Personal Discoveries

The heat was intense even with the wind blowing hard on us. We sat together on the sand, and Joseph joined us, and we started to talk about the island we were on. They both seemed, in my opinion, incredible sailors who knew every sea and ocean currents or climate around the world. I decided that later after our new ship was ready, I would get some books about navigation and other subjects as general knowledge. Even if I understood very little regarding what they talked about, I still enjoyed it.

"Will you meet with Heath this afternoon? "Joseph asked Dominic.

"I will, and I think it will take a while. It's hard to show up there with all those soldiers, especially now that the navy is "interested" in whose ship Heath is building in such a hurry." he answered. "We were lucky that he agreed to do this favor for us."

"Yes. Then, I guess I'll have to take care of things around here today." Joseph continued, now smiling relaxed. Every word that Joseph said seemed to reflect his splendid confidence. It was as if he knew everything would be fine, and I felt safe with that feeling.

"What do you think, Althea?" Dominic interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to the conversation.

"Huh? What do I think?" I asked, completely lost.

"About training with me today." said Joseph. "I know that we had arranged to train altogether, but since Dominic will be absent, I think only the two of us are left."

"What?! The two of us? Training? Had we arranged training? I don't remember that." I spoke, sending a hateful look to Dominic. "Nothing against you, Joseph, but I don't know if it will work out. My last training was... disastrous. I don't know if I want to repeat that, especially in front of you."

"What's wrong with training with me?" he asked indignantly.

"I don't know. It feels easier for me to attack Dominic."

"Hey..." claimed Dominic.

"Ah. If that's the problem, don't worry. I agree with that. But trust me, I know how to proceed." said Joseph. "I'm actually interested in testing you."

I had no other argument to try to win that conversation.

Dominic left for the city, and after some time of rest, Joseph and I went to look for an even more isolated place to train, which resulted in a long and tiring walk through the mountains behind the closed forest. Joseph was really prepared to spend a whole day looking after me. He was as careful as Dominic in checking every miserable piece of dried twig and every stone on the way which could collide with my feet and throw me to the ground. The walk seemed to be shorter than it was, thanks to the fact that Joseph did not stop a second of chattering. He babbled about everything: from the name of each tree around us to the characteristics of the kingdoms we would soon visit. A lot had changed since I was isolated from the world. Technology had advanced unbelievably, especially in the matter of weapons. At that moment, Joseph ended up confessing that he and Dominic were carrying some weapons, just in case.

"Guns?" I asked, surprised with those words.

"Also. Weapons of all kinds of substances. But I think the best we have is the sword that Dominic carries."

"What is so special about it?"

"Well..." he started. "There are stones around the world that have powerful substances inside them and, when they are extracted correctly, they can be inserted through a fusion in other materials like iron, lead, steel, and gold. Each stone is distinguished from another by its capacity and the kind of power it releases. Some serve to heal, others to kill."

He paused for a minute to see if I was following the conversation. I nodded to get him to proceed and continue with the explanation.

"The stone inserted in Dominic's sword is called Scanial. It is classified as one of the most powerful ever discovered, only weaker in comparison to the Agrona Stone."

" Agrona Stone?"

"Yes. This stone is what we call perfect. Blessing of the gods. There was a man who possessed it thousands of years ago, but it has been missing since then." he said. "So, it is not known if it really exists."

"I've heard about it before. I think it is more like a curse than a blessing. I read as a child several books talking about this stone and about the man who created it. Books about alchemy. It transforms stone into gold, gives various powers to its bearers, such as immortality and the power to revive a human being." I said. "Thousands of people have already died looking for this stone."

"And thousands died so that this stone could be created." he continued.

The topic was closed, and the silence took over. We walked a little further until we reached a point on the island where there was no more forest, pasture, and no sign of life. It was surrounded by a wall of trees, but there were only boulders and rocks in the huge plain in front of us.

"Perfect!" said Joseph with a beautiful smile and bright eyes, which at that moment was very discouraging for me.

