for your class with Kraden, you should get going soon," Whether the statement was true or not didn't really matter, Felix knew she was doing what she could to take him away from his thoughts in whatever way she could.

"Thanks, Grandma," He gave her a small wave as he started toward the stairs south of them, "I'll meet up with Isaac and Garet so we can go together."

"Stay safe, dear," she called after him, offering her own wave in return.

Stay safe. It was not something his grandmother used to say often, if at all, but since the accident… well who could blame her for wanting her only family left to be safe.

He marched along, seeing the ghosts of the past in every corner of Vale that his eyes caught. Jenna and he fishing on the riverbank. Jenna, Garet, Isaac, and himself dropping stones from the bridge to see who could make the loudest splash. Playing tag and scraping his knee when he fell and Jenna kissing it better as the two boys teased.

Now that was all gone. His childhood, his family, all his good memories now just left a bitter aftertaste in his mouth that he forcefully choked down every day.

"Garet, be careful!"

Felix looked up, not realising he had already gotten to Isaac's house, and just in time to see Garet disappear from view behind the roof.

Rushing around to the front the house he found a ladder propped up against it with both Isaac and his mother standing on the roof above him. He quickly climbed up–seeing no trace of Garet on the ground–to find out what had happened to the redhead.

"Garet, you must be more careful," Isaac's mother, Dora called out to Garet.

Garet had put a foot through the roof right up to the knee and was struggling to pull himself free. The three Venus adepts on the house shared a sigh as the redhead managed to extract his leg from the straw.

"Sorry, Ma'am," Garet mumbled sheepishly, taking careful steps to what he thought would be a more secure piece of roof, only to lodge his ankle through yet another part of it.

"Garet, I think it best that you come down and not through the house," Felix said, stepping onto the roof and offering a hand to pull him up.

"What did you need before you started destroying my hardwork?" Isaac asked, offering a quick hello to Felix along with Dora as they helped Garet up.

Garet took a few moments to steady and balance himself, rubbing the back of his neck as he apologised again. "There's some visitors who just arrived in town, came to see if you wanna welcome 'em with me!"

Isaac turned his eyes to his mother for a moment, seeing her simply smile and wave him away from the roof. She knew how much the boys enjoyed seeing outsiders since they had started studying under Kraden.

"It's okay, Isaac, you did a great job. I can patch up the recent damage," Dora chuckled, "Just be sure that you're not late for your studies."

The three boys offered quick nods–and another apology in Garet's case–before hurrying to the town square and the inn where the visitors would no doubt be staying.

The woman at the inn was… strange. She barely seemed to move or speak, and when she did it was in stiff movements and words with a hiss. Felix concluded that she must have been the bodyguard for a merchant or scholar of some form, the latter having been more common since Kraden was granted access to the town.

The three boys studied her curiously, the only things of note they could find were her odd weapon–a large stick with a curved blade, not unlike a sickle they would use for farming–by the wall, and the colourful mask with black material obscuring her eyes.

She certainly wasn't the talkative sort, so once Garet had finished his assumed role of town greeter, and having no knowledge of where her companion had gone for the time being, the three quickly made their way up the mountainside to Kraden's cottage.

They chatted idly about this and that on their way, teasing Garet about his roof accidents, discussing the last lesson and progress with their own Psynergy, wondering if–

"–little of Sol Santcum's..."

The three stopped as a voice was carried over from Kraden's home.

"–elders… must have barred.. .the incident three years… particularly outsiders… Kraden."

The three hugged the hillside as they moved closer. Whoever was speaking had an accent much like the woman from the inn. Given their interest in the Sanctum perhaps they were scholars like Felix had assumed. Peeking as best they could they spotted two more cloaked figures at the stairs leading up to where Kraden stayed.

"–use him?" A feminine voice came from one of the two, just barely audible from where the three stood, "–stubborn, far too… my liking."

"–cunning too," A male voice added, a fire behind the words, "–his knowledge… measure… certainly use… offer… right persuasion ."

