HOME | DD

Description
The first thing Jenna became aware of upon waking was the sound of running water. Her head throbbed and she could feel a sharp ache in the back of her neck. She opened her eyes and found that her vision was blurred, but she could immediately tell that she was standing up. She was leaning against something hard and cold. Her head was hanging down into her chest, which was probably why her neck ached so much. Wondering what was happening exactly she tried to move. This was when she got the biggest surprise of all. She couldn't.

    Her vision returning she looked about her and saw multiple coils of rope encircling her body above and below her breasts and waist, pinning her back and shoulders into what appeared to be a stone support column. She tried moving her arms and gave a gasp as her aching muscles refused to budge. She quickly realised her hands had been pulled behind the stone pillar and also bound. The pillar was too big for her hands to be touching, but as she tugged she could feel they were connected by several coils of rope wound around each other into one thick unit, meaning her wrists were snugly tied together.

     The more she became aware of her predicament the more Jenna's body seemed to ache, and she tried shifting to lessen some of the strain. But even her feet failed to respond. Looking down she saw that her legs had also been bound, yet more rope looping around her ankles and her legs above her knees. Wriggling a little she found her boots gave her ankles adequate protection from the coarse rope, but the strand coiled above her knees rubbed uncomfortably against her bare skin.

    Then she saw the water.

    She was standing on a small piece of stonework jutting out from the pillar, and completely surrounding her was a shimmering pool of light blue water. Tiny waves gently lapped at the bottom of Jenna's small stone island, and she could hear the sound of a current gently flowing through the room and the consistent drip of water droplets falling from the ceiling. Looking about her she saw she was standing in what appeared to be flooded ruins. More support pillars jutted out from the water and eventually curved upwards into magnificent arches, holding up the great stone ceiling. Dotted around the edge embedded into the walls were tall stone statues of female figures holding large pots over their shoulders. It would have been a very beautiful place had Jenna been in a situation where she could appreciate it.

       She gave experimental tugs at her bonds and immediately realised they wouldn't be wriggled out of easily. That didn't matter. Smiling to herself she realised the person who had done this to her obviously didn't know she was an adept, and a Mars adept at that. It would only take a fraction of her psynergy to summon enough fire to burn away these ropes.

    But as she concentrated and tried unleashing her abilities, as she had done countless times in the past, nothing happened. She tried time and time again but she couldn't even summon a spark. Then she realised what had happened. Her psynergy had been completely drained. No wonder she felt so rough. She rested her head against the stonework in frustration, realising it would be hours before her psynergy would recharge enough for her to make her escape.

     It was only then she realised she was completely alone. There was nobody else in the room with her and no indication that there was anybody nearby either. A jolt of fear gripping her stomach her mind began to race, as she wondered what had happened to her friends.

    "Is anyone there?" she called out, her voice sounding surprisingly hoarse and weak. "Isaac, Felix, are you around here somewhere?" She got no reply, only the continuous sound of running water. "Garet, Kraden, where are you guys?" she cried, but again no reply. Beginning to panic she shouted as loud as she could "help me guys. Ivan, Mia, Piers, Sheba. If you're there I need help!"

   Sheba wasn't faring much better. She had also woken to find herself tied to a support column in an identical manner to Jenna. Once she established that she too had had her psynergy drained she didn't admit defeat. Instead she struggled against her bindings as hard as she possibly could. She pulled against ropes encircling her wrists, squirmed against the bonds pinning her upper body to the column and twisted her legs against the bindings wound around them. Yet the knots remained firm and Sheba remained tightly bound.

    When struggling failed she decided to give yelling for help a try. "Someone help me!" she cried out as loud as she possibly could, her voice echoing around the empty room. "If someone is there please let me go!" She waited for a few moments to see if anyone would respond, but nobody did.

     She gave an exhausted sigh and looked about her. She was being held in a room very similar in layout and design where Jenna was prisoner except she was not surrounded by water, but by sand. It lay in small dunes all about the floor, falling to a level just below the stone outcrop on which she was stood. The room was deathly silent, but what really unnerved Sheba was that normally she could sense the thoughts of people near to her, but now she sensed nothing. She was utterly alone, and that thought secretly terrified her.

