Silver and Gold

A/N: At last it has arrived! This is the reason for the delay in all my other stories—the sequel to Sunlight and Shade  and  Dawn and Twilight! While it would be nice if you went and read and reviewed those, this can very well stand on its own and you'll all still want to kill me for the cliffhangers. Like the others, it will be seven chapters long and as of this posting all but the final chapter has been completed. So sit back, relax and enjoy…while you can…

Chapter One: Return to Champa

            "Are you certain this will be enough?"

            "I am certain, milord. If he feels his home and family are threatened, he will be drawn out like a fly to rotting meat."

            "A wonderful analogy, I must say. He is exactly like a fly. Annoying, stupid, easily killed, and with a short life span. Shorter, in the near future."

            "I quite agree. He will pay for what he has done to our city. If all goes as planned, he will pay with his life."

            "Of course he will. The plan is brilliant."

            "Is it truly that good of a plan?"

            "Do you doubt my methods?"

            "Certainly not, milord."

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            Isaac stood at the wheel of Picard's Lemurian ship, though the vessel was currently at a standstill. The other seven Adepts were all on the deck as well, clustered around Isaac, it seemed, and they were debating their next course of action.

            "All in favor of heading to Champa and retrieving Kraden?" Felix offered. Not a single hand was raised. "I thought not. Where to, then?"

            "How about we head back to good old Vale?" suggested Garet.

            "What's so exciting at home, Garet?" Jenna teased. "Leave a girl behind?"

            "Maybe," Garet said, not really paying attention to what Jenna was saying. He was rewarded by feeling a staff smash into the back of his head. "Yagh! Jenna! I had enough of that business in Hesperia!"

            "Maybe you'll learn something if it's repeated enough," Jenna said acidly. "Or else I could just beat your sorry self at cards again."

            "It's impossible for a true Mars Adept to win at a game involving water," Garet argued smugly.

            "Are you implying that I'm flawed?"

            "Nope."

            "See if I save you the next time you're in a mess you can't get yourself out of!" Jenna yelled, storming off to the other side of the ship. Several pairs of eyes followed.

            Felix sighed and shook his head. Jenna liked Garet, in fact more than that, but he'd never seen something that so utterly fit the description 'love-hate relationship'. Originally he hadn't exactly enjoyed the idea of oafish Garet and his sister being together, but Jenna had made it quite clear that Felix's approval wasn't something she found vital to the relationship.

            "Why not go get Kraden, then?" Ivan asked maliciously. "I have a few words I want to say to that man. He's too curious for his own good, is what he is!"

            "Got that right," agreed Mia wholeheartedly. "I hope Briggs is having fun with him. Serves him right for piracy!"

            "Briggs wasn't really a pirate," Sheba argued. "I mean sure, he stole things from other towns and cities and whatnot, but only when they could afford to lose their things and only because Champa had nothing. And that was because the lack of Alchemy was destroying Weyard…" Sheba stopped. She looked around at several stunned faces and a few smiling ones. "What?"

            "And he's the reason Picard was in jail," continued Mia.

            "No, that was all Madra's fault," Picard protested. "They declared me guilty with neither evidence nor fairness. Actually," he mused, grinning, "I wasn't even conscious at the time. Funny how these things work out, isn't it?"

            "What do you mean?" asked Sheba.

            "Well, if the Madrans had not put me in prison, you'd never have seen me use Psynergy, and thus never had any reason to prove my innocence, and I might be back in Lemuria now just living a bored life, or perhaps lying dead at the bottom of the Sea of Time, taken by Poseidon's wrath…why are you looking at me that way, Isaac?"

            "Do you have these sorts of fantasies often?" Isaac asked warily. "And when you do, are you always grinning like an idiot all through them?"

            "How old am I?" Picard asked, his question signifying that the answer was 'I won't tell you unless it's absolutely vital to my survival, and perhaps not even then. Perhaps I'll send you all the way back to Lemuria to find out, if they even know.'

            There was a moderate-length pause as the other six Adepts considered the implications of returning to Lemuria yet again and facing the wrath of the Senate.

            "I still want to leave Kraden there," said Garet, returning to the subject of Champa.

            "Agreed," agreed Felix. "We don't need any more trouble for a while. Well, except what the Djinn stir up every few seconds or so."

            "Did you hear that Meld?" asked Mold from atop Felix's head. "I believe we've just been insulted!"

            "Indeed we have," said Meld, appearing next to Mold. "Shall we do something about it?"

            "You Venus Djinn couldn't solve a problem if the answer were already there," said Luff degradingly. "Let us handle the matter of Felix's little…mistake."

            "Not you by yourself, you old windbag," Lull grumbled, popping up at Sheba's feet. "You'll just send us off course again by trying to do things you weren't meant to do!"

            "All of you stop it," chided Fog, shifting from foot to foot on Picard's head. "You're acting childish. It's belittling."

            "You should talk, kid," Mist muttered. "You're one of the youngest Djinn on this dang boat."

            "If anyone's to repay Felix's insult, it should be a Djinni of Mars!" Scorch piped up eagerly.

            "And one more intelligent and experienced than you," added Torch. "Like me for example."