"–here for...reason..." The woman said, "–could say… goals… same… course, if… willingly we can–"

Isaac tripped forward, trying his best to pick up on every word they said, snapping a branch growing from the hillside wall and causing the boys to stumble with a thud against it. The two figures were quick to descend on the boys, cloaks billowing about them with the speed they moved showing the Valeans flashes of blue and red beneath.

"Are you boys okay?" The male spoke up, the two of them helping them up.

"Ah, you must be the students Kraden told us about," The female spoke, but her voice sent chills down Felix's spine as he took her hand; her accent was the same sort of almost-hisses that the woman at the inn's was, and it gave him a sense of fear, "It's rare to see students trip over themselves in a rush to get to a class."

"Indeed," The male agreed with a chuckle, "if only our own students were as eager to learn as you three."

The boys dusted themselves off and sheepishly thanked the two, being met with fang-filled smiles before shaking hands–the boys' hands bared, and the two adults covered in thick gloves.

"Are you two with the woman at the inn?" Garet spoke up, "Oh wait, sorry, um, I'm Garet, the mayor's son. Welcome to Vale." He gestured to the two Venus Adepts flanking him, "This is Isaac and Felix."

The male nodded, "Ah, so you've met our companion, yes. A pleasure to meet you, boys. I am Saturos," He bowed and turned to his companion, "and this is Menardi," who offered a quick curtsey, "and we are scholars of Alchemy."

"Forgive us for not coming to the elders first, but we understand that Vale is a rather secluded town, we didn't wish to impose upon your privacy or beliefs," Menardi spoke up, "We simply had to speak with Kraden when we learned he had been allowed an extended stay at the birthplace of Weyard and Alchemy."

Felix could understand that, more than a few scholars and students had come to Vale in the hopes of learning as much as they could from Kraden. More often than not meeting the elders amounted to little more than a greeting and a request to not disturb the people. These two had probably heard enough stories from their peers before coming here.

"Well, we won't keep eager students like yourselves from class. Hopefully one day we can exchange notes," The two scholars chuckled as the boys added their own awkward ones to the mix.

Saturos and Menardi waved as they made their way back to the inn, adding on that they hoped to get more time to speak with Kraden once their class was finished.

Felix, Isaac, and Garet began walking towards Kraden's home. They quickly ducked up the stairs, calling out for Kraden.

Instead of a response to them, they heard Kraden talking to himself.

"Just who were they?" Kraden mused. "Quite unlike any scholars I've met before… They already know… too much, about Sol that even the elders of Vale don't know."

As he heard that, Felix found his mind scrutinising over every detail of the strangers. He hadn't much to go on, but he could have sworn they were… somehow different. He pushed it to the back of his mind, however, instead opening his mouth to call for Kraden once more.

However, Kraden began to muse once more, even as the boys approached–Felix's call had done nothing to alert the scholar that they had been approaching.

"And what were they saying about the Lighthouses? Questions about the dangers of reigniting them? And they suspect that the four elemental stars are the key?" A sigh. "These are things that even I, a trained alchemy sage , do not know."

Deciding that it may be best to talk now, Felix led the group over, waving a hello to Kraden. Tapping him on the shoulder when the wave did not get Kraden's attention, Felix waved once more once Kraden's attention was received.

"Oh! Boys…"

"You look like something's bothering you." Felix commented, trying to keep his voice light. "Was it those two? Saturos and Menardi, right?"

"Are they still out there?" Kraden looked over their shoulders.

"No," Isaac answered, "we met them on our way up to see you for our lesson. They went back to the inn asking us to let them know when our class is finished."

Kraden sighed and shook his head. "They're very persistent."

"Did they want something from you, Kraden?" Felix asked, aware of a bad feeling in his gut. He could have sworn Saturos and Menardi had scales, on the bits and pieces he could see on their faces that were not hidden in those deep hoods of theirs.

"That seems to be the case," confirmed Kraden. "Mount Aleph and Sol Sanctum," a tad bit of envy crept into Kraden's voice here, "they had spoken of them, as if they had seen them with their own eyes. Isn't that strange?"

