"Land sweet land, am I right?"
I could not agree with Mold more. The little Venus Djinni was grinning in its own way as a pair of Mars Djinni flickered into my view, basically kissing the ground beside him. Menardi and Saturos' Djinni, I think. The Proxians as a rule did not communicate with Djinni, so I'd only seen them a few times in the last few years. To see another Adepts Djinni was to have that Adept open their heart to you, after all.
Agatio and Karst, I knew a little less well.
"Menardi, Karst. Find us an inn." Saturos' voice was gentle, but the steady bark of his commands also drew my focus back to the present. "Karst, make sure Menardi doesn't pick some shack for us to crash in. I want a real bed."
"Got it." Karst groaned. Menardi pursed her lips.
"We have no coin, Saturos. We should save what we-"
"Sell my mantle." Saturos retorted. "We need rest, Menardi." I wasn't brave enough to point out that mantle was made with the wool of several fire rats. It was probably worth more then several of the buildings in Tolbi. Proxians had little need for the coin that other nations used. Theirs was a society still in the age of bartering.
The fine goods they had were so exotic that it would easily fetch a high price, and we could use that to our advantage. Just carrying some supplies for bartering might last us quite some time. It was not a perfect solution, but it did stave it off for a while.
"We will need supplies, too." Agatio pointed out. Saturos nodded.
"Find us travel supplies. We won't need much in the way of camping gear, but salted foods and water is a must. The last time we made this trip we had to boil entirely too much salt water." Saturos admitted. "And if I have to drink any more alcohol and lemon…"
"Got it." Agatio moved before any of the rest of us. I suspected he just wanted to get away. He was not a people person, and the fact we had all been stuck in very close quarters was enough to make us all nervous.
"And me?"
"You're with me." Saturos confirmed my thoughts. "I want to do some exploring."
"That's code for he wants to know what this presence is." Saturos' Mars Djinni, who from memory, was called Temper, spoke up. Only Adepts could see Djinni, and even then, only if their hearts beat together. It was the safest way to vocalize the thought in Saturos' head.
"Felix is curious too." Mold spoke up. I just rolled my eyes. Well, neither of our Djinni were really able to keep their mouths shut. Perhaps it was for the best.
The city of Tolbi was huge, stretching across the shoreline of the sea and inland further then my eyes could actually see. The architecture was very different from what I remembered of the Vale, too, with great stone blocks making up every building, painted over and dyed orange and brown. The thatching of the roof was simply alien, and the streets were paved and lined with greenery.
It was alien to me. It must have been twice as alien to Saturos.
"I didn't think there were really this many people in one place in the world." I admitted softly as we walked out of the docks. Saturos nodded his understanding, his hand absently hiding his sword behind the small of his back, where his cape could cover it easily. I followed suite. There was no need to alarm anyone, after all.
"It wasn't this big seven years ago." Saturos admitted. "Every time I come here, it is bigger and bigger." It reminded me that Saturos was well travelled. He had been part of the original peace delegation to try and solve the Rift Crisis without conflict, as well as the first attempt to steal the Stars three years ago. He travelled a lot. In many ways, he was simply larger then life and twice as dangerous. "It's one of three hubs of the world, so to speak."
"And the other two?"
"Contigo, over on Atteka, is almost as big, but not as grand." Saturos noted. "Alhafra, over in Osenia, actually might be larger, but Osenia has far fewer towns then Gondowin and Angara, so the people are a bit more centralized."
"We have to go to Atteka at some point." I noted. Saturos nodded.
"Yeah. Contigo is a nice place. You'll be able to agree with me before this is through." It was also easy to forget that Saturos had been part of the party who had confirmed where the Lighthouses were. He was a hero to Prox, and lived his life like one.
I wonder if that was a good thing. It always looked like his shoulders were straining under the weight.
Tolbi was difficult to navigate. The townspeople did not slow down, and always seemed to be moving. I could smell the fish and salt on the air, which told me one of the cities main trades. However, our attempts to get directions to places of interest just kept running us in circles, until we stopped in front of the large dome that was the Colosso.
"I don't get it. Why do we keep ending up here?" I asked. Saturos pursed his lips, as he put a hand to his chin.
