The New Age (Azecreth and Princess)

Star Pupil

Star Pupil

Old soul
Joined
Apr 30, 2011
Location
Valhalla
The world was different now, or at least it felt that way to Mia. She could have stayed back in Imil with her family and friends, but she wasn't the only healer anymore. Thanks to the Mercury house being lit, the healing waters had taken her place as the healer and kept the village healthy and thriving. Not to mention there had been a few young adepts popping up here and there, to which she gratefully took on as her own apprentices. She had the time since Justin and Megan were practically full fledged adepts at this point. An impressive feat considering they had continued her studies even after she left to help Isaac.

She knew she had a duty to him, or at least she told herself that. She had followed him for so long that when he came seeking her advice, thinking that there was something wrong with him, she immediately volunteered to help him find out what was happening to him. It was...completely out of the ordinary to feel the kind of psynergy brimming from a human being. It was the kind of energy that reminded her of being near the beacon of a lighthouse, which was curious.

It had only been a few weeks since they travelled together, their destination unknown. There was so much of the world they had explored previously and even now they were discovering new villages, new people. New adepts. They stopped whenever they could to help people who were puzzled of their strange new powers. Now they were at yet another undiscovered village, deep in the mountains. She knew from the get go that they made a living off of mining gold and other precious stones, she could tell because of the many man made caves that were all over the mountainside. It reminded her of another village they had visited in their travels. "Looks like we're stopping here for the night." Mia told Isaac as they approached a rather...shoddy looking inn. They probably didn't get many visitors...would this be another place they had to share a room? It was...a little embarrassing to say the least since it was only the two of for now. Garet had responsibilities in Vale, and Jenna just wanted to be home. Who could blame her after being forced to travel so long?
 
The world had changed.

Isaac didn't need to be told that, having been a part of the change itself and how it had happened. He could see it, could hear it in the tales that were told and the people he met. But even more than that, he could feel it. In the air, in the ground, and mostly in himself. It wasn't like how he had felt before, and he could tel that it wasn't simply because the Seal on Alchemy had been removed. No, this was too....different, strange. And the things he had been able to do, they were beyond belief.

Since the lighthouses had been lit, he had returned to Vale, to help them rebuild and to recover from his adventures. And for some time he had lived in peace, returned to a pleasant life with Jenna and Garret, even with the news that came in from the world. He had had nothing on his mind, had considered his adventure to be over, but one day things had changed. There had been a landslide from the unstable mountain, yet he had nearly single handedly ended it, something that should have amazed. And at that point, he knew.

So he had left Vale, had journeyed to find Mia. As a healer, she was the one most likely to know what the problem was. But even she wasn't sure, beyond what she could tell about his psynergy. So they had made the decision to travel together, to visit the towns and the nations, to see the new adepts that were reported to have arisen, and perhaps to find the cause of what had happened to him. There was an explanation out there in the world, and they would find it eventually.

It had been a few weeks, and at last they had arrived at a new village. This one rested deep in the mountains, and as far as he knew it was fairly isolated from the rest of the world. But with the return of Alchemy that had changed, and now they had come to visit. He too, could tell that they probably made a living off mining, though it left him to wonder about some other things, like where they got their food from. But he supposed that he would find out soon enough as they walked towards a run down inn, where they would probably have to stay the night.

"Yeah," he agreed with a nod as he eyed the place. "Still, better than sleeping on the ground." He supposed, anyway. Of course, he was aware of the possibility of sharing a room, and he ultimately didn't mind it too much. Actually, he would admit that he did find her attractive, though he hadn't particularly voiced that belief. So for now he walked on towards the inn, ready to see what they might have to brave this night.
 
"Very true," Mia agreed as she looked at the sunset before glancing back at him. "How are you feeling?" A question that was frequently asked, it was her job to make sure that his condition wasn't...worsening. She had no idea if a human body could contain too much psynergy, but...it was a thought that worried her about Isaac. The feats he was capable of were amazing, but at what cost?

Something about this bothered her. Why now? This condition of his, why was it just now making itself apparent? Had this power been there all along? Dormant, waiting to be awakened by the lighthouse? No...then wouldn't that be true for other adepts? Especially her and the rest of her bloodline. There weren't many left in her clan, but their blood ran strong. Especially his...wherever he was.
 