"Perfect? Here? This looks like a perfect place to get injured." I proclaimed, incredulous. "What if we hit our heads on the stones?"

"That would undoubtedly be a fatality. We will take care that it does not happen."

He turned and went towards the plain. Joseph didn't seem to be worried. Maybe he had a vision about our training and concluded that everything would turn out well, but that wasn't enough to cheer me up.

"Do you prefer to position yourself somewhere here to start, or do you have no preference?"

"It doesn't matter for me." I replied. " What kind of combat will we fight?"

"Well... I will try to fight in a fairway. I think it's good to train agility today. I will use my speed to attack you, and you should use the battlefield in your favor. My fighting style is not reasonably... delicate, so I will avoid as much as possible attacking you directly, but I want you to be always alert and fight back. And don't worry about hurting me; I am pretty sturdy."

"Hmm, right. I'll try."

We faced each other, right in the center of that place. I was a little more confident this time than on my first training with Dominic. I tried to occupy my mind only on how to attack and defend myself, forgetting the fact that I was fighting against my own friend.

"If I only retreat, I will never be strong enough to fight my enemies. This could be considered my first real battle. If I didn't fight, they would take me back to the darkness... I would never accept the darkness again."

I thought.

"I will have no mercy on you." I told Joseph, with an evil smile.

"Good. I don't intend to be friendly either. Ready?" he asked.

"I never am."

"We can start then."

And he was gone. His speed was absurd! I didn't even see where Joseph had gone, and he didn't make any noise when he moved.

I stood still, looking around for any sign of his location while the silence remained. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the noise of the wind, the birds on the green wall, the sea in the east. If Joseph attacked me, the only way to defend myself was to know where he would come from. A different sound. A human sound.

Rocks rolling to my right.

I turned around in time to see him raising his fists. I jumped to the left side and rolled on the ground so as not to be struck. My first fight with Dominic taught me a lesson: first, defend yourself whenever an enemy attacks. Then attack as fast as possible before the enemy throws another blow on you.

And that is exactly what Joseph was going to do. If his specialty was hand"to"hand combat, I should find a way not to let him near me.

"Use the battlefield in your favor" he said earlier. There were only rocks and stones around me, however. Maybe...

This time, I saw him coming near me strolling, which gave me some time to think.

"Do not hesitate to attack Althea." he said, raising his fists again.

Then I lifted my right arm towards a rock about 50 cm in diameter and used my powers to raise it in the air for a few seconds. Then, with an Impulsum, I threw it towards Joseph at a considerable speed. With a smile, he deflected the rock with one punch, breaking it into hundreds of pieces. He also didn't seem to be amazed by my ability to lift stones in the air while I was utterly paralyzed, surprised by Joseph's strength. There wasn't even a scratch on his hands.

"Excellent pitch! But you missed me." he said while contemplating the stone on the ground, now destroyed. "It takes more than one of these to beat me."

Then, with only one jump, Joseph was beside me, with his gigantic body like a mountain, inches from mine. He was ready to attack again. I moved as fast as I could and raised my two arms, concentrating on throwing on him as many rocks as I could handle, with the same speed as the first. I lifted them in the air above both of us and threw them. It was like a meteor shower falling on Joseph, but he was able to get away from it accurately and quickly. I did not give up and continued to attack him, now alternating between rocks and bursts of energy. I didn't want him to hit me in any way. Surely it would be unbearably painful.

"Excellent, Althea!" shouted Joseph in during my attack. "But you still can't bring me down."

The training already lasted more than half an hour. I was getting tired, and I hadn't even managed to hit Joseph even once. The gust of stones was not enough. What else could I do to bring him down, using the battlefield in my favor? Joseph could predict my attacks and deviate from each one with precision. What could I do?

"Simple Althea. Launch an attack from which he cannot deviate. Destroy the place where he steps".