    She told herself to get a grip and think of a way out of this. Maybe if she remembered how she had ended up here she would be able to at least figure out who was responsible. But the problem was that she didn't really know how this had happened. Her last memory was of being on the deck of Piers' ship with Felix, Isaac and the others. It had been a glorious day and they had been in good spirits, having joined forces to light the Mars Lighthouse. Then out of nowhere a mist had descended, completely surrounding the ship and becoming so thick they could barely see their hands in front of their faces.

    Wondering if it was an attack, Isaac and Felix gathered them all around into a circle. Sheba had found herself in between Jenna and Mia, and together they prepared to defend themselves. But then there had been a flash of blue light, and she had turned to see that Mia had disappeared. Then there had been a second flash, at which Jenna had gone as well. Sheba raised her staff and prepared to summon her most powerful attack, but then there had been the brightest flash of them all, after which she had blacked out. The next thing she knew she was here.

    No, thinking about how she had been captured hadn't made her feel any better. Instead the feelings of isolation returned to her. She resumed struggling, deciding she needed to get away as fast as possible. Not only was she desperate to escape her bonds, but she was also desperate to escape the room. She couldn't explain it but the more she looked at the sand surrounding her, the more nervous she became.

       Mia was in even more discomfort. She too had been bound to a support pillar with her hands tied behind it and her legs bound at the ankles and knees, but her discomfort was added to by the heat. Because at the base of the support pillar, several metres below the outcrop she was stood on, was a pool of molten lava. It bubbled and sparked menacingly, and the fumes it was emitting stung her eyes and nose.

    The heat it was generating was the worst part for Mia. It was utterly incredible. Being a Mercury adept meant that she was particularly uncomfortable in extremely hot temperatures, though it didn't help that she was dressed in clothes usually more suited to keeping her warm in the freezing temperatures of the north.

    She wriggled against the ropes, desperate to find some slack or some relief from the searing temperatures. Her long blue hair swished about her body as she inspected the rope, but she remained rooted to the spot. Eventually she gave up, slumping against the column in defeat. "What's going on?" she murmured to herself. "What's happening to me?"

     "I think a more suitable question would be, why is this happening to me?" said a familiar voice.

     Mia couldn't see the source of the voice, but she recognised it almost immediately. "Alex" she cried out. "Alex, where are you?"

    There was a flash of blue, and suddenly Alex appeared standing on a support pillar across from her. Alex was a member of her Mercury Clan and someone she had known throughout her entire life. He had disappeared for months before returning to light the Mercury Lighthouse, allying himself with Saturos and Menardi and becoming her enemy in the process.

   "Alex, let me go" she pleaded. "Someone's tied me up and left me here."

    "Two things" Alex replied coolly. "First, I can see full well that someone has tied you up and left you here. Second, that person was me."

      It took Mia a second to understand fully what he had said. "You...you did this?" she asked. Alex nodded slowly. "And wha...what about the others?"

     It took Alex a while to reply. He looked about the massive room almost lazily, before saying "remarkable these chambers, built by the ancient civilization before alchemy was sealed away. There are four hidden inside this complex, and I've taken you to the one dedicated to Mars psynergy. I have left your friend Jenna in the chamber dedicated to Mercury psynergy, and Sheba in the chamber for Venus psynergy. Shame you didn't have any girl Venus adepts in your party, I'd have loved to have visited the Jupiter chamber. The winds in there apparently can get so strong they can blow full grown men about like blossoms in the breeze."

    "But why?" Mia asked desperately. "Why do this? We're trying to release the Golden Sun as well now, we all want the same thing."

     "No we don't" Alex told her, suddenly sounding quite firm. "Our aims are the same, but our motivations are different. You have progressed faster than expected and my plans are not yet complete. I needed to slow you all down."

    His words swam around inside Mia's head, before sending a horrified chill through her body despite the intense heat. "What have you done to Isaac?" she asked fearfully.

     Alex gave a laugh. "Why, are you worried that I have hurt handsome young Isaac? Or maybe one of the other boys is the target of your affections. Could it be Felix, or maybe the hotheaded Mars adept is more your type."

    "Answer the question Alex!" Mia demanded, her frustration and fear getting the better of her.

     "They're absolutely fine. I have made them aware of your predicament, and they're now frantically searching for you before it's too late."