Isaac paused for a moment to consider the question, turning an inner eye on himself. His being thrummed with power, something unusual that he had yet become accustomed to given time to do so. It felt like it threatened to overflow, and yet at the same time he knew that it wouldn't, not without him wanting it to. Or so he hoped, anyway. With how he felt now, who knew what could happen simply on accident? He didn't think it was precedented anywhere on Weyard.

"Fine," he replied with a smile, confident in that even as he looked to reassure her before heading back on towards the inn. It was only fair for her to be worried, especially since he was the one to have approached her in the first place with this issue. "Don't worry." If there was a problem, she would be the first to know. But at the moment, he just wanted to get to the inn so he could relax his tired feet. Even after spending so long on that journey to save the world, there was nothing like a good rest after a long walk.
 
"You tell me not to, but you know I'm going to.." Mia mumbled as she walked with him. She was quiet for a moment as she regarded him, her blue eyes staring at him curiously. Was he really okay? Isaac has always taken the brunt of the responsibility of the group and it was rare that anyone could ever tell that he was bothered by something. But she would trust him for now, there was no erratic behavior in his psynergy that she could sense.

Once they found themselves inside of the "cozy" inn, they found a rather tired looking gentlemen there. But he perked up as soon as he glanced over at them and stood up straight.

"Travelers!" He said with only an excitement that a desperate man could muster. "Welcome to Sanor! What brings you to this little village, huh?"

"We're just passing through." Mia said with a smile. "Isn't that right, Isaac?"
 
Isaac couldn't deny that no matter how he might reassure her, Mia would still worry about him. It was in her nature as a healer, and to try and convince her was a futile effort at best. Still, it wasn't as if he had any incentive, some need to lie to her. This time the world wasn't at stake, so he could be a bit more free with information, didn't have to hide as much. He might suffer, but it was bearable. Besides, she would be able to see if something went terribly wrong anyway.

At last they arrived at the inn, and Isaac led the way inside, into the structure. He looked around first, noting the tired gentlemen and the smallish size, which would have been somewhat more unbearable if it weren't for the fact that basically no one was here. It wasn't the best, but he'd been in worse, that was for sure.

He smiled in return, nodding as he agreed with what Mia had told the man. "Yeah," he added. "We heard about everything that's been happening in the world, and we decided to go see it for ourselves. " Well, that among other things, but there was no need to broadcast who they were or what they had done. Experience had shown that that just created more hassle than was needed.

With that said, he moved on to the business at hand, so they could get it out of the way quickly, while moving to the front desk where the gentleman working the inn stood. "We'd like to purchase a meal for tonight. And a room or two, if you have them available." He wouldn't force Mia to sleep in the same room if she didn't want to and it was an option. Certainly money was no issue, not after their long travel. He just waited to hear what the worker had to say about it.
 
"Certainly! Just be careful when you head out in the morning...uhh, this isn't exactly the safest route for travelers. In fact, I sincerely hope you're not trying to travel through the mountains. Anyways, 60 coins for one room, yes?" The man asked with a nervous smile.

One room? Sixty coins? Well, Mia expected no less for a place like this. She gladly handed him the money, but she was more concerned about his warning. "What's in the mountains? We were planning to travel through them." It wasn't the typical path people used to get around, but Isaac and Mia weren't typical people.

"...A beast of some kind. Listen...we mine a lot here. Strange stones started erupting from the earth recently and it's been making the animals pretty much crazy. We could deal with them for the most part, but there's just one we can't deal with. It travels underground, through the tunnels we made. We're trying to get rid of it, but..." He trailed off, scratching his head a little. "Well, let's just say a few people have gone missing looking for that thing. We leave it alone now. But we think it's nest is somewhere on the path that leads to the other side of Gondowan. So...if you must go there, be careful." He already received their coin, so he wasn't scared to talk about it now.

"Not really surprising," Mia said as the inkeeper handed her the key to the one room. "What about the town? Anyone have anything strange going on with them?"