I threw another large number of rocks in his direction and moved further away from him. I then lowered and touched the ground with my hands. I already knew that, with my powers, I could move or destroy anything in my surroundings, so if I could concentrate, I believed I could create a shift of the rocks below us, making them rise or sink. I had no idea if that would work.

I focused to the maximum and poured a good amount of my energy into the ground. Soon, the floor began to crack, and there was a significant tremor. A crater opened, from where my hands were to Joseph's feet, who, in order not to fall inside the hole, jumped away, unbalancing and hitting his face directly on the ground. To complete, the last stone that was still in the air hit his back with all possible force, breaking into several little pieces.

In the face of my last blow, all the energy left in my body disappeared, and I collapsed on the destroyed ground. I heard a groan of pain coming from my "enemy," but I didn't have enough strength to ask if he was okay. The only thing I wanted to do was to sleep.

"Ouch! My back... Althea? Althea, are you okay?" Asked Joseph with a tone of pain in his voice.

"Hmm." It was the only sound I could pronounce.

He came, then, in my direction. I turned my head to the left and saw Joseph sitting beside me. I tried to get up, but my legs still did not obey me.

"I think I am tired." I whispered without air.

"One more attack like that, and I would have ended badly." Joseph laughed while I got up. He then put me sitting next to him, and I leaned on his arm. I stood there for a few minutes, catching my breath. "You went far beyond my expectations. Besides being powerful, you're smart."

"One day, you will kill me." I talked, still in a tired voice.

"Come on, it couldn't have been worse than with Dominic."

"It was a thousand times more difficult. This time I fought seriously, but you are very strong." I cried out. "I had to use all my energy."

"It makes no sense. Dominic is much stronger than me." he replied indignantly with my statement. "I could never hit him with a single blow while we were training."

"Then I believe he never really fought seriously with me."

Joseph just shook his head, giving a slight smile.

"Well, let's say Dominic is not strong enough to fight against you. It's also challenging for me, but I think for him, it's worse."

"Difficult? Fighting against me? Am I that fragile?" I spoke depressed.

"No! It's not that. It is just that when we look at your face, to your eyes... It melts our hearts. It doesn't give me any desire to attack you, and I have to concentrate a lot. It is one of the Descendants' abilities. And poor Dominic, how he must suffer. If you knew how much it affects him, you'd understand it faster. Besides your ability, we both have a special feeling for you."

"I like you both very much too... even though my feelings are different for each of you. I can't explain it exactly since I don't understand it myself."

"I understand." he said, smiling. "What I feel for you is something very big and what Dominic feels is as big as, but it is different. One day I'll explain you, or rather, ask him to explain it to you. It will be a lot of fun to watch that. Have you rested already?" he asked.

"Yes. Are we going back?"

"Yes. I don't think your body could take it anymore, and we have to get there before Dominic and Heath. Tonight, the two of us will prepare dinner!"

"Are we going to meet Heath tonight? And I got it, right? Are we preparing dinner?"

"Do not complain before the time. Let's go."

We got up and went back to the forest while I took one last look at the place where we trained. Everything was completely destroyed.

The way back was fast, but as I was drained, the stumbles were more frequent. Joseph had a bit more work taking care of me.

We arrived at the boat still empty, and I went first to take a shower and change my clothes. After that, I went up to the kitchen and tried to help Joseph prepare dinner. Obviously, I had no idea what I was doing.

We had barely finished setting the table when Dominic arrived. Next to him was a man of about 30 years old, a little shorter than Dominic, with a dark brown beard and short light brown hair, and dark skin. His eyes were the same color as his hairs, and he kept a charismatic expression. As soon as they entered, they came towards us. Just like with Dominic and Joseph, I immediately had a good feeling for Heath.

"Heath," Dominic said. "This is Joseph Greyston."

"Pleasure." Spoke Heath while shaking Joseph's hand.

"The pleasure is mine."

"And this..." Spoke Dominic again, now addressing me. "Is Althea."