The boys snapped to attention at that, outsiders weren't permitted near the Sanctum even the villagers were only allowed escorted visits as a rite of passage.

"Do you think they've been there before?" Garet asked, ready to run to warn the elders of thieves.

"Who can say?" Kraden mused, "They are from far distant lands, they may have simply read texts that never reached Tolbi's libraries. There's no way to confirm the accuracy of what they said… Unless…"

Felix wasn't sure he liked where this was going.

"Well." Kraden shrugged. "Unless we go confirm it."

"...Do you mean," Garet said, his voice shocked by Kraden's audacity, "we should go into Sol Sanctum, ourselves? "

"We're just going to see if they've been up there," reassured Kraden, as the boys made to object. "We'll be fine if they don't see us."

Felix didn't like this, but if they had truly been in the Sanctum before there was nothing to stop them from doing it again. The four of them could hardly warn the elders without any evidence. "Right. We won't be doing anything bad up there. Just looking."

"You can't tell anybody." Felix and Garet said at the same time, both of them looking at Isaac.

Felix understood Isaac would want to tell Dora. Since he lost his father he's done his best to protect and be there for his mother, and making sure she always knew where he would be was a big part of that. The blonde nodded slightly in response, obviously uncomfortable but knowing it to be for the best.

"Then it's decided," said Kraden, "we'll have you lead us, alright Felix?"

Felix nodded. It was a tradition in Vale, when a child came of age, to journey up to Sol Sanctum and enter it–however, in years past, since the Boulder fell, nobody had been allowed inside the Sanctum, except for the elders.

But Felix had still been led up to where the Sanctum was. So that made him the best choice.

Kraden quickly ducked back inside, saying something hastily about needing supplies for the journey up and for the boys to grab weapons if they could. Felix blinked–surely the trek wouldn't be that long, would it? But then again–who knew how long they would be inside the sanctum itself, or what was inside it for that matter.

The three of them quickly rushed to where they trained their Psynergy. They had pooled some money to buy swords from blacksmith to train with, in case monsters ever managed to get through again. Isaac and Garet wanted to be ready, and after hearing the tales of what they faced Felix was inclined to agree.

With swords in hand the three hurried back to Kraden's just in time to see him reappear from his home with a few small glittering bags, and the four began towards Mount Aleph.

Sneaking past the guard was the hard part. The first time, the four hadn't seen him, and as they had snuck past the sanctum's doors, he had chased them back to the front.

They were warned away, told to run along home and leave before he would have to report them for violating Vale's laws.

The four nodded quickly, backing away with apologies. As the guard moved out of sight around the other side of the sanctum, however, they sprinted their way up to Mount Aleph.

The journey up the mountain wasn't a particularly difficult one. Ancient stairways, meticulously kept by sages and elders of Vale, were the primary pathway up to the entrance of Sol Sanctum.

Certain stairways wrapped around the mountain leading to small shrines to represent the four elements and the various clans of Ancient Weyard and Felix wanted to avoid the guided tour.

Isaac and Garet followed quietly, being sure to watch behind them just to be sure that those scholars weren't following them like Kraden suspected, while Felix lead the way with Kraden, allowing him to lecture the three on the history of Alchemy for yet another time.

He told tales of how the stairways were supposed to have been constructed by all the primary clans at the time coming together to build a pathway to the safest place on Weyard, a place they could seal away the destructive power of Alchemy forever.

The many statues and symbols that decorated the journey towards the Sanctum reflected this, gemstones and emblems representing the elements adorning the stairway.

At least… they did where they were intact. It had caught Felix's heart in his chest the first time he'd seen it. The damage the Aleph Boulder had caused, stairways smashed in and broken apart, intricate stone carvings crushed into the mountain, statues broken in half and stone faces scattered around the stairway, his family being crushed by the river , no… no.

Felix shook his head to break his thoughts away from that, doing his best to focus on simply bringing his feet down on the steps as they climbed.

"Whoa." Isaac and Garet breathed out behind him.