For a moment he was silent before looking away. A strange reaction, one that made Mia tilt her head slightly. "No, I don't think so." He grumbled awkwardly. "Anyways, let me show you to your room. I'll have my cook prepare you something right away."
 
Isaac frowned at the warning that the innkeeper gave them, even as Mia handed over the coin needed to pay for the room. He was less concerned about the price and more about what potential dangers they might be facing, and it seemed Mia felt the same as she asked about what the trouble was, to which they were given a brief explanation. It almost made him sigh, with how reminiscent it seemed of the old days. They would do their best, but somehow he had a feeling that with their luck they would end up meeting this thing anyway.

"Thanks, we'll watch out for it," he reassured the man, with all intentions of it being true. They might inevitably wander into it, but it never hurt to be prepared. Certainly it would make things easier for the both of them going on. He noted the key being handed over, much to his satisfaction, as coin brought more openness.

Of more concern was how the innkeeper reacted to the question of the town, and it didn't take a genius or someone who had trekked the globe to figure out that the man was hiding something from them. This also wasn't entirely unusual, but he figured that if it mattered they would find it out in time.

With a nod, he stepped back to let the innkeeper take them to their room. "Lead the way," he indicated, ready and willing to go wherever the man led. After so long on the road, he was going to enjoy the chance to rest when it came. But if events in this town interfered, well, he would not object to it either.
 
The room was decent and she could only be glad there were at least two beds there. It might have been a little dusty, as she noted when she went to light the candles since it was already getting dark anyway. But anything beat the ground at this point. Once she was sure the innkeeper was no longer around, she looked over at Isaac. "Maybe we should...help them get rid of it?" She asked him as she placed her luggage down beside the bed she would be sleeping on. "It must be restricting their trade and their mining, after all...it's bad for the town's economy." Maybe she was a bleeding heart, but...they had faced stronger things than a rampaging beast.
 
Entering the room, Isaac nodded in thanks to the innkeeper. This would do, for what they needed it for. An he wasn't too disappointed by te presence of two beds, which would make it easier for the both of them. Of course, it was a bit cramped, and dusty, but that was to be expected with how much traffic the inn seemed to get. It was still better than sleeping on the ground.

With the innkeeper gone he got to work, placing his stuff down near a claimed bed, first the weapons and then everything else. He sighed, glad to lose the weight, before he looked to Mia as she asked if they should help with the creature. He thought on it for a moment before nodding in agreement, sitting down on the bed. "I don't see why not," he replied. "It's not like we're on some sort of schedule." And besides they had fought tougher things before. How bad could this be?
 
"No, we aren't..since we don't even know where we're going." Mia responded with a bit of a smile. "But, the other thing is...did you see the way that man looked when I asked about the town? He was definitely hiding something. If only Ivan was here, or Sheba." Mia sighed and then sat down on the bed. "I suppose if it's anything concerning, we'll learn about it tomorrow."

There was a faint sound of yelling, but Mia couldn't quite catch what was being said. Was that the innkeeper and his chef? This place really didn't get a lot of customers, did it?

*****
He wasn't a bad person, he was just struggling...yeah, that was it. He couldn't afford to actually pay anyone, and that girl didn't have anyplace to go considering her parents weren't around. Well, her father used to be, but he had left along time ago for work...he eventually stopped sending her money and she had to start working to support herself. The last people that hired her swore up and down that she made their son sick and then sent her away...to him. But the only thing he could offer her was a place to stay in exchange for her services.

Maybe receiving no pay was making her lazy, he didn't know. Either way it took some effort to actually get her to come out of her room and cook something. He hoped his guests didn't hear their little spat...and he really hoped that she didn't bother anyone. The last person that had come, whenever she lingered around he got uncomfortable for some reason. She had been strange ever since those rocks started falling from the sky..and it had only gotten worse of the last couple years.
 
Isaac smiled along with Mia as she noted that they had no idea where they were going, which was true. And he had the feeling that it would work out either way, as it tended to do so over the course of their adventures. But that smile faded away as Mia moved on, considering what he had picked up on He himself wasn't a mind reader (Yet) but he had picked up on that fact as well.