"Althea! Very nice to meet you." he said, smiling.

"The same!" I replied sincerely. "How is the construction of the ship going?"

"It will be ready in less than two days. Heath is an excellent carpenter." replied Dominic.

"If you say so. But the ship is a little different from the initial project, a little bigger and with two more rooms. Due to the "urgency", we had to use another ship semi"ready for this project. I hope you like it." Heath said, sitting down with Dominic next to me. "The kitchen is terrific, as is the dining room. We just got back from town. We were selecting and ordering all kinds of things to put on the ship, such as kitchen equipment, furniture, and ammunition for the cannons. In the end, we even managed to get a fortepiano!"

"A piano?" I asked. Since I was a child, I loved music, but I had never seen a real piano.

"Yes, of course! A ship must have music." laughed Joseph putting the food on the table.

"Dominic is a wonderful pianist, and Joseph is right: a ship without music is not complete." Heath said. I saw Dominic shaking his head, flushed and with a shy smile.

"Ah! I didn't know that! You'll have to play it for me. I love music." I spoke with a look in my eyes that I already knew was irresistible to Dominic. He never denied anything to me when I looked at him that way.

"That's not fair. I can't say no." he responded, smiling at me.

The dinner was delicious. Joseph and Heath seemed to unite against Dominic, and everything was a reason to make fun of him, which made me laugh non"stop. It was as if they had known each other for years. When Dominic gave up on them, they asked my opinion on the matter, and things only got worse for his side. It was an unforgettable night, and time passed very quickly. Unfortunately, Heath had to go back to the city, and we let him go unwillingly. After saying goodbye to him, I went back to the boat and tidied up the kitchen. Dominic and Joseph stayed outside for a while, persuading Heath to join our crew. I could hear the three of them screaming from afar, laughing and discussing the pros and cons of life at sea. Finally, Heath couldn't delay anymore and left. Joseph stood outside on watch, and Dominic came in and helped me wash the dishes.

"So, tell me, did you like Heath?" he asked while hiding the plates in the cabinets.

"Absolutely! He is amusing. You guys have known each other for a long time, right?"

"I didn't find anything funny, but yes, we met a few years ago. He built a ship for me before. He was thrilled when he found out that I left the navy, so I think I'll be able to convince him to join our crew. He still doesn't know who you are, but he believes in the hope that someday the other Descendant will appear to lead the revolution, and when he hears that you are that person, I am sure he will fight together with us." he spoke smilingly.

"It would be great to have him with us. Besides being a great person, he is a carpenter, which is very useful."

"Yes, but not only that. He also has skills like us. Do you know what a Transmuter is?"

"A what?"

"Transmuter. It is a kind of beast-man resulting from a transmutation made by an inexperienced alchemist." explained Dominic. I cast a glance from one who understood absolutely nothing, and he began to look for words to explain it to me in a simple way. If I were him, I would have given up on myself.

"Alchemist is a person who uses nature, chemistry, and stones in his favor. It is a kind of magic, you could say. You will only fully understand when you see a real alchemist. When a person cannot master alchemy and yet uses it, things can come out wrong, and other people end up hit by their mistake, which is Heath's case. When he was little, his parents tried to use alchemy to cure a degenerative disease he was born with. But something went wrong, and Heath ended up hit. It was fortunate that he did not die since it is rare to see a survivor of a wrong transmutation. From then, he can transform himself into... something different. He can also regenerate very quickly, and his illness was cured. The navy has been hunting him because of it. They are looking for Transmuters all over the world to convince them to join their troops."

"Interesting." I said while storing the information in my head. "Every day that passes, the world surprises me even more. I've lost a lot of time in my life."

"Yes. It must be very complicated for you to get used to the madness that exists in this world. Since I was a child, I have kept in touch with these things, and even today, I am surprised. It's good that we bought hundreds of books to take on our trip. I think you will find each one very interesting."

I opened a gigantic smile.

"I will read them as fast as possible so I can read even more later."