   "What do you mean by that?" she asked, though not sure it was an answer she wanted to hear.

     With blue flash Alex teleported away and with another flash he reappeared on same stone outcrop as her, standing so close that they were almost face to face. "We experienced a lot growing in that small village by the Lighthouse didn't we?" he began. "We are among the last of our clan and consequently share a common destiny. Believe me Mia I take no pleasure in putting you in danger. But if you are harmed by the inadequacies of your friends, then the responsibility is not mine to bear."

     "Well they weren't the ones who tied me to a pillar over a pit of lava were they?" Mia replied defiantly.

    Again Alex didn't reply at first. Instead he slowly outstretched his hand towards her face. She jerked her head away defiantly, squirming away as much as the ropes binding her would allow. Alex slowly retracted his hand and said "If I have calculated correctly no harm will come to you or your two friends. I just needed to delay your journey to the Mars Lighthouse for a little longer." He paused and gazed at her in silence for a few seconds. Mia gazed back, and as she stared into his eyes she realised the little boy she had grown up with had disappeared and would never return.

    Smiling Alex said "When the Golden Sun rises Mia, that's when everything changes." And then with a flash of blue light he disappeared, leaving her alone in the chamber.

    Mia immediately began to panic. "Alex come back, please let me go. It doesn't have to be like this." But Alex was gone, using his psynergy to teleport himself far away. Mia pulled and tugged against her bonds but to no avail. She tried summoning her psynergy to freeze the ropes and break them, but she couldn't summon any of her water magic. The only water she could summon were the tears forming in her eyes that she struggled to hold back.

    But her problems had only just begun. Suddenly several loud clunking noises were heard from behind the stone carved walls. Mia looked about fearfully, wondering what was going to happen next. She didn't have to wait long, as suddenly from the statues embedded into the walls molten lava spurted out from the stone pots they were carrying. The lava poured into the pit, adding to what was already there. Mia hoped it would only last a few seconds, but the lava kept on pouring. With horror gripping her entire body she began to realise what was happening. The lava was rising and would soon engulf this entire chamber. If she didn't escape soon she would be burned alive.

Description
The first thing Jenna became aware of upon waking was the sound of running water. Her head throbbed and she could feel a sharp ache in the back of her neck. She opened her eyes and found that her vision was blurred, but she could immediately tell that she was standing up. She was leaning against something hard and cold. Her head was hanging down into her chest, which was probably why her neck ached so much. Wondering what was happening exactly she tried to move. This was when she got the biggest surprise of all. She couldn't.

    Her vision returning she looked about her and saw multiple coils of rope encircling her body above and below her breasts and waist, pinning her back and shoulders into what appeared to be a stone support column. She tried moving her arms and gave a gasp as her aching muscles refused to budge. She quickly realised her hands had been pulled behind the stone pillar and also bound. The pillar was too big for her hands to be touching, but as she tugged she could feel they were connected by several coils of rope wound around each other into one thick unit, meaning her wrists were snugly tied together.

     The more she became aware of her predicament the more Jenna's body seemed to ache, and she tried shifting to lessen some of the strain. But even her feet failed to respond. Looking down she saw that her legs had also been bound, yet more rope looping around her ankles and her legs above her knees. Wriggling a little she found her boots gave her ankles adequate protection from the coarse rope, but the strand coiled above her knees rubbed uncomfortably against her bare skin.

    Then she saw the water.

    She was standing on a small piece of stonework jutting out from the pillar, and completely surrounding her was a shimmering pool of light blue water. Tiny waves gently lapped at the bottom of Jenna's small stone island, and she could hear the sound of a current gently flowing through the room and the consistent drip of water droplets falling from the ceiling. Looking about her she saw she was standing in what appeared to be flooded ruins. More support pillars jutted out from the water and eventually curved upwards into magnificent arches, holding up the great stone ceiling. Dotted around the edge embedded into the walls were tall stone statues of female figures holding large pots over their shoulders. It would have been a very beautiful place had Jenna been in a situation where she could appreciate it.

       She gave experimental tugs at her bonds and immediately realised they wouldn't be wriggled out of easily. That didn't matter. Smiling to herself she realised the person who had done this to her obviously didn't know she was an adept, and a Mars adept at that. It would only take a fraction of her psynergy to summon enough fire to burn away these ropes.