"Yeah," he confirmed with a nod. "Something is going on here." He too, could wish for the presence of their friends, but they would just have to handle this anyway. "It's a bit late to get started on a new crisis anyway." His head tilted at the noise, but he said nothing on it. It didn't seem like any of their concern, so until he saw evidence otherwise he would assume it was just business as normal.
 
"Well, I doubt it's a crisis..." Mia mumbled as she started fiddling with her white cloak. "But...It's not really out of the ordinary to see people rejecting psynergy, Isaac. Some people really don't want to be different...or don't want people to know they're different." She slipped off her cloak and then folded it up. "I doubt that everyone is going to be so accepting at once about adepts and psynergy and everything...we know the world is different now, but do they? Small villages like this...they don't know any better."
 
Isaac let out a chuckle as he worked on shrugging off some of his traveling clothes in turn, leaving it next to the rest of his supplies. "Sorry," he apologized. "It's just hard getting used to being able to travel without running into some major problem or threat with every town we visit." That sort of thing was easy to get into a habit about, and even though they had been traveling for some time it would take longer to fully abolish the effects of instinct.

That said, he addressed the other part of her comment, since it was hard to deny it. "That's true," he admitted. "We saw that often enough. But that's why we're traveling, to help with that transition. We owe it to Weyard after all." They were the cause, now they would have to help make sure that the return of Alchemy didn't make things worse than they were already.
 
Mia smiled and nodded. "Right. We do owe it to Weyward, and all the unsuspecting adepts that woke up one day suddenly with strange powers." She responded as she leaned back on the bed. It was..heaven. Sometimes traveling was hard. The ground always gave her aches and pains. She was so thankful to lay on a bed, even if it was a little lumpy. She fell silent for a moment as she closed her eyes. She wondered...if they had a choice, if the world would have stopped withering away without the lighthouse being active...would it have been better that way?
 
Isaac sat back on his bed as he smiled, lacing his fingers behind his bed as he relaxed. He enjoyed it, and he was looking forward to getting some food. Not that he would get his hopes up about how good it might be in a place like this, but with how things were it would do. So now he rested, peaceful and calm, even as he focused on that power inside, trying to keep it under control or to explore more about it, where it came from or what it could do in a more limited manner. Compared to how things had been, it was practically a vacation.
 
The conversation seemed to be over, so Mia let it drop. The silence though...it was making her tired. Maybe she was more exhausted than she originally thought. Not that that really surprised her considering they had been on their feet all day, running into the occasional monster that lashed out at them completely unprovoked. They were mostly harmless though...

The next thing she heard was a knock on their door that made her eyes open back up. It was...dark already. How long had she fallen asleep? She sat up and rubbed her eyes before glancing at Isaac, and then towards the door.
 
Mia might have been exhausted from the day, but Isaac was busy dealing with his psynergy. He still got tired, of course, but for some reason it just seemed to fill him with more energy than he had had before. Which served to make things annoying, but not unbearable. In fact, it could be pretty useful under the right circumstances. And it wasn't that late anyway, so he focused on trying some of the exercises he had been taught, to get a handle on it.

but at last he was interrupted by a knock on the door, the sun having vanished as night rose. He looked over at Mia, who had awoken, before rising from the bed, walking over, and opening the door. "Yes," he asked then, even though he had a fairly good guess as to who it was.
 
A girl that was about their age stood before him with a tray of food. At first, she seemed bewildered as she looked up at him. A single blink, and she blushed a bit before looking away. Wow, he was kinda handsome but more than that, he felt warm. She could feel it...radiating off him. No that she really knew what it was. "Ahh, sorry...sorry I took so long. Sorry for staring." She told him as she lifted up the tray, averting her eyes. It actually smelled quite delicious, it seemed like a stew made from meat and potatoes with a side of bread for each of them.

Mia glanced over at the girl curiously, noting that she seemed to have a thing with flowers as her hair was positively riddled with them. But there was something about her that seemed off. The way she was gawking at Isaac...well it wasn't any of her business. Even if she felt slightly protective of him.
 
Isaac watched on for a moment as the girl at the door seemed to pause, leaving him to wait even as she held a tray of food, before she realized what she was doing and apologized. "It's fine," he replied calmly as he stepped back, letting her enter the room if she so wanted. He did wonder what that was about, but wasn't about to push on it, since it probably didn't matter in the end.