Four statues, easily twice the size of all the ones on the journey up, met them as they reached the entrance to the Sanctum. Each one seemed to be made of a different mineral, almost glowing with colours representing their elements. The four encircled an emblem of the sun carved into a pedestal directly before the entrance.

Kraden continued to theorise that it was representative of the power of Alchemy with all four elements together, granting the power over life in the way the sun provides Weyard with life, or the power to create whatever the user desires.

"Okay, Kraden," Garet interrupted before the sage could get into another lecture, "how about we actually get inside before someone realises we're up here?"

"Ah, yes, of course you're right," Kraden nodded to him, "Let us press on."

The doors to the sanctum were stuck tight, requiring each of the Adepts to exert their Psynergy to move the heavy stone aside to grant them entry. Garet joked that any thieves that tried to get in must need an army or be stronger than all of them combined to even hope to get into the place.

Isaac and Felix debated about whether or not they should shut the doors behind them, in case they were followed, but decided against it in the event they exhausted and trapped themselves inside.


The journey through the Sanctum had begun in stunned silence, almost reverence, even Kraden's lips were sealed as the four marvelled at the hallways and murals built into Mt. Aleph. They trekked forward slowly, silently, perhaps afraid that being too quick or noisy would invoke some kind of punishment upon them.

That was until monsters started appearing through the cracks and holes in the walls, no doubt remnants of whatever had managed to find its way into the Sanctum during the storm years ago.

The boys drew their blades and kept a close circle around Kraden, fighting back the beasts with steel and Psynergy. Their technique wasn't the best, sloppy–a trained warrior would say, practiced strikes versus one another and training logs only went so far.

Despite this, with their weapons and powers, they were able to keep a steady pace through the Sanctum despite any monsters they found.

It was the puzzles that slowed them in the end, small mazes, switches, hidden gems, floor panels, and traps sought to stop them at every turn. Each room seemed to be filled with yet another challenge and danger, be it pitfalls, blades, arrows, or whatever Psynergy the ancient Adepts were able to infuse into the stone.

But with Kraden with them and some logic applied they were able to manoeuvre their way through each one, finding certain traps and puzzles only responded to their touch. Kraden theorised they would only disable for Adepts, or perhaps even Adepts from Vale, as a final defence.

Felix certainly thought that may have been the case. More than a few of the bones left in the deeper parts of the Sanctum seemed particularly human, be they ancient thieves or maybe even the reckless fools who triggered the storm three years ago. If they hadn't been Adepts, or from Vale as Kraden thought, the traps would have eventually wore them all down.

Finally, the tunnels seemed to narrow out into one. A low groaning sound could be heard further in the tunnel, and it brought alarm to the quartet. Once again, the three Adepts formed a circle around Kraden, watching in the dim light as a large creature approached them.

Felix swallowed as he gripped his hands around his sword. His technique was sloppy, he knew that–and it looked as if this thing, whatever it was, was going to be significantly more of a challenge than the rest of the monsters so far.

The three braced themselves and readied their stances as the low groans and clanks grew closer from further down the tunnel.

A large statue, with a head shaped like the minotaur engravings they had seen throughout the sanctum, stepped forward–torches on the walls lighting around it. Perhaps they had been a warning–one that they had not taken heed of.

The statue of the minotaur made a large, deep roaring sound, and as it approached, Felix could make out every horrific detail on it.

Dried blood was splattered across its otherwise white surface, looking as if it was covered in rust. It didn't look to be made of metal, but that was how the blood looked. It stunk, too, of a rusty smell–like iron–and a smell of death and decomposition.

Growth. Felix held out his hand, summoning the plants from below them, cracking through the floor of the sanctum, hoping to ensnare the minotaur statue.

Felix charged in at the guardian, the vines pulling at the beasts limbs and holding it back.

He heard a fireball from Garet woosh past him, hitting the statue straight in the chest. Felix ducked low, swiping at the statue's legs. Metal hit stone, and a loud screeching sound collided with Felix's ears.

