A/N Yes, I know, normally I never put anything up top, but this is important. Before you flame me, I have to warn you. Some of you guys might think Felix is acting OOC, but how I portray him here is honestly how I see him. He's not really one of my favorite characters (actually, Ivan and Garet are, but I digress) so I have somewhat of a negative viewpoint of him.

Well, Cheers and enjoy!

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Chapter 4:

Isaac yawned and wondered what he was still doing up. Almost everyone else had gone to bed hours ago; Mia not even staying up long enough to discuss the strange man who had attacked Garet. Only Felix, Jenna, and himself were still awake; each being kept up by their own private demons.

Finally, Jenna rose; wincing as she forced her stiff legs to work. "I'm going to sleep," she mumbled; her eyes staring blankly ahead.

Isaac's eyes followed her across the room, and he frowned slightly. Ever since she had been healed by the Hermes Spring that afternoon, she had been acting oddly. Nothing concrete, nothing that Isaac could put his finger on; just oddly. Still frowning, Isaac decided it was time he get to bed as well. He started to stand, but stopped when Felix's arm shot across the table and forced him back down.

Isaac gave his childhood friend a quizzical stare, "What was that for?"

The dark haired boy glared, "I've been waiting for Jenna to go to bed all evening. You and I need to talk."

Massaging his arm where Felix had so roughly grabbed it, Isaac looked up, "What about?"

Biting his bottom lip, Felix blurted out, "Jenna."

Isaac's stomach lurched nervously, "Uh…what about Jenna…"

Leaning forward so that their faces were almost touching, Felix whispered, "You break her heart Isaac and I'll break your spine."

Blue eyes wide, Isaac shrank back, "I don't know what you're talking about Felix."

"Bull. You know exactly what I'm talking about Isaac. I'm not blind, I know Jenna has feelings for you that you don't seem to return."

Somewhere, deep in the nether regions of his mind, part of him was shrieking in shock, but Isaac ignored that part of him and answered ferociously, "Well that's not my fault, is it? What do you want me to do about it?"

Felix snarled and raised a fist, but decided last minute not to hit his sister's love interest, "Either you stop chasing after that blue-haired Mercury Adept and open your eyes to what's in front of you, or you let my sister down gently."

Isaac sputtered indignantly, "You're not to tell me what I can do Felix! As for Mia…she doesn't like me that way..." All night that thought had been going through Isaac's mind, but now that it was spoken word, it seemed much more the truth. Now subdued, Isaac continued, "I'm pretty sure she likes someone else."

A sour smirk twisted Felix's face, "Looks like you're in the same boat as Jenna and," his face fell, "myself."

Suddenly, Felix stood up. He grabbed his and Isaac's cloak and pulled the younger man to his feet. "Let's go, there should be a bar open somewhere this late," he said roughly.

"A what-a bar!" Isaac yelped as Felix hustled him outside the door.

Felix nodded, "Tonight you and I are getting drunk."

Isaac let out a few more half hearted cries, but slumped in defeat. Felix was taller and stronger than him. He was also, much more desperate. Allowing himself to be dragged through the streets towards the seedier part of the town, Isaac wondered how much he was going to regret this night.

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A thin crescent moon hung suspended above the city. The clouds from the night before were gone; replaced by hundreds of glittering, jewel bright stars. Ara was thankful for the light they gave him. As powerful as he was, even he couldn't find his was through a strange city in utter darkness.

And strange Imil certainly was. Long ago it had been a huge, thriving metropolis; the capital of his long lost empire. However, that had been over a thousand years ago. As the millennia passed, it had become colder and many fled to warmer regions. The people had other reasons for fleeing too. Towards the last days of the empire, Proxian raiders had attacked farther south with increasing ferocity; even making several forays into the city itself.

But all that had been another era. The city was smaller, it's people a bastard race of many lines, the buildings no longer bore any sign of their imperial ancestry. The maps Ara had studied since childhood were of no use here. Inwardly Ara sneered. These people were no better than the northern barbarians. They deserved the Fate he would soon reap.

Slowly; carefully he made his way through the city gates.

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It had taken awhile, but finally Felix managed to find a bar that was still open this late. Paying no heed to the increasing amount of squalor around them, or the fact the tavern looked like it would soon implode on itself, he dragged Isaac inside. As soon as he opened the door, there was a blaring flash of raucous music, rough laughter, and light.

