Chapter LXI: Searching for a Sign of Life

"Fresh," Xaerus observed, scraping a fingernail against the bloodstain. "A day old at most."

Jinxie shielded her eyes against the glare of the Mea Crystal. Leaning down to observe the spot of red on the cerment surface of the Crag, she could clearly makeout the trail Xaerus had led them towards. Spots of dried blood, already faded from red to rust, dotted the pedastal which the crystal floated upon. A small pool had formed near the floating spire itself, continuing on down the ivory steps before disappearing in the red-hued dust of Tahrongi Canyon. Jinxie carefully followed the trail with her eyes as far as she could, but it vanished into the wind.

Xaerus stepped down beside her. The Mithra seemed unsteady, having to carefully test each descent before moving down the stairs. Once on the ground, she turned her blindfolded eyes to the horizon, staring as she often did at things Jinxie could not see.

"I can see nothing," she admitted regretfully. "White magic was used here some hours ago. Beyond that, I have no idea."

Her flaxen hair whipping in the breeze, Jinxie stooped down to examine the blood again. "This doesn't look like demon blood," she observed. It was thin and definitely had been red. Demon blood was thick as tar, and dark enough to be almost black. "Some monsters can heal themselves," she speculated, "could it have been from one of them?"

Xaerus leaned down and scratched at the dried blood again. The black and red gloves Jinxie wore creaked as she tightened her fists, anxiously awaiting the other woman's word. If she expected it to be monster blood, she would not be disappointed.

"This is not monster blood, Jinxie," Xaerus said eyes intent on the red sliver on her nail, "this is . . . . Elvaan blood."

"Thousands of years ago!" The shout startled Jinxie so much she almost fell over, a cloud of smoke unexpectantly passing over her. "Before the dawn of man as we know him - "

The cry was interrupted by a violent fit of coughing. Brushing the fog away with a furiously waved hand, Isset stomped over to Speed. She swatted the smoking roll of paper from his mouth, her automaton Shoki stomping on it as it hit the ground. Speed turned his head towards her with the same confused expression her normally wore.

"Whoa, Isset," he mumbled, "what's up? That's not cool, dude, there was like, half a joint left there."

"Where do you keep getting these from?" she demanded. "I know I took your stash away before we got to Nashmau."

He looked at her with some uncertainty, narrowing his already squinting eyes. "I was on a ship," he said, "there were these pirate dudes, they totally had some quality reefer." He looked at his surroundings, taking in the mountains, plateaus, and arid desert scenery. A moment passed, and then he asked, "Are we still on the ship?"

Isset and Shoki simultaneously let their shoulders droop. The puppet struck a thoughtful pose as Isset planted her hands on her hips. "What was that nonsense you shouted just now? "Thousands of years ago," or whatever?"

The Urghan Warrior blinked at her. "I dunno, Issy. Something just came over me." He looked down at his smashed roll, pursing his lips slightly. "Those pirates had some awesome weed."

Jinxie turned away from the pair, focusing again on Xaerus. "If this blood came from an Elvaan, less than a day ago, then they may be nearby. And in need of help. Is there any way we can find them?"

Xaerus's expression became disapproving. "No," she said simply.

Jinxie recognized the rebuke. However, she pressed on regardless. "We'll find Kkel," she reassured, "but there are people - real people - nearby that may be hurt."

"There is not a lot of blood," the Mithra countered, "and whomever was wounded seemed capable of healing themselves."

"Xaerus, please!" she almost screamed. The Mithra's face turned to understanding, but she remained infuriatingly silent.

Their time was nearly up as it was, Jinxie knew. Three days prior, Arvin had deposited them at the port in Mhaura. While initially their plan had been to take a longboat to shore, as they neared the coastline the crow's nest reported not a demon in sight. Trepidatiously, they had approached the harbor. The place where Jinxie had been torn away from her husband was silent as the grave. Not even the bodies of the fallen remained. The buildings were damaged, some of them to the point of collapse, but there was not a sign of life to be had.

There was no mark at all of the man whom had sacrificed himself to save her. Considering his fate moved her nearly to tears she didn't think she had left.

After inspecting Mhaura from top to bottom, the pirates concluded there was indeed nothing left there living, and hardly any plunder worth taking. Arvin had seemed particularly disappointed about that, but still as perplexed as any of them. Except for the houses and buildings themselves, there was no sign anyone had lived in the fishing village.