From above, Isaac's Psynergy dropped a stone spire upon the guardian. However, the guardian snapped the vines and charged forward, grabbing Felix and forcibly throwing him backwards. He collided with the wall, head slamming into it. Pain exploded in the back of his skull.

Shaking his head to right his vision he focused on casting growth again, trying to impede the guardian from stepping forward and attacking Kraden.

Garet threw himself in front of Kraden, raising a hand and casting Flare . A wave of fire spread forward and across the minotaur guardian.

It charged Garet, axes appearing in its hands to swipe at Garet.

They bit deep into Garet's flesh.

The scream Garet let out would haunt Felix forever.

Before Felix could move, Isaac ducked low, pulling Garet down to safety. Isaac placed a hand over Garet's wound, casting Cure . It appeared as clay covered the wound up, and fell off, leaving nothing but unsullied skin behind.

Felix ran forward, stabbing deep into the rock of the statue guardian.

The combat continued that way for some time–Felix and Garet casting Psynergy, being thrown back, and Isaac healing their wounds. However, soon enough, Felix and Garet were drained, not being able to cast so much Psynergy in one go.

But step back they could not. Felix and Garet put themselves between the guardian and Kraden, the two charging in for one final blow.

It worked.

Steel hit joints, rock exploding outward, and the guardian collapsed–limbs tumbling from it. As it fell the sanctum behind it glowed softly, invitingly, as numerous lights rose from the guardian's crumpled body and converged upon the three Adepts.

"Is it done?" Felix gasped, aware of Isaac putting a hand on his head and healing him.

"I think so." Isaac murmured, breathing ragged breaths.

"Well done, boys! We've found it!" Kraden congratulated as he pushed ahead over the remains of the statue guardian.

The boys, exhausted, sheathed their weapons and followed after him, wondering aloud what they had found.

Kraden gestured to the mural of the sun beneath them, "This must be the true heart of Sol Sanctum! Did you not find it odd that we've seen no reference to Sol at all yet?"

Felix paused to look around the room the guardian was defending. It was certainly more representative of Sol than any other they had encountered. The mural on the floor, the gems and carvings in the walls, all of it tied to Sol and truly gave the feel of a Sanctum.

"It's just as I imagined," Kraden spoke as he paced around the room, examining each detail, "exactly as they described it… Which means–"

"They really were thieves!" Garet yelled out, voice echoing around the chamber, "They came to rob the Sanctum!"

"Worse than that," Isaac added, "if they knew all this then they were probably the last ones in the Sanctum."

"And that would mean…"

"They're the ones who caused the storm." Felix growled, hand tightening around the handle of his blade.

It was their fault. It was their fault the storm was summoned that night. It was their fault he had gotten trapped in the river. It was their fault the Boulder fell. It was their fault his family died.

It was their fault he had seen Jenna crushed right in front of him.

His grip tightened even more, wanting nothing more than to run out of the Sanctum and hunt them down. To find them and make them feel every ounce of pain he had felt since that night. Make them pay for what they did to his family and so many others in Vale.

He felt sick, remembering the handshakes and smiles they had flashed him only hours ago. The pleasantries and fake personas they masked themselves with. Knowing they had looked each other in the eyes disgusted Felix to no end. Had he known then...

The other three paused, turning to Felix trying to find more than sympathetic glances to give him. Felix merely stood up straighter, letting a breath out as he relaxed a little, nodding to Isaac knowing he understood how this revelation felt.

"We need to go warn the elders!" Garet said after a short pause for the Venus Adepts, "We have to get them out of Vale!"

"And if they're already here?" Kraden suggested, "They made it this far before, further even, and caused that horrible storm. If we can secure whatever secrets Sol Sanctum holds we can protect them and Vale for them."

The boys gazes tightened on Kraden, not liking that suggestion at all. But… Felix had to admit he raised valid points. It was their fault three years ago and who knew if they had learned how to succeed where they failed last time. On the one hand they triggered another disaster, on the other they found the secrets to Alchemy and caused even more. The chances they could get back to the elders and drive them out of town before something happened was slim.