"You don't have to rush! You will have plenty of time to read them and much more. Our journey will take longer than you can imagine." said Dominic. "Alas, I think I have a book stored somewhere here. I've never read it. What do you think? Would you like to take a look at it?"

"Sure! I already finished the books that Joseph showed me, so I need more material." I answered happily.

We entered the room where Dominic and Joseph slept to look for the book. The room was much bigger than I imagined, but it was frighteningly messy. Still, he found the object in a matter of seconds. We went downstairs and sat on the couch to read. It was an exciting story about pirates. We read about 60 pages my eyes started to close. Dominic then took me to my room, organized my bed, and forced me to lay and rest.

I had another dream that night.

We were in a desert place, with few trees covered by sand, and Dominic was with two swords wielded. On the ground around us were six men, lifeless. I recognized Joseph and Heath among the dead and gave a shout.

"Althea, run! Get out of here now." shouted Dominic in anger in front of me.

However, I could not move. Tears flowed down my face, and my legs weakened, making me fall to the ground. Suddenly, a man stood before Dominic, a man I had dreamed of before. Something gave me strength, and I got up, standing between Dominic and the man.

"I will not allow you to hurt him." I threatened. Dominic was trying to get me out of there, but I wouldn't move. For some reason, I knew that man was dangerous and would kill Dominic without any mercy.

"Althea, don't do it. I'm not worth it. You must escape." he spoke in despair.

"She knows I won't kill her, but I can't say the same about you, you traitorous bastard. "Grunt the man, with an angelic voice.

"Run, Dominic! You can't die like this." I spoke, losing my voice, crying in despair.

"It's time to end it." the man said, laughing. He raised his hands, and I pushed Dominic away, putting myself in a counter"attack position. The man and I started fighting, and I realized that his powers were precisely the same as mine but much stronger.

He insisted on getting me out of the way and attacking Dominic, yet I did all I could to stop him. I used my powers beyond my limit and fought harder than I had ever used before. The few trees around us caught fire, and everything was being destroyed. That's when I lost control.

The energy was pouring out of me, and the pain was enormous. Neither Dominic nor the man could deviate from my attacks, and I could not stop. I was killing them both. The more I tried to stop, the more I attacked them, and the pain increased, making me scream.

I woke up with a jump, hitting my head on a shelf above and knocking down a series of objects. I stood there, sitting on the bed while trying to convince myself that it was just a dream. Suddenly, the doors were opened, and Dominic appeared in front of me with an alert expression. I had made more noise than I imagined.

"I'm fine." I said before he asked. Just seeing him there made me calmer, and my heart slowed down a bit.

"What happened?" he asked, now looking calmer and approaching me.

"Only a bad dream." I answered, shaking my head.

"For a moment, I thought you were being attacked. Joseph is still guarding, and I thought no one could go unnoticed unless they could defeat him." he said, now pulling himself a chair and sitting close to me. I felt a hint of guilty for making him worried. "Tell me about your dream."

I told him all the details, from the bodies on the ground to the moment where I killed him. I shivered at every word I said, but Dominic seemed to have the power to calm me down. Every time I shivered, he held my hand. After I finished, we remained silent for a time while Dominic seemed to be reflecting. Then he looked at me and gave a smile that ended all my worries. I was finally convinced it was just a nightmare. We stood there for some time, and then we went upstairs, calling for Joseph to join us.

I got ready after eating, and the three of us went straight to the city to meet Heath. I was bursting with excitement since it was the first time I would see the ship I would be calling "home" for the years to come.

The streets of Lyrus were again full of people, who walked frantically from one side to the other, entering and exiting the stores with bags in their hands. I stood between Dominic and Joseph, holding their arms so as not to get lost in that crowd, just like a child. Wherever I walked, I attracted trouble, and in the middle of them, I was safer. They also seemed to have noticed that.