Inside was not much better than outside. While it certainly was much brighter and cheerier; there was a hard desperate tone underneath it all. The place's inhabitants were laborers, servants, and the lowest forms of peasantry. Sad, rough men who would never manage to reach beyond their pitiful existence; men whose only pleasure were the fleeting ones of flesh and liquor.

Felix seemingly noticed none of this. Though Isaac could not help but stare at the tawdry, forced happiness of the bar's occupants; all drinking their lives and troubles away. His train of thoughts continued unimpeded until Felix roughly pushed him down on the hard cushioned seat of a booth and hailed a nearby serving wench, "Two of whatever the strongest drink is you carry!"

His friend stared at him. "Felix…I'm not so sure this is such a good idea…."

"Nonsense! There's no cure for your troubles like a couple of pints of good beer. At least, that's what Saturos used to tell me," Felix forced a laugh and continued, "I suppose Saturos could use a drink right 'bout now. How long has he been down that tunnel with Menardi?"

If Felix's state of mind was any guide, Isaac was sure it was time to leave. He started to his feet, "Felix! I'm telling you, we should go. We don't need to do this; we shouldn't do this."

At that moment, the serving maid brought their drinks; two tall glasses of a yellow-brown frothy liquid. Felix downed his in a few gulps. Then pushed Isaac's toward him and motioned his fellow Earth Adept to sit down. "Bottom's up, pal!"

Tentatively Isaac sat back down. It was obvious Felix wasn't going to leave until he was completely oblivious of the world around him. The best Isaac could do was make sure they didn't get too drunk and try to get them home in one piece. Warily he sniffed the liquid, and promptly recoiled in horror. It smelled like sewer slime!

Felix, having just finished his second, was growing impatient, "Drink Isaac," he stressed, "Drink!"

"Felix…." Isaac whined nervously.

"Drink!" Felix commanded, ignoring his younger friend.

The rest of the bar had noticed Isaac's unwillingness. They crowded around him with florid face, bloodshot eyes, and wide grins with missing teeth, "Drink! Drink! Drink!" they began to chant.

Isaac realized he was going to have to do as the mob said, or possibly face their drunken fury.

With a tiny, frightened smile, he took a sip. God, it was disgusting! Still gagging from the hideous taste oppressing his taste buds, he took a long swift pull; nearly choking on the swill.

Felix led the crowd in a wild cheer. "Drinks for everyone on me!" he shouted.

His proclamation as met with hoots of approval. Except, of course, from Isaac. With a groan, he realized he would have to drink another glass of this crap. The only time in his young life he had ever drunk more than a glass had been at a Midwinter Party a few months earlier. There he had been plied generously with a red wine Ivan had managed to get from his former master Hammet's private store. However, there Isaac had been under the watchful eye of his mother Dora, who had forced him to stop after his third glass. Tonight was going to have a rather different ending.

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Ara found himself in front of the mayor's grand two story house. Other than the inn, it was the largest building in the pathetic little township. It boasted blue bricks and fine bay windows in a land where wood was the cheapest building material and glass was reserved for the very rich and powerful.

The man paused. Rather than slam down the door and grab the boy, he would be forced to take a more subtle approach. However, teleporting somewhere he had never beenwould be tricky. One of his worst fears was teleporting and becoming stuck in a wall; a situation that was very troublesome to get out of. Unfortunately, it was also a risk he would have to take. The Wind Adept could already have pieced together his plan and warned the others.

A true Jupiter Adept, mused Ara, now that would be something. As if his thoughts had summoned it, a sudden, brief pain tore through his side, With a wince he grabbed the object that he knew to be the source. It was a small, smooth purple stone that hung on a leather cord around his neck. The innocuous looking rock was treated to a fierce scowl.

As helpful as the stone was, Ara wished there was some way Elayne could've stopped it from cursing him. The Jupiter Amethyst, it had been created by his wife and granted it's wearer control over the wind. Unfortunately, it also cut his Mercury powers in half and sent him increasingly frequent bursts of pain.

"All the more reason to get this done now..." he muttered to himself.

With a flash, Ara disappeared. To his immense relief, he found that he had safely made it inside. All he had do now was the find the room of the boy.