Still, the food did smell good, and it reminded him of how hungry he was now. It was more than he expected, which could only be a good thing on her part. So he smiled and moved to sit down, to enjoy his meal with Mia. He could tell that something was off, at least with regards to her, but he just wasn't sure yet. He'd need to think on it, or wait for an answer to reveal itself. All the usual really.
 
For a moment, she just watched him sit back down. She still looked confused, especially when he just left her there with the tray. Did he want her to come in or something? Ugh, but...that was...why didn't he just take the food from her?

It didn't matter, or at least it didn't if she wanted to keep staying here. There was another in the room who she could notice now, a woman with glacier colored hair and aqua eyes. She was pretty...she didn't see very many people with such odd looking hair and eyes. Was that his girlfriend or something?

"Don't be shy," Mia called out to the skittish girl as she propped herself up on the bed. "Do you not want to come in? I'll take the food if you'd like."

"N-no...I can do it." The girl answered in an almost panicked manner before she hurried to the table at the corner of the room where Isaac was sitting. Ugh, every time she got so close to him..he..he felt so freakin' good! She placed the tray down and then glanced at him once more before slowly stepping back. "Umm," She continued nervously as Mia took her place at the table. "I didn't know what kind of drinks to bring you...is water okay?"
 
To be honest Isaac wasn't sure what he had been expecting, since it was apparent they didn't get many visitors here. And in hindsight he probably should have invited her in, but then again he had never been the most talkative person as it was. And perhaps he could be forgiven for having other issues to distract him at the moment that made him forget some things related to simple courtesy.

Fortunately Mia was there to do such things in his stead, and after a short conversation the girl hurried forward to place the food on the table in the corner. He couldn't help but notice her apparent reluctance, merely another piece to that puzzle that had been gathering. Maybe a bit of investigation was in order after all.

"Don't worry, that's fine," Isaac confirmed as she apologized for bringing them just water. "We're used to worse." It was better than nothing, and it was actually clean, that made it better.

he took a moment to look over the food, enjoying the smell, before looking back to the girl. Time to do that exploration he had considered. "I don't suppose you've had any other travelers through here recently, have you?" It would be useful for a second opinion, to see if they knew what had happened with Alchemy on Weyard.
 
"Well, define recent?" The girl asked with a small smile. "Our last visitor came about...two weeks ago?" A quiet man..he didn't seem to like her very much. But she liked him, and being around him. And this one...she liked being around him too. Almost a little too much. She didn't know why, but now that she was relaxing a little...

"Two weeks," Mia repeated thoughtfully as she picked up her spoon and dipped it in the hearty stew. "That's not too bad. How long did he stay?"

"Two days. Then he left in a hurry." She responded with a shrug. Should she just..stay here and talk to them? Ugh, Ethan was going to yell at her for hovering too long.
 
Isaac frowned in thought as he considered what had been said, revealing that the most recent visitor was only two weeks ago. That wasn't too bad, and it confirmed that they weren't completely isolated from the outside world. But whether that transferred into knowledge about what had happened, well, that was another story entirely, and something that he would have to try and find out.

First though he sampled the food, letting out a grunt of satisfaction at tentative bites of stew and bread. He wouldn't be able to hold his hunger back for long, that much he could tell. But he could manage for how long it would take to have this conversation, or so he hoped.

"I see," he commented before going on. "And when did the stones start showing up?" As travelers they could be rightfully concerned about that, even if there wasn't a connection. If it was about a year ago, then they would know the cause for certain. If not, less so.
 
"Hmm," She began thoughtfully as she looked up at the ceiling. "I'd say..about a year ago." Wow, Ethan must have told them about that. He always ran off at the mouth. "So if you know about that, then you know about the thing, too. The monster that's messing with us?"

"Yes, the Innkeeper told us about that." Mia responded after taking another mouthful of stew. Curious, Isaac really was getting interested in this little predicament.

"Well, don't worry. It's not going to be around for much longer." The girl gave them a confident smile. "Because I'm going to get rid of it."
 
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