            "If anyone's fer doin' what's t'be done to Felix there, it's to be me, and me alone!" said a voice that heralded doom for all who'd heard it once and seen the ramifications of acknowledging it. Few ever forgot what happened after Hail broke loose.

            "Oh shut up, you mockery of a pirate," spat Squall. "Only thing that comes from you being let loose is chaos."

            "Mayhem," put in Fog.

            "Turmoil," added Quartz.

            "Havoc," Hail defended. "There's havoc to be wrought, say I! Arr!" With those words Hail called upon a miniature ice barrage, which struck both Mars Djinn and Luff and obviously merited retaliation. Well, in the minds of the Djinn, anyway.

            Within seconds, blasts of wind, fire, water and mud were being pelted all over the deck of the ship. Four Djinn stood back from the onslaught and wondered how in the world their relatives, for want of better term, could act thus.

            Tinder, Crystal, Balm and Haze shook their heads and sighed.

            Somewhere far away from where the Adepts were, four figures did much the same thing. But for very different reasons.

            From one of the Jupiter Djinn, a large whirlwind had begun to form, and it occurred to the Adepts that their meager effort to halt the argument might have been better off if it'd been a halting by force, or perhaps by either Psynergy.

            Each elemental power began to rage out of control, throwing the ship about, jerking the Adepts until each was on his or her knees (or face) on the deck. In an attempt to end the craziness, Sheba called up the strongest wind she could and sent it spinning in the opposite direction.

            Sheba was powerful enough to get rid of the whirlwinds and the flying clods of earth, and the flames and ice chips and water bombs all slammed into one another and created a mist that hung about the ship. Standing, Sheba brushed herself off and glared at her Djinn. In the months she'd spent with them, mental glaring had become a skill.

            "We've moved," Picard said rather faintly.

            "And those Djinn are about to move right off this boat and into the water," Garet growled, grabbing hold of whatever Mars Djinni he found first and dangling it threateningly over the waves.

            "No, no, not like that," said Picard a bit more firmly. "The boat has moved. Somewhere a distance from where we were stopped before." Frowning, and ignoring Mia's scowl, Picard stood and walked to the edge of the ship, squinting into the fog to see over the edge. "And I'm not liking what I see here either."

            "What is it?" Isaac asked, joining Picard.

            "What I want to know is, how does he have any idea if there's something wrong with the ship, or even if it's moved?" asked Ivan, suspicion in his voice.

            "How do you know in the morning whether it'll be windy later in the day or not?" Jenna shot back, having rejoined the others the moment the chaos had halted. "It isn't Psynergy. It's sort of instinct, on an Adept level."

            "Boats and Mercury Psynergy don't exactly directly connect like wind and Jupiter Psynergy do," protested Felix. "Indirectly, sure, but not right off the mark."

            "Right off the…never mind," Mia said, waving a hand as though scattering her words into the air. "Picard's a sailor—"

            "Mariner," said Sheba.

            "Admiral," corrected Picard absently.

            "—and he's been doing things with boats and such all his life," continued Mia, taking no notice of either comment. "It's a sort of sixth sense, I suppose. Once you do it for long enough, you know when something's out of place."

            "Can't really tell through the fog," Isaac remarked, sighing. "Someone get rid of it, if you will."

            "None of us Will," Garet pointed out.

            "Oh shut up."

            Ivan suppressed a laugh and blew away the lingering mists with a soft breeze.

            "Thought so," Picard mumbled darkly.

            "This isn't good," Isaac agreed in a similar tone.

            "Definitely not."

            "What do you suppose we're to do?"

            "Maybe take a trip to Yallam."

            "We haven't got anything useful, though. And Sunshine might not be able to do this sort of thing."

            "We could try Contigo."

            "And let them know that the Djinn did it? Hardly."

            "You propose we just stay here then? It will not go away on its own."

            "What are we discussing, again?" asked Felix tartly. Isaac motioned towards what was apparently the water, but Felix looked over the edge and gave a long, low whistle. "That's bad, Isaac."

            "Yep."

            "Someone let us in on it," said Jenna, finding room at the rail sparse. She squeezed in between her brother and Picard and looked at what appeared to be a few pieces of shimmering fabric attached—somehow—to some more charred pieces and twisted metal.

            "Gods," she whispered, then practically flew to the other side of the ship and saw that the other Wing of Anemos was still intact, or at least mostly. There were a few singed bits, but it was nothing like the other side.

            "Isaac, how do we fix something like that?" asked Sheba, having caught on.

            "You won't believe what I'm about to suggest we do," Ivan said suddenly, ominously.

            "And that is?"

            "I'm open to anything you've got," added Garet. "Anything except—"

            "We go back to Champa," Ivan said resignedly.

            "—that," finished Garet, sounding deflated.

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            The left Anemos Wing wasn't the only thing with missing pieces, the Adepts soon discovered. It was with many sighs of relief that the Lemurian ship slowly docked at the beach just south of Champa, and it gave the Adepts their first real chance to see what sort of damage the Djinn had really caused.