At this time, I should probably make it known that the mayor had a young son of the age of four. Like all four year olds, he was rather fond of the many toys his grandparents showered upon him. He was also very much disinclined to putting them away. And, other than a half-hearted attempt by Mia to clean some of them up, most of the toys still rested in various places around the house….Such as the top of the staircase.

Ara, it seemed, had teleported onto the second floor. Carefully he took a step forward, only to have his foot land directly on top of a wooden soldier. With a cry, he jumped backward. When he didn't land on solid ground as soon ashe should have, he realized something was wrong.

Wind milling his arms in a vain attempt to gain balance, the villain toppled. He rolled down the stairs with several large thumps; landing in a heap on the first floor. Biting down several choice words, he rose to his feet. Amazingly, the hew and cry had yet to be raised, but he knew it wouldn't take long for someone to investigate the source of the noise. An element of increasing urgency was added to his midnight mission.

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Jenna was still awake. A dull, throbbing ache beat a slow rhythm in her head. Weird, half completed thoughts scattered like leaves in a whirlwind through her mind. The thoughts made no sense and were ill formed…..almost random seeming. What scared the girl was the sense of malice that pervaded them.

This headache started after I drank from the Hermes Water…she thought dully. Vaguely she recalled what the little boy, Sam, had said about his parents after the had drunk the Hermes Water?

That was it. Was something wrong with the water? Had it been poisoned? If it had been poisoned, was she now infected? Jenna groaned and sat up, clutching her head. Something was definitely messing with her head….

CRASH!

A loud noise from downstairs pulled Jenna out of her thoughts. With a start, she leapt out of bed, "What the hell was that?"

Springing through the door Jenna peered down the hall. Dimly she could make out the shapes of Mia and Sheba looking tired and confused, "Any idea what happened?" she called.

Sheba answered with a wide yawn, "I think someone fell down the stairs."

Jenna frowned, "Must've been Felix. He's the only one who would be coming up this late at night." Now worried about her brother the girl snapped her fingers to create a small, hovering fire that flung the scene into a sharp relief. "C'mon, we'd better go check it out."

Her friends nodded and the Fire Adept led the way down the stairs. Surprisingly, there was no one at the bottom.

"That's odd…."muttered Mia, speaking for the first time and blinking her eyes owlishly.

The youngest girl shrugged, "Well, whoever it was, I'm guessing they're alright. Otherwise they'd still be here."

Jenna chewed her lip uncertainly, processing what Sheba had said. "I suppose…." she began slowly.

"Aigh!" a voice shouted.

"Ivan!" exclaimed Sheba. She sprinted past Jenna towards the second Wind Adept's room.

The two remaining females glanced at each other, then ran after their friend. "Sheba, wait up!" they yelled.

Jenna skidded to halt, bumping into Sheba, who had stopped dead in the hallway. The two of them were sent sprawling, leaving Mia to assess the situation.

Thankfully Jenna's light still hovered above their heads, and the Mercury Adept could clearly see what was happening. A tousled looking Ivan was crouching in a corner trying to fend off a short, blue haired man. Piers, Ivan's roommate, was also up and about. Warily he circled the stranger, trying to find a clear shot that wouldn't hit Ivan.

"Ara!" Sheba gasped from her vantage point beneath Jenna.

Now realizing that the man was the one who had attackedGaret and herearlier when she was unconscious, Jenna sprang to her feet. She took a fighting stance by Mia. "Hey you! What do you want with Ivan?"

The man spared her a passing glance. It wasn't much, but it was enough for Ivan to roll beneath his outstretched arm to a safer position.

Ara growled angrily and turned to face them with his full fury, then froze when he locked eyes with Jenna. A thin smile crossed his face and he lifted his hand. There was a small flash of purple, and the pain in Jenna's head tripled. With a strangled cry, she fell to her knees. A wave of blackness surged through her mind.

Then, she knew no more.

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Garet heard several loud noises. Groaning, he pulled out of the comforting darkness of sleep. Right down the hall came several interesting sounds. It's like a battle's going on, he thought.

To himself, he muttered, "Better see what's up."

Still groaning, he pulled himself out of bed and lurched through the doorway. A scene of confusion met his sleep heavy eyes, and it took a moment for him to figure out what was happening.

There was fire, and screams, and several figures which he assumed to be his friends, "What in Weya….."

"Garet! Look out!" screeched a voice. There was a flash of blue, and he was knocked down just as a pillar of fire flashed overhead.