"Okay," Felix conceded, "We press on."

Each of them nodded, trusting in Felix's decision to go along with Kraden's suggestion, as Kraden continued through a passageway to another room.

"Ah, fascinating!" He exclaimed as the boys caught up with him.

The room was almost a mirror of the one they had just been in, but instead of Sol decorating it Luna was emblazoned across each corner. The room seemed to shimmer with starlight as the ceiling illuminated the room somehow.

"These two rooms must be connected somehow…" Kraden mused as he paced between the two, trying to find some clue to the nature of it. "Will you three continue through to see if there is any mechanism related to these rooms?"

The three agreed, they hadn't encountered any monsters in the deepest parts of the Sanctum save for the guardian and trusted he would be safe. They agreed not to stray too far from him just in case as they descended nearby stairways.

"Wow…" They breathed out as they entered what could only be described as a shrine.

Although the rooms were similar, the most striking difference was a large opening at the opposite end of the room. Garet rushed up to the edge, peering out through it, a wondrous look on his face.

"Look!" Garet cried. "We're on the other side of Mount Aleph! Look at how much of Angara we can see–there's even snow, way out there!"

Isaac and Felix took a brief look out there, a moment of stunned silence filling all three of the boys. Isaac pushed away after a moment, looking around the room.

"Alright," said Isaac, "let's try to figure out this place."

The boys spent a good half hour poring over the room. "Should we check out the other room?" was a question asked more than once, by all three of the boys, and checked it they had–though the only difference in that room was the presence of one more statue.

"Well," said Garet, "these ones in the first room–they look like they can be moved. Let's try pushing one of those into position?"

Felix and Isaac looked at each other and nodded. However, it was a mistake as one Garet's Psynergetic hand moved the statue, the room began to shake around them, lightning striking the quarter of Luna closest to the statue Garet had moved. The mural shifting into Sol where it was struck. The boys reacted quickly, using their Psynergy to push the statue back to its original position and ending the quakes and lightning strikes.

Kraden ran back to the boys, demanding to know what had happened. After the boys explained what had happened, they bantered for a few moments, drawing the conclusion that the mechanism to disable the trap must be somewhere nearby.

The boys reexamined the other room, agreeing after moments of deliberation that the larger statue from the other room must be instrumental in some way.

As the boys moved towards the statues, they attempted to move the statues with their Psynergy, to no avail. The Psynergetic hands dissipated as they made contact with the statues. Upon thinking that perhaps they'd have to physically move the statues, it took the three boys what felt like forever to barely move one.

Felix hopped to the centre of the room, running his hands through the looser hairs that had escaped his ponytail. "There has to be some way." He groaned as he tried to use Move to pull the centre statue closer to them.

Nothing.

Felix stepped closer to the statue, looking at the exhausted Garet and Isaac sympathetically. They had spent a long time in here–long enough to forget where the flow of time had gone–and still nothing.

Frustrated, Felix punched the statue. He felt his knuckles crack under the force of the blow, and he swore softly, trying to shake the pain out of them.

"I give up." Garet hollered. "Whatever this trap is, hopefully the thieves can't figure it out either."

"We can't take that risk." Isaac shook his head. "They risked it once, they'll do it again."

Felix put both his hands on the statue now, trying to pull it into position. It did not move.

However, the statues began to glow now, a soft, welcoming light. Felix stepped back, his eyes widening. "Whoa…"

"What did you do?" Isaac asked.

"I don't know." Felix said as he chewed on his lower lip for a moment. "Let's try moving some of these statues again?"

Garet and Isaac nodded, and with some pushes, a beam of light appeared and revealed a hole in front of the centre statue–which Felix used Move to pull into place.

There was a loud click as it fell in, and Felix grinned. Hopefully, that disarmed the trap.

They moved quickly to the other room, pushing one Luna statue into place and watching as it cast a light upon the mural, changing it in flashes to a piece of Sol. With no sign of quakes or lightning they hurried to move the others as they heard Kraden shouting down to them that they must have solved it.