            "And not a scratch on any of us," Ivan said in shock after a few long moments of stunned silence. "Tell me we can make it look like an actual boat again sometime soon."

            "If Obaba can find some way to fix this wing," said Picard slowly, as though making absolutely sure that every word he said was a word he wanted to be saying, "then I can work out how to get rid of the scorch marks and such."

            "They're not all mine," said Scorch defensively. "Some of them are Cannon's."

            "You're walking a fine line right now," Garet warned, and Scorch immediately disappeared.

            Leaving Garet and Ivan behind to watch the ship (to which both firmly protested until they were reminded that ship-watching meant no seeing Kraden), the others headed into Champa with Felix, probably the most familiar face to the Champans, in the lead.

            Felix recognized a couple of them as Briggs' crew; the men present on the day the Adepts defeated the 'pirate' in Alhafra. Of course, Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Kraden had later learned that Briggs only stole from towns that could afford to have things stolen, and only resorted to piracy if there was no other way to get food and supplies for Champa.

            In theory, Briggs was a 'noble pirate' in much the way Lunpa was a 'noble thief'. Except Lunpa probably hadn't ever been to Alhafra. Knowing the Alhafrans and how their current mayor might react to thievery, Felix thought that Lunpa was better off in that position.

            "Good day, Felix," said one man; he and another stood in front of the doors to the main Champan complex, which was actually built into a cliffside. "What brings you back to Champa?"

            "We're here to speak to Obaba, actually," interjected Isaac. "It's very important."

            "Go on ahead," said the other man cheerfully, and the Champans opened the doors and let the Adepts pass. Felix, calling on nearly-forgotten memory, led the rest of them up several levels and into a room on the highest one. Inside sat Briggs' son, Eoleo, and his wife, Chaucha.

            "Felix! What brings you back to Champa? Your companions were here a while ago with that annoying old man…he and Obaba had quite a fun time together, if I recall correctly…" Chaucha stopped then, as though unsure of how to continue.

            "We're looking for Obaba, actually," said Jenna, ignoring Chaucha's reluctance to talk about Kraden. Jenna didn't really want to talk about Kraden either.

            "She's not here," said a voice from the doorway, and the Adepts turned around to find Briggs glaring at them, though in a rather cautious and…pale way. "So leave."

            "It's very important that we see her," said Mia before Jenna could state what was obviously on her mind. "Without her we may not be able to take our ship off your beach."

            "You got here just fine. What's stopping you from leaving?"

            "A good amount of twisted metal, some smoldering fabric, a few missing Psynergy lines…what, none of you knew that Psynergy lines ran through the Wings?" Sheba asked, as though such things were knowledge that one knew since approximately the age of three.

            "I could have guessed, if given the opportunity," Picard supplied, hiding his lack of knowledge very well under the circumstances. "And how are we to repair something that can only be mended by an Adept?"

            "We're Adepts, are we not?" Felix replied casually. At the mention of that fact Briggs visibly shuddered. Felix raised an eyebrow curiously, but said nothing more.

            "So we were hoping that Obaba could try to fix the Wing, since we won't make it all the way back to Contigo with the way the boat—sorry, ship," Isaac corrected quickly when he caught the flash in Picard's eyes, "is looking. We're lucky we made it this far."

            "So find her and then leave. I don't want you here any more," Briggs said rather meekly.

            "Are you afraid of us, Briggs?" Sheba asked innocently.

            "He'd better not be," mumbled Chaucha. "He's Champa's leader, he's got no cause to be afraid of a bunch of kids…no offense meant," she added when Jenna glanced her way.

            "None taken," said the Mars Adept with a friendly smile.

            "Briggs? Robert Briggs!" called an elderly voice from outside the door. "Get out of the doorway and let me see my great-grandson!" A short, elderly woman leaning on a cane pushed past Briggs with unusual strength and studied the very crowded room. After several minutes of close scrutiny, she shrugged. "Hope that trident did you good," she offered to Felix.

            "Lots of it," he said, not wanting to recall the disastrous bout with Poseidon. "We were wondering if you'd like to take on a bit of a more difficult job."

            "You think reforging the Trident of Ankohl was easy?!" screeched Obaba, glaring. "It took superior skill, talent and a heck of a lot of practice to be able to do that!'

            "Right, sorry," said Isaac, stepping in front of Felix and nodding to Obaba deferentially. "Would you mind having a look at our ship, then? We've broken something very valuable and you're the only one we know skilled enough to attempt repairs."

            Chaucha and Briggs looked at one another, silently applauding Isaac's ingenious way of both complimenting and challenging Obaba. The old woman never backed down from a challenge, no matter how crazy it was.

            "Of course, I'd be happy to," Obaba said, her mood very much changed. "You know, you sounded almost like that wonderful old man you left here two weeks ago…he was so curious about Champan life…"

            "I don't want to know that I talk like Kraden, thanks," Isaac mumbled. Mia giggled.

            "Hey," said Sheba, frowning and recalling an earlier part of the conversation. "Where is Kraden, anyway?"

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Well, that's the end of chapter one. And you know there are more wonderful chapters to look forward to, so of course you'll review because you want those chapters, don't you? *evil laughter*

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