"Piers!" Garet yelped with shock when he found the Lemurian to suddenly be on top of him.

"What's happening?"

Too stressed to be embarrassed for the awkward position, Piers rolled off of him and fell into a crouch, "There's a man here, a Mercury Adept, he was trying to grab Ivan, but he woke up and started shouting. Then the girls came down and he did something to Jenna that made her act psycho."

"What the hell has Ara done to her?" Garet asked quietly. It was Jenna, he realized, who was creating the inferno that now blazed in the hallway.

"Garet, Piers!" a voice coughed nearby, "Are you two alright?"

"We're fine Mia," shouted Piers, "What about the others?"

There was a round of harsh coughing before Mia replied, "I can barely make them out. Oh no-"

"Oh no! Whaddya mean 'oh no'?" bellowed Garet.

There was no answer.

"I can't see a thing," grumbled Piers, "Douse!"

A cloud appeared overhead and sprayed water over the flames. For a moment they flickered mutinously. Then, thankfully, died.

"Oh no," breathed Piers, echoing Mia from earlier.

Ara had a hold of Ivan by the collar, a victorious smile stretched across his features. Jenna held Mia at bay. The healer was too good to attack her friend despite the fact Jenna seemed more than willing to kill her.

"Glacier!" Piers shouted. Blue flashed and a solid block of ice smashed into the two. They flew in separate directions, both smashing into the narrow walls of the hall. Neither seemed unduly hurt.

"Ivan!" shrieked Sheba, who had desperately been trying to get Ara off of him. She raced to the boy, and grabbed his shoulders, "You okay?"

"Just dandy…" he muttered fuzzily.

Meanwhile, Garet had taken advantage of Piers' attack to go after Jenna. Old friend or no, she was dangerous. Praying that Felix wouldn't kill him when he found out, Garet slammed the girl in the back of the head. She stumbled and fell, unconscious. Mia spared the Mars Adept a grateful look then dropped to her knees to examineJenna while Garet turned to face Ara.

"Where'd he go?" asked Garet, eyes wide.

"Ivan! Sheba!" roared Piers.

Garet twirled around. In the excitement of taking out Jenna, Ara had once again attacked Ivan.

With a shout, the man sprang forward, but Sheba had other ideas. She dropped to the ground and kicked his feet out from under him. The man fell like a stone and a sickening Crack! jarred across the hallway. Cursing, Ara clutched his wrist; broken from landing on it awkwardly.

Sheba lunged at him, pinning him down with her slight form.

Unfortunately, before Sheba could finish him, Ara's goodhand shot out and latched onto Ivan's ankle. Sheba let out a small cry and scrambled off Ara, clawing at his fingers, "Let go!"

Ara groaned, but managed to push Sheba to the side with his shoulder. He twisted his head around, and froze; slack jawed. Not too far in front of him was Mia, hovering nervously over Jenna. His eyes widened, it was the first time he had seen the young healer up close. Apparently, something about her was quite shocking.

Sheba gave a victorious cry, she had managed to free Ivan. Ara tore his gaze away from Mia. He let out a cry and grabbed the two Wind Adepts by the collar. Yelling something unintelligible, the trio disappeared; leaving three very frazzled adepts, and a still smoldering house.

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A/N I could fit another section in here, but my beta reader says I should stop….. L So, I s'pose I'll listen to him. Well, that being said, what did you think? Reviews are always appreciated, and sorry for you who think Felix is OOC. Honestly though, I can very easily see the little punk acting this way.

BTW, I've been toying around with the idea of character death; just one main adept; towards the end. I could work it into the plot fairly easily, but I want to know how my reviewers would feel about it.

On to the reviewer notes!

Thank you to these wonderful people for reviewing chapter three:

Dracobolt (Glad you like the action scenes. Nehehe! Three reviews from you!)

Daidairo (Wow, long review. I'll try working on some of the stuff you mentioned. I'm loathe to have a Gary -Stu)

ShadeXH (You dare threaten me; Zaurak the Destroyer, Conqueror of Worlds! …waves scythe menacingly….. But seriously, I'm not giving out the pairings. I enjoy being evil. …)

Kodoku (Yes, I seem to have a few mud shipping fans. Well, we'll see how things work out…smiles mysteriously…..)

P.S. Next update might take a bit. Definitely expect Kraden for possibly his only scene in the fic, and maybe Alex.

Zaurak