"It's normally a yearly competition. We're a few months early." He admitted. "It usually kicks off in the spring."
"It?"
"The Colosso." Saturos motioned to the great stadium before us. "Its a mix of gladiatorial combat, showmanship, obstacle courses and of course, duels. Only the best and brightest win, or so they say." He trailed off, yet a moment later, we both felt it.
It suddenly went very cold, a wrong chill ripping up my spine. It was like a splinter had been wedged in my mind and pried it open. The force of it was so strong that I couldn't even begin to muster a defence. I was simply an open book to whoever was on the other end of the splinter.
Then the splinter was ripped away, as Mold leapt atop my head and shielded my mind with his presence.
"I've got you!"
"What the hell was that!?"
"How?" I felt like my head was going to split open, my hand massaging my temple. Saturos looked like he'd fared even worse, his already pale skin almost turning deathly as he collapsed against a fountains wall. I stared for a long moment, as the scene began to present itself as something horribly wrong.
The fountain was of a somewhat young man, garbed in a travelling cape and wearing a magnificent beard, a sword with a split blade pitched against the ground. My first thought was that it was a statue to the Old Hero, Ladon, but…
I shook my head. No. It wasn't. The statue had a name on the plaque.
Our great founder, Babi.
"That was intense." My attention was drawn back down to Saturos, whose face was starting to regain its colour. "Just… how strong is this Adept?"
"It isn't strength." Temper spoke up. "Well, it is partly strength. It's lack of control, mainly. Its indiscriminate."
"We're Adepts. We try to resist it." I muttered. It was becoming clear just what we were dealing with from this power. It was someone who was reading the mind of everyone around them simultan…eous…ly… "Shit. Saturos-"
"We're compromised?"
"I don't know, but what I am would have been obvious the second they entered my head." I answered. "Someone knows we're here." The line of his mouth was getting thinner, and that renowned cunning of Saturos began to grind its gears.
"We're in trouble." He muttered. "We're no closer to finding this Adept, yet they are just going to learn more about us while we are here. If we sleep together, we can take shifts and shield each other, but…"
"We'll let our guard down sooner or later." I glanced at the sun. It was very close to setting. "Do we return to Menardi and Karst?"
"I hate to do it when we have nothing to show for it." Saturos admitted. "We can search a little more. There has to be more then one Adept here. With a Jupiter Adept that strong, they must be attracting a lot of people."
I nodded, my gaze returning to the arena.
"You said its a yearly event, right?"
"Yeah."
"Its a bit crowded here for it to be yearly, isn't it?"
"That's a good point." Saturos glanced behind him, the corner of his mouth twitching. "Want to check it out?"
"Yeah." The doors were surprisingly open, and the halls lined with posters. It was surprisingly poorly drawn, almost cartoonish, with a declaration of an 'Exhibition Event'. It looked like a challenge, where one fought deadly monsters for a boon. "People find this entertaining?" I asked. Saturos nodded.
"I suppose that sounds weird to you." He admitted. "Yeah, this is called blood sport. Peoples struggles are entertainment. Over in Osenia, there is something similar, though its a bit less organised and street based."
"It's a bit barbaric."
"It's fun." Saturos shrugged his shoulders. "For a warrior, it hones that instinct to fight and live. For others…" He paused, peering at the poster. "Gambling, figures. Apparently the monster usually wins."
"I see."
"That reward though."
"Saturos, you can't be considering it…"
"Between you, me and Agatio? We can do it easy." He declared, and I could see something resembling a bloodthirsty grin on his face. I couldn't understand that desire to fight. "Sign up is at the Lord's Manor, huh. Maybe we could get free board there."
"Menardi and Karst already got us an inn."
"Well, it's worth checking out, at least." Saturos noted. I just groaned. I wasn't going to win this.
The inside of the Colosso was a circular arena. In the center, there was some sort of giant lion with a goat and eagles head prowling the arena, with a tail that I could swear was a snake. The crowd was almost gone, so obviously the event had been winding down.
There was no one in the arena with it, though there was a not unhealthy amount of blood. I had to wonder how such a brutal sport was fun, but Saturos just nodded to himself.
"He's confident." Mold declared. I'd have rathered that he wasn't, myself.