"It be wholly unnatural, an' I'll not be keepin' me crew here t' suffer at th' hands o' whate'er foul spirit took the people a' Mhaura." The brusque Corsair took another swig from the flask at his hip, a drop of brandy spilling on to his thick coat. The crew of the Proteus was petrified of evil spirits and ghosts, as most sailors were. Arvin put on a brave face, but Jinxie knew the captain was having his doubts as well. "We'll be pullin' up anchor outta this place at first light. 'Tis bad enough we're stayin' th' night."

"Stay here, Captain," Jinxie warned. "We had an agreement. I am leaving immediately and expect you to be here upon my return."

Arvin scoffed at her. "Yer gold is good, woman, but it ain't worth my life. There be foul magic afoot, an I won't be havin' it."

"There is foul magic right in front of you, Corsair!" Jinxie shouted, and her fists burst into flame as she held them before her. She extended a burning hand towards Arvin, a dangerous glint in her seafoam eyes. "You'll have to confront one or the other, Arvin, so which will it be?"

For his part, Arvin remained in his chair. However, the flask came to his lips immediately, and as he drank beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. The thousand unknown possibilities of what might be lurking in Mhaura were weighed against the thoughts of what Jinxie might do to him if he left.

"I'll put down anchor f'r three days 'n three nights, woman," he finally conceded, "but if you ain't back on board when th' moon rises on th' third night, I ain't even skirtin' the coast. Me men an' I 'll be back on th' open waters, an keepin' yer gold as hazard pay."

So it had been that Jinxie, Xaerus, Isset, and Speed set off into the Buburimu Peninsula. The Puppetmaster expressed nothing but relief in being off of Arvin's ship and away from the crew. Speed continued to look back longingly, and occasionally gave deep, regretful sighs. Xaerus, on the other hand, was indifferent to their change of location. She only stared into the darkened skies of Buburimu, her face expressionless.

"It grows stronger," she warned, not speaking to anyone in particular. The tone of foreboding in her voice filled Jinxie with dread.

Despite the Mithra's assertion, however, Buburimu Peninsula was hardly the harrowing encounter Jinxie had expected. The windswept beaches were almost empty. Off in the distance, she would occasionally see monsters roaming across the sands, but they never ventured near or gave sign that they noticed Jinxie's presence. Once, Xaerus stopped them, and the four held still as a stone effigy in the form of a Goblin moved by under its own power. Watching the animated structure scrape the sand as it moved past them was unnerving. Its red-glowing eyes never moved from the space directly in front of it, and eventually it disappeared over the dunes. Only then did Xaerus give them the signal to move forward.

All night and into the day they travelled. As they moved gradually northwest, the Crag of Mea came into view. Jinxie could feel the immense power of the Mea crystal pulsating through the air even from miles away. The alabaster structure dominated the horizon with its presence. Every time her eyes searched their surroundings, they inevitably fell upon its soaring spire. She felt drawn to it, and occasionally kept walking foward even after the others had stopped to rest.

"You can feel it, too, can't you?" she asked Xaerus, focused still on the Crag. The Red Mage nodded her assent.

"The crystal cries out," Xaerus replied. "It was also in this area that Kkel Solaar was last known to be. Perhaps it is a coincidence." The blind woman looked ahead, staring in the same direction Jinxie was. "Perhaps."

As they entered Tahrongi Canyon, the Crag now in plain sight, Xaerus turned sharply southward, and clutched at her staff until her knuckles went white.

"What is it?" Isset asked, and Shoki spun rapidly, searching for disturbance in every direction.

Xaerus stared hard towards the south, and the plains of Sarutabaruta which rested there. Her brow creased, uncertainty in the Mithra's expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but eventually turned around, back towards the Crag of Mea.

"Nothing," she said, "nothing which concerns us."

So their journey brought them to the Crag of Mea, where upon the crystal they had discovered the blood of an Elvaan.

"A concession," Xaerus said softly as Jinxie demanded they find the person to whom the blood belonged. "We will linger here for one hour and search the Crag for a clue pertaining to our journey. One hour, and if we have not found something in that time, we will shift our focus to our bleeder."

Jinxie stared up at the massive proportions of the Crag of Mea. Even with four of them, an hour would be just barely enough time to walk all the way around it. She saw nothing to gain from that course of action. Before she could speak, however, Xaerus pressed on.