Hurrying back upstairs they found themselves in the Sol room, where the Luna room had been. Kraden was clapping and almost bouncing in excitement.

"You've done it, boys!" He exclaimed, "Quickly, come and see!"

The sage moved with a speed uncanny for his age and the boys followed after him, finding themselves in the brand new Luna room. A beam of light was travelling from the centre of the Luna mural to the northern wall.

"This must be it! This must be the last blockade! Quickly, boys, we must solve it!"

The three boys swallowed, a little nervous at how excited Kraden was, before Felix stepped forward curiously. Reaching a hand out to it, it looked like the light was striking the wall and not simply shining upon it.

Felix's hand passed through the beam. Nothing happened, as though his hand was not even there, the beam just continued to hit the wall. Confused, he moved his hand to where the light ended.

The four of them jumped backwards as the wall seemed to open into a door of light from Felix's touch.

"Fascinating…" Kraden whispered as he looked between the door and Felix, who was inspecting his hand was still in working order. "Shall we go?"

Hesitantly, the boys nodded, Felix leading the way as he stepped through the portal in the wall.

He found himself blinded as he travelled in what seemed to be light itself before finding himself emerging into a shimmering cave. He stumbled slightly as his feet hit slick stone beneath him, taking a moment to right himself as the other three followed him through.

Isaac and Garet stumbled as he did but managed to right themselves, unfortunately Kraden tripped as he came through twisting his ankle as he landed. Gasping out in pain the sage found himself surrounded by the Valeans, but only saw the cave around him.

"Incredible!" He shouted, the pain almost a non-issue for him now, "Look, boys, those statues!"

Having been distracted by Kraden's fall the three of them hadn't had a chance before now, but as they looked out they could clearly see 4 statues surrounding them, each emitting a bright glow from their centres. Small platforms of stepping stones separated them from the entrance and dropped down into a crystal clear pool beneath them that seemed to both reflect the cave ceiling and show the cave floor.

"The Elemental Stars!" Kraden grasped Isaac's hand as he tried to lift himself back to his feet, "They're real!"

The boys gasped in almost reverence. The Elemental Stars? This is what Vale had been tasked with defending?

"This must mean…" Kraden mused as he hobbled to his feet, "The Stone of Sages is not just a myth! Boys, we must secure the Stars!"

Felix didn't trust Kraden's motives. They were thinly veiled at best, the scholar in him was showing through far too heavily, it was clear that he cared not for Vale's traditions or beliefs and only wished to study the Stars. However, he was still right, they couldn't just leave them here now that they had unlocked the way.

"Okay," Felix agreed, nodding to Isaac and Garet.

"You and Garet go," suggested Isaac, as the three looked at the mythril bags Kraden handed to Felix. "I'll keep an eye out and take care of Kraden's ankle."

Felix wanted to argue for a moment, but he looked at how far those jumps were–and how slippery Kraden seemed when he had landed. Besides, who knew what else was out there? There had been a guardian to the entrance, what was there to stop a guardian being in the Chamber proper?

Felix nodded.

He moved to the edge and made the first jump. The landing was a solid one, though he could still feel how slippery it was beneath his feet. Garet jumped, barely making it as well, and Felix caught him. The two progressed like that for the longest time, before they finally arrived at the first statue.

It glowed with a soft orange light, and Felix felt as if it was home. He looked for a way to figure out how they could obtain this elemental star, he and Garet both looking for some sort of trap. However, none presented itself, and Felix reached out to the star, sitting inside the maiden-statue's hand, and pulled it out.

The world shook.

Felix heard things rise from the water, and as he looked around the room–which seemed brighter now–he saw more stepping-stones rise up from the water towards the other Elemental Stars.

Felix gripped the mythril bags tightly and jumped off the landing back onto the stepping-stones, rapidly, making his way towards the Mercury Star.

This maiden statue looked different from the other. Where the Venus statue had been human this one was... not-quite–gills, scales and a tail that wrapped around the base she was propped upon. Felix swallowed, not sure as to why she appeared this way–perhaps she was a member of the ancient Mercury Clan? Pushing past that thought Felix reached up and pulled the Star out of her hands.