"Yeah, we can take it. Reminds my of the fire cats, just with a few more heads." Saturos admitted. "Right, lets check out this manor, then we'll swing back around."
"Fine."
The Lord's Manor, as we discovered, was in a small glade within the city, like a piece of nature that had been transplanted into Tolbi to hide something. My guess was, it'd be something ugly, given the sacrilege of the cities founder having a statue in Ladon's image. As we walked the path, the splinter seemed to be coming back, but Mold was running interference like before.
"I think we found where our Adept is." I muttered. Saturos nodded.
"That would explain why I am being drawn here."
"I'm not."
"You're a Venus Adept. I'd have been surprised if you were." That was a fair enough point. While we might have both been Adepts, Venus and Jupiter were in opposition. We probably weren't drawn together the same way that Saturos was being drawn to this place. I didn't feel that tug in the bottom of my stomach that told me there was an Adept here. Rather, it was just a general feeling of contentment.
"Hail, travelers." The guards were jovial. However, they were also armed, and I knew that those spears were sharp. It was an odd city where the guards were openly armed and ready.
"We come to inquire as to the Colosso event." Saturos declared. The guards just waved us in, grinning and muttering among themselves as to whether or not we'd be good sport. The very idea made me feel just a little ill.
The splinter in my head almost felt like it bobbed up and down in agreement. As we walked through the doors of the manor, with more levels then I could count, I clicked my fingers to get Temper's attention.
"It's not working. They got through." I whispered. Temper nodded.
"Saturos will run interference. He wants you to find them." Temper declared. I nodded. That made sense. As a Venus Adept, I was suited to such things. Feeling the pulse of life of those around me was easy, for all humans teemed with life.
"Give me about fifteen." I muttered to Saturos as we walked past the staircase, as we were directed. The halls were full of guards and servants. I was beginning to worry there'd be no chance to slip away, when Saturos visibly and almost comically tripped, dragging everyone's attention to him.
I took my chance, turned a corner I was definitely not meant to, and bolted down the hall. I took a deep breath as I settled by a wall, closed my eyes, and let myself feel the pulse around me.
Every Adept element had such an ability. Jupiter was infamous for its mind reading. Venus could sense and encourage life around it. Mars could manipulate temperatures. Mercury could influence the form of liquids and solids. Jupiter's was said to be the most effective ability, while Mercury the least, but at that point, you get into the legends of the Vale and the Brood War.
I let those thoughts stay away for the moment. That I was a monster to be hunted did not sit well with me.
The majority of the life in the manor were on the bottom floor. There was, however, one small pulse above me. Biting my lip, I kept walking down the hall, stopping by a window, and gently opening it.
I'd never get up that stairwell without being seen. However, no one probably expected me to just climb the wall.
"Mold."
"Right." Technically, Mold and I were the same person. He was my Djinni, my psynergy made manifest in a form that my human mind could easily comprehend. A crutch, in some ways. When we joined together, I could direct my full power. When I left him to his own devices, he directed the part of me that used psynergy.
My hand glowed gold as I motioned at the wall, and vines shot up the wall. I'd have to remember to get rid of them when I was done.
The window was not locked. You'd think it would be, but then again, with the number of guards, it didn't seem so necessary. I was now on the third floor. There were at least five.
Two pulses. One on this floor, one above. The one above was too rhythmic. Whoever it was, they were asleep. Our Adept was probably on this floor with me. After all, they had to be awake to be reading peoples minds.
That, and as I walked the halls, the splinter dug in deeper.
The halls were lined with pictures and statues, an amassing of extravagance and wealth that seemed completely pointless. I had to wonder what kind of lives the mayors of this city lived that they had so much to spend?
"Here."
I stopped at the final door. The splinter in my head was huge and threatening to smash through. I took a deep breath, reached out, and turned the-
*Click*
It didn't turn.
I just groaned. Of course it was l…ocked…
Why would an Adept lock their door from the outside? The door knob clearly had its lock on this side. I flicked the latch, and opened the door.
And found myself face to face with a hand and crackling lightning.
[X] "Woah, calm down."
[ ] Draw your sword.
[ ] Meditate
-[ ] Force
[ ] Write in.