    But as she concentrated and tried unleashing her abilities, as she had done countless times in the past, nothing happened. She tried time and time again but she couldn't even summon a spark. Then she realised what had happened. Her psynergy had been completely drained. No wonder she felt so rough. She rested her head against the stonework in frustration, realising it would be hours before her psynergy would recharge enough for her to make her escape.

     It was only then she realised she was completely alone. There was nobody else in the room with her and no indication that there was anybody nearby either. A jolt of fear gripping her stomach her mind began to race, as she wondered what had happened to her friends.

    "Is anyone there?" she called out, her voice sounding surprisingly hoarse and weak. "Isaac, Felix, are you around here somewhere?" She got no reply, only the continuous sound of running water. "Garet, Kraden, where are you guys?" she cried, but again no reply. Beginning to panic she shouted as loud as she could "help me guys. Ivan, Mia, Piers, Sheba. If you're there I need help!"

   Sheba wasn't faring much better. She had also woken to find herself tied to a support column in an identical manner to Jenna. Once she established that she too had had her psynergy drained she didn't admit defeat. Instead she struggled against her bindings as hard as she possibly could. She pulled against ropes encircling her wrists, squirmed against the bonds pinning her upper body to the column and twisted her legs against the bindings wound around them. Yet the knots remained firm and Sheba remained tightly bound.

    When struggling failed she decided to give yelling for help a try. "Someone help me!" she cried out as loud as she possibly could, her voice echoing around the empty room. "If someone is there please let me go!" She waited for a few moments to see if anyone would respond, but nobody did.

     She gave an exhausted sigh and looked about her. She was being held in a room very similar in layout and design where Jenna was prisoner except she was not surrounded by water, but by sand. It lay in small dunes all about the floor, falling to a level just below the stone outcrop on which she was stood. The room was deathly silent, but what really unnerved Sheba was that normally she could sense the thoughts of people near to her, but now she sensed nothing. She was utterly alone, and that thought secretly terrified her.

    She told herself to get a grip and think of a way out of this. Maybe if she remembered how she had ended up here she would be able to at least figure out who was responsible. But the problem was that she didn't really know how this had happened. Her last memory was of being on the deck of Piers' ship with Felix, Isaac and the others. It had been a glorious day and they had been in good spirits, having joined forces to light the Mars Lighthouse. Then out of nowhere a mist had descended, completely surrounding the ship and becoming so thick they could barely see their hands in front of their faces.

    Wondering if it was an attack, Isaac and Felix gathered them all around into a circle. Sheba had found herself in between Jenna and Mia, and together they prepared to defend themselves. But then there had been a flash of blue light, and she had turned to see that Mia had disappeared. Then there had been a second flash, at which Jenna had gone as well. Sheba raised her staff and prepared to summon her most powerful attack, but then there had been the brightest flash of them all, after which she had blacked out. The next thing she knew she was here.

    No, thinking about how she had been captured hadn't made her feel any better. Instead the feelings of isolation returned to her. She resumed struggling, deciding she needed to get away as fast as possible. Not only was she desperate to escape her bonds, but she was also desperate to escape the room. She couldn't explain it but the more she looked at the sand surrounding her, the more nervous she became.

       Mia was in even more discomfort. She too had been bound to a support pillar with her hands tied behind it and her legs bound at the ankles and knees, but her discomfort was added to by the heat. Because at the base of the support pillar, several metres below the outcrop she was stood on, was a pool of molten lava. It bubbled and sparked menacingly, and the fumes it was emitting stung her eyes and nose.

    The heat it was generating was the worst part for Mia. It was utterly incredible. Being a Mercury adept meant that she was particularly uncomfortable in extremely hot temperatures, though it didn't help that she was dressed in clothes usually more suited to keeping her warm in the freezing temperatures of the north.

    She wriggled against the ropes, desperate to find some slack or some relief from the searing temperatures. Her long blue hair swished about her body as she inspected the rope, but she remained rooted to the spot. Eventually she gave up, slumping against the column in defeat. "What's going on?" she murmured to herself. "What's happening to me?"

     "I think a more suitable question would be, why is this happening to me?" said a familiar voice.