"If they appeared here, as it would seem they did, the Elvaan was likely using white magic to teleport." The theory made sense, Jinxie had thought the same herself. "It is possible they saw this as a place of safety from wherever their wounds were incurred. They may return here, should we but wait."

The blonde woman looked at the Mithra suspiciously, but could ultimately not find a reasonable objection. "Very well," Jinxie allowed, "one hour. Then we go."

Xaerus nodded. "I suggest we get started."

The Crag of Mea was as big as a castle. Some unfathomable structure of the ancients, all most people knew was that it was somehow connected to the Mothercrystals. Some San d'Orian scholars had posited the existance of a crystal line, a connection between the known crystals. It was widely accepted that there was a bond uniting the Crags, though what that meant, no one could really say.

Dirt crunching beneath her boots, Jinxie began scouring the area. No one knew exactly what they were supposed to be looking for, but Xaerus remained resolute in getting the full hour she had demanded. The sun crawled higher in the sky, almost unnoticeable behind the haze of darkness. It pained Jinxie to see the beautiful blue skies she had left behind now nearly black at noon. It made her almost miss the skies over the Empire, which were unaffected by the turmoil across the sea. As it grew darker, she wondered how much longer that would be. Already the pall of Dynamis was stretching out across the Gugru Blue. She had no doubt that it would reach the shores of Aradjiah sooner rather than later.

She wondered how Aht Urghan would survive if suddenly a host of demons were added to its plagues. Between the constant attacks by the beastmen, the internal power struggles, and the weakening military, she knew what the outcome would be. Resolutely, she pledged that what the demons had wrought on Mindartia would never again be played out elsewhere in Vana'diel.

So enveloped had she become in her thoughts that Isset had to practically shove her to get her attention. Startled, she turned to the raven-haired Puppetmaster. A look of worry was plainly etchd on the other woman's face.

"Everything alright, Jinxie?"

"Fine," she said distantly, "just thinking." She cast a look towards the sky, trying to find the sun behind the darkness. "Is our hour up yet?"

Shoki gave a mechanical whirr, followed by a ringing sound. Isset gave the puppet a smart rap upon the top of its head, stifling the outburst. "It is now," she responded.

"Good," Jinxie smoothed the front of her tabard, casting an eye about for Xaerus. "Let's get out of here. There's nothing to be found."

Xaerus, however, was atop one of the three pedastals anchoring the Crag to the rock. Speed was at her side, crouched down and examining something Jinxie could not see.

"It's time to go," Jinxie called from the ground.

"Hold," the Mithra shouted back, putting a hand in the air. "Jinxie, come look at this for me."

The Red Mage took a cautious step upward. "Why do you need me?"

She did not turn around. "I am unable to find my way here," she admitted. "I am truly blind around the crystal. All I know is that there is something here. Tell me what you see."

"Speed can - " she stopped herself mid-sentence. "I'll be right up."

The pedastal was littered with the remnants of a shattered crystal. Jinxie stared at the shards. The telecrystals of the Crags had existed as long as she could remember. They had just seen one intact on the other end of the immense structure. Yet here, splintered apart like so much glass, lay the remnants of one of the Mea crystals.

"The crystal has shattered . . . " she muttered just below her breath. Xaerus's ears twitched at the news, the hackles on the back of her neck rising.

"What could do this?" Isset puzzled, staring at the glittering pieces. "Aren't these supposed to be part of the Mothercrystals?"

"In theory," Xaerus muttered, running her hands in a ring around where the shards lay. She paused for a moment, and the Mithra's ears stiffened. "Do you hear . . . music?"

Jinxie leaned her head down low. Though it sounded as distant as the stars, she did indeed hear a haunting melody drifting through the shards. She strained to make it out, but it was only a faint hum, barely discernible from the natural vibrations of the crystal itself.

"Something has happened here," Xaerus breathed with a tone of warning, "I just can't see . . . "

"These are way pretty," Speed said in admiration, and picked up one of the shards in his hands.

"Don't!" Xaerus started to warn, but it was too late.

Jinxie opened her mouth, but no sound came out as a wave of white light swept over them. An instant later, the pedastal was empty. A wisp of twinkling light marked the passing of the four whom had been upon it, and within moments, that had gone as well.