Once again, the ground shook, and Felix could hear Kraden calling: "Just two more!"

Felix nodded and began the jump back to the main landing, so he could figure the best way to get across and check on Kraden, before he began jumping towards the Jupiter Star.

This statue had feathered wings surrounding it, and Felix felt great apprehension as he pulled this one out, feeling as though the strength was being sapped from him as he took it in his hand. The ground shook once more, and Felix turned to face Kraden and Isaac.

His stomach bottomed out.

"It looks as if they've spotted us," Saturos drawled out. He had one hand gripping Isaac's arm, while Menardi had hers on Kraden's.

Neither Isaac or Kraden looked capable of escaping.

Menardi groaned, lamenting the fact that Felix hadn't gotten all the Stars yet.

"Thieves!" Garet yelled across the gap at the interlopers.

Saturos laughed back at the redhead, "Are you calling us thieves? It's you who are taking the Stars after all."

"What will you do with us, once you have the Elemental Stars?" Isaac's voice was barely audible to Felix's ears. Isaac shot Felix a look, begging for some sort of help.

What could Felix do, though? Felix and Garet were teenagers–Felix barely a fully grown man–against people who looked vicious enough to kill them.

"Relax," entered another voice–one Felix couldn't quite place. "You will not be hurt."

The masked woman from the inn–who they had greeted so cheerfully earlier that same day–appeared in the portal. She stepped down, and towards Isaac and Kraden, no emotion to be discerned from her voice.

"That was our… agreement, was it not?" Now, however, she sounded a little more pleading, as if she was not on the same equal footing as Saturos and Menardi.

"They'll be safe as long as they hand over the Elemental Stars." Menardi snarled as she turned to face the masked woman. "Isn't that enough?"

"You heard us," Saturos called out to Felix and Garet, "if you want to save your friends, then give us the Elemental Stars!"

Felix felt like his world was ending. No doubt, if he refused to hand over the Stars, they'd kill both Kraden and Isaac–and then possibly himself and Garet as well, just to take the Stars for themselves. And it would be all Felix's fault.

His fists balled up tightly as he stared out towards the main platform where they all stood, glaring them down and having it be returned in kind.

"You! Saturos," The man in question tilted his head up in surprise, almost impressed at this form of challenge from Felix, "it was you wasn't it? Three years ago? You're the ones who caused the storm!"

Saturos regarded Felix for a moment before offering him a simple nod, "That's right. We tried to get the Stars then too."

"So it's your fault my family died!" Felix roared at he and Menardi, "I saw my sister crushed because of you!"

Felix could feel the rage building within him. All the sadness, the pain, the anguish, and the loneliness of the past three years coming to a boiling point within him. Psynergy flowed at his fingertips almost ready to lash out in any imaginable way at them.

Saturos and Menardi didn't respond in any noticeable way, their eyes simply locking onto Felix with a little more interest. The masked woman though, she seemed shaken, a hand reaching up to clutch her cloak to her chest.

"We are sorry for what it's worth," Saturos called out, "but no words will stop us."

"Then how can I trust yours?" Felix countered, holding up the three bags, "What guarantee do I have that if I hand these over that you won't just trigger another storm, leave the lot of us here to die? Put Vale through another disaster just to get away with the Stars safely?"

Menardi scoffed, "Safely? Boy, you have no idea how dangerous this place can be. However," She turned to her masked compatriot, "I can think of a guarantee."

"Tha–that means–" The masked woman stuttered out.

"Ah, of course," Saturos smirked, "a fine idea."

"Jenna, take off your mask!" Menardi called out. The rest of the situation dissolved around him as the name struck with all Felix had felt over the past three years all at once.

Jenna…? It couldn't be…


Sky: Thank you for reading! We hope you enjoy this chapter and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Droory: We hope you enjoyed Felix's side of the story and we look forward to hearing what you thought about it and can't wait to bring you more!
Thanks for reading!
Your friend and writer,
Droory