     Mia couldn't see the source of the voice, but she recognised it almost immediately. "Alex" she cried out. "Alex, where are you?"

    There was a flash of blue, and suddenly Alex appeared standing on a support pillar across from her. Alex was a member of her Mercury Clan and someone she had known throughout her entire life. He had disappeared for months before returning to light the Mercury Lighthouse, allying himself with Saturos and Menardi and becoming her enemy in the process.

   "Alex, let me go" she pleaded. "Someone's tied me up and left me here."

    "Two things" Alex replied coolly. "First, I can see full well that someone has tied you up and left you here. Second, that person was me."

      It took Mia a second to understand fully what he had said. "You...you did this?" she asked. Alex nodded slowly. "And wha...what about the others?"

     It took Alex a while to reply. He looked about the massive room almost lazily, before saying "remarkable these chambers, built by the ancient civilization before alchemy was sealed away. There are four hidden inside this complex, and I've taken you to the one dedicated to Mars psynergy. I have left your friend Jenna in the chamber dedicated to Mercury psynergy, and Sheba in the chamber for Venus psynergy. Shame you didn't have any girl Venus adepts in your party, I'd have loved to have visited the Jupiter chamber. The winds in there apparently can get so strong they can blow full grown men about like blossoms in the breeze."

    "But why?" Mia asked desperately. "Why do this? We're trying to release the Golden Sun as well now, we all want the same thing."

     "No we don't" Alex told her, suddenly sounding quite firm. "Our aims are the same, but our motivations are different. You have progressed faster than expected and my plans are not yet complete. I needed to slow you all down."

    His words swam around inside Mia's head, before sending a horrified chill through her body despite the intense heat. "What have you done to Isaac?" she asked fearfully.

     Alex gave a laugh. "Why, are you worried that I have hurt handsome young Isaac? Or maybe one of the other boys is the target of your affections. Could it be Felix, or maybe the hotheaded Mars adept is more your type."

    "Answer the question Alex!" Mia demanded, her frustration and fear getting the better of her.

     "They're absolutely fine. I have made them aware of your predicament, and they're now frantically searching for you before it's too late."

   "What do you mean by that?" she asked, though not sure it was an answer she wanted to hear.

     With blue flash Alex teleported away and with another flash he reappeared on same stone outcrop as her, standing so close that they were almost face to face. "We experienced a lot growing in that small village by the Lighthouse didn't we?" he began. "We are among the last of our clan and consequently share a common destiny. Believe me Mia I take no pleasure in putting you in danger. But if you are harmed by the inadequacies of your friends, then the responsibility is not mine to bear."

     "Well they weren't the ones who tied me to a pillar over a pit of lava were they?" Mia replied defiantly.

    Again Alex didn't reply at first. Instead he slowly outstretched his hand towards her face. She jerked her head away defiantly, squirming away as much as the ropes binding her would allow. Alex slowly retracted his hand and said "If I have calculated correctly no harm will come to you or your two friends. I just needed to delay your journey to the Mars Lighthouse for a little longer." He paused and gazed at her in silence for a few seconds. Mia gazed back, and as she stared into his eyes she realised the little boy she had grown up with had disappeared and would never return.

    Smiling Alex said "When the Golden Sun rises Mia, that's when everything changes." And then with a flash of blue light he disappeared, leaving her alone in the chamber.

    Mia immediately began to panic. "Alex come back, please let me go. It doesn't have to be like this." But Alex was gone, using his psynergy to teleport himself far away. Mia pulled and tugged against her bonds but to no avail. She tried summoning her psynergy to freeze the ropes and break them, but she couldn't summon any of her water magic. The only water she could summon were the tears forming in her eyes that she struggled to hold back.

    But her problems had only just begun. Suddenly several loud clunking noises were heard from behind the stone carved walls. Mia looked about fearfully, wondering what was going to happen next. She didn't have to wait long, as suddenly from the statues embedded into the walls molten lava spurted out from the stone pots they were carrying. The lava poured into the pit, adding to what was already there. Mia hoped it would only last a few seconds, but the lava kept on pouring. With horror gripping her entire body she began to realise what was happening. The lava was rising and would soon engulf this entire chamber. If she didn't escape soon she would be burned alive.