Nevanyk's outburst had surprised them greatly. Jezza didn't like seeing a man in so much pain, but was afraid that if she tried to calm him down he would lop of her head. Everyone was afraid of Nevanyk at this point. Everyone except Aren that is. He thought that he could easily knock him down with the Haken-Daiyo, but decided that it would be better if he just let him cool down.
After a few minutes of berserked rage, and the mutilation of nearby objects, Nevanyk finally calmed down. He looked at Alex and asked, "You're going against the Empire right?"
"It seems that we have no choice."
"Very well then. I shall continue to follow you and seek my revenge against Vargania." Nevanyk sharply turned toward Aren. "Now, continue your story."
Aren took a moment to recap silently to himself so that he could remember where he was. "Now, Vargan thinks that he has pulled one over on the Malachytes. However, it is the Malachytes that are using him."
"What do you mean?" Mathis asked.
"You see, if Megalensis is revived, then so is Malachy himself who is sealed within the tower."
"Malachy!" Jezza gasped. "Does Vargan know that?!"
"Yes, he does. But Vargan, arrogant fool that he is, thinks that he will be able to control Malachy just because of the fact that he released him. He's such a fool."
"Aren, what about me? Why is Vargania after me?"
"Oh yes of course! Hold on Jezza, your part of the story is coming up. You see, another thing that interested Vargan was why the Nezytes could use magic, and we can't. He thought that if he could have a group of soldiers that could naturally use magic, that they would be unstoppable. So he ordered his scientist to infuse a group of soldiers with Matron. General Ignis was the first to volunteer. No body knows where Blaze and Erif came from, but Ignis requested them, so they were allowed to join. And so, the Fire Force was formed. However, there was a fourth member."
"A fourth?" Alex asked.
"Yes, a fourth. A young girl at the age of five. It was figured that they should start to train a young warrior so that the Fire Force would go on forever. She escaped though." Aren face Jezza and gazed into her violet eyes. He could tell that she already knew what he was about to say. Her eyes were begging him not to say it, but he had no choice. "That girl Jezza, was you."
"No!" Jezza pleaded. "That's impossible! I'm not a member of the Fire Force! I'm not, I'm not, I'm not!" Now Jezza began to weep. Salty tears ejaculated from he sockets as she violently shook her head.
"But it's true," Aren said, "you were a member. Why would I lie?"
"But, but, but," Jezza couldn't take it anymore. She had to get out of here now. "I'm not a member of the Fire Force!" As she screamed this, she ran away from the rest of the party, still balling.
"Jezza wait!" Mathis said as he got up. He immediately ran after her without even thinking.
Nevanyk looked at the fleeing boy, then turned his attention back to the other two. "Good," he stated, "the children are gone. Now we can start talking about strategy."
"Well," Aren said, "no one knows exactly what happened to Kane, but I think that we could find the answer in Krasis."
"Krasis eh," Nevanyk said. He had heard of it before, but had never been there. He heard that it was home to many wise monks. However, he had also heard that Vargania was after it as well but hasn't been able to find it. It was kind of a mythical place.
"So," Alex said, "where is this Krasis?"
"It's not that easy," Aren said to him. "For you see, Krasis is kinda like a mirror. It reflects what's around it, making a perfect barrier. Even the Empire is having a difficult time finding the place."
Alex was discouraged. He had no idea that this new quest would be so difficult. It seemed that he kept running into disaster after disaster. And it was Terranox's fault. Damn Terranox. "So now what?"
"Now," Nevanyk began, "we walk."
The party gave him a confused look. "What do you mean walk?" Alex asked.
"Simple," Nevanyk started. "Not only is Krasis invisible, but it moves as well."
"What!" Aren yelled. "That's impossible! A city can't just move around!"
"So," Nevanyk said sardonically, "a city can be invisible but it can't move?" Aren was silent. Nevanyk however, wasn't. "Is anything impossible nowadays. Let's see, what do we got." Nevanyk pointed towards Alex. "Here, my friend, is a man that is from a different planet. He is trying to find the legendary Kane by traveling to Krasis. And all of us are following behind him. Not only that, but the most powerful force in the world has sided with Malachytes. Dear Aren, do you actually think that anything is impossible nowadays?"