After walking for about ten minutes, we arrived at the port where the immense shipyards were located. It was an indescribable place, surrounded by gigantic walls. We turned left and arrived at the shipyard that belonged to Heath. It was as big as the others around us. Before we entered, I looked at the coast and saw from afar about eight navy ships docked. I ignored that fact as Joseph did and passed by the shipyard door just after Dominic.

The first thing I saw was a colossal ship that seemed almost ready, except for some pending fixing in the painting. I then came across the smiling figure of Heath, who greeted us. There were hundreds of men in that place, working hard on the boats and ships that spread everywhere.

"Did you like the exterior?" Heath asked while pointing to the biggest ship.

"Absolutely!" I spoke, jumping out of anxiety. The ship had a half classical style, half modern, made entirely of dark wood. The hull had spiral"shaped frames, and besides the detailed finishing, the ship had three masts and beautiful bear sculptures on the front. "It's magnificent!"

"Wait until you see the inside." Spoke Dominic, as excited as I was.

We climbed a platform that led directly to the deck of the ship. On it, there were several spaces for resting outdoors. We did not wait for another second to enter the cabin.

In the main cabin was the ship's command room, where the captain would control the vessel's course in the future. Next, there was a huge modern"styled room with gray walls, sofas, and the capacity for more than twenty people. There was a fireplace in the corner of the room and a carpet in its center, with cushions that matched the environment. Passing through this place, we arrived at another room where a beautiful black piano was centered. There was also a record player on the right side and a shelf with several records. I couldn't stop being surprised, and all I could say was "perfect".

We then went to a corridor that led us directly to two wooden doors with more hand"carved designs. When Heath opened it, I came across a giant round room, composed of shelves full of books and tables for study in the middle of it.

"Better than I imagined." Joseph said in amazement at the perfection of that place.

Soon after, we moved to the rooms on the lower floor. We saw one by one, all very spacious, but each had a different decoration. At the end of the hall was the last room that Heath said was destined for me since it was easily accessible and designed to avoid possible accidents.

I had to use all my self"control to not cry at that moment. Heath didn't know about my past, so he certainly wouldn't understand my emotion. It was the first time in my life that I had a room of my own. Designed for me. As I crossed the wooden door, my heart almost exploded. It was absolutely perfect. The place had a double bed covered with blue pillows. There was also a wooden closet with a mirror on one of its doors. To the right, there were two sofas, with a gray carpet between them and more pillows. Finally, there was a desk leaning against the wall, next to the big window.

"Dominic warned me about your little problem of balance. We then decided to cover this place with pillows." spoke Heath, laughing like crazy at the sight of my hateful gaze directed at Dominic. My face blushed with shame.

As we left the room, Heath pointed out that there were 4 bathrooms on that floor and another 3 on the floor upstairs.

Finally, we went back to the first floor and saw the kitchen, the warehouse, the arsenal, and other rooms still without a specific purpose. There was another third floor on the ship, but Heath explained that it was incomplete and we could visit it later.

We then returned down to the shipyard, and the men went back to work.

"It is absolutely amazing! I've never been on a ship like this before. Much bigger than I imagined." I spoke in a cheerful voice.

"Indeed." Joseph agreed. "I can't wait to travel in it. When will it be ready?"

"Tomorrow in the morning, I expect." Said Heath smiling as always.

"So fast?" questioned Dominic surprised.

"Special service for unique customers." smiled Heath.

"What about you? Have you thought about our proposal?" Joseph asked. Heath's expression changed to one of uncertainty.

"I don't know yet. Where exactly are you going? And for what purpose? I know it's dangerous to stay here, and I also know that at any moment, the navy can invade my shipyard and arrest me, but it's not so easy to give up everything to embark on a journey without return." he answered with the feeling of doubt inserted in every word said.

"Tonight, will you be available for another dinner with friends?" asked Dominic.

"Sure! It is agreed. I'll come by later." he answered.

"We will make our way in this case. Thank you for the tour." Spoke Joseph. "We see you later."