Nevanyk's cold eyes pierced Aren's soul. His entire body was filled by an inexorable feeling of uselessness; a feeling that Mathis knows too well. This one man had totally devastated his knowledgeable facade; and he knew it. "Well, um, I guess you're right," Aren acquiesced.
After his assault on Aren, he continued. "You see, my brother was obsessed with Krasis. He knew everything about the place. He once told me that it's impossible to find Krasis. Instead, Krasis would show itself to the one true of heart and reason. The way I figure it, all we have to do is continue to travel in on direction and eventually Krasis will find us."
"Sounds reasonable to me," Alex said.
"Good. Now we sleep. At dawn we'll head west."
"What about Mathis and Jezza?" Alex asked.
Before Nevanyk could respond, a fireball flew into the sky from the area in which Jezza had ran. The orange flame illuminated the sky. "Good," Nevanyk had said. "It seems that the girl has finally come to terms with her powers. I guess that boy isn't that useless after all.
When Mathis finally caught up to Jezza, he saw her sitting on a decaying log crying into her lap. She had her knees curled up, and her head sank into her waist. Her face pressed against her legs, muffling the sound of her tears. Jezza had never cried this much before in her life. Mathis didn't know how, but somehow he knew this.
"Jezza," he called as he extended his arm and drew near to her.
"Get away!" She yelped as she flailed her arm toward Mathis. "Get away from me! I'm evil! I'll destroy you!"
Mathis' first instinct was to back away; instead he moved closer. "You're not evil Jezza. You're one of the kindest people I know."
"Shut up!" With this command she jerked her head toward him. As she did this, a trail of tears flew from her cheek. "I am evil! I'm a member of the Fire Force! Unless you want to die, I suggest you step back!" Jezza looked desperate. Her depression had turned her into this. This wasn't the Jezza that Mathis knew. So Mathis decided that it would be unwise to continue with this tactic.
"Shut up you idiot!"
"What did you call me!" Jezza stood straight up. The fire of rage burned inside her eyes; Mathis could sense it.
"You heard me! I called you an idiot!" At his Jezza gasped. She continued to make death threats but to no avail. Mathis continued to berate her.
"You are so stubborn! Do actually think that you can kill me?"
"You don't realize the power that I possess. I am a member of the Fire Force you know."
"There you go again. You are not a member of the Fire Force! You used to be, but that wasn't very long at all. You were only five, and you escaped. You might have their gift, but that's it. You are not a member of that trio. They are evil. You however, are kind and gentle."
Jezza gazed into Mathis dark eyes. The fire in her eyes had gone out and Mathis was glad. He hated seeing her like that. Almost as much as he hated talking to her like that. But, it had to be done.
"Oh Mathis," Jezza turned her head away in shame. She knew that she was wrong. "I'm sorry about what I said before."
Mathis walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Jezza, if you want, you can never use that destructive power again. I know it must pain you to think about it."
Jezza turned her head back toward Mathis. The tears had finally stopped and had begun to dry up. "No," she said. "I have this power and I must use it. I will use it for good." Jezza walked away towards a pile of sticks that must have been used as a fire by previous adventurers. "Here, watch this."
Mathis came and sat beside her by the ex-camp site. Jezza raised her hands to her chest and chanted, "Flamae ad meus manus veniunt." As she said this, a ball of fire formed in her hand. Mathis was dumbfounded. He had never seen anything like that in his life.
Jezza placed her hand on the pile of wood and it caught ablaze. "That's amazing." Mathis said still awed by the flame.
Jezza giggled at the site of Mathis' ignorance of her powers. "That's not all I can do. Watch closely." This time Jezza raised her hands up in the air above her head. "Flamae ad meus manus veniunt." Once again the ball of fire began to form in her palms. She swung he arms behind her as if she was ready to throw a ball. "Ire!" As she said this, she flew her arms forward and the ball of fire flew toward the sky.
Jezza and Mathis looked at each other. Jezza cocked her head sideways and began to laugh. It started a small giggle, then proceeded into full blown laughter. Mathis did not know what it was that she was laughing at, but he found it himself impossible not to stop once he began.
Jezza however, did know why she was laughing. She was laughing because she had come to peace with her powers. And she knew, that her terrible nightmares were over.