Chapter 3
Early the next morning just as the sun began to rise, Ignis was the first to wake. He was always the first up so he could rekindle the fire and do his routine sweep of the area. Ignis took special care to make sure everyone was as safe as possible. Lux had never ordered him to do so, but in reality he needed to give orders very rarely. It was Ignis' honor and pleasure to do anything he could to ensure his family's safety. Once he came back from scouting the area, he woke the others.
Luna jumped up first, "I will go find breakfast!" She exclaimed as she ran away from camp, but fell down almost as quickly as she left. Solis, knowing this would happen, was already right behind her to help her up. He knew Luna was quite clumsy. She, on the other hand, believed she was very unlucky. Lastly, Lux and Telu groggily climbed to their feet. Lux had planned to wait to wake up Thaddaeus so that he could spend the morning at breakfast with Telu. They all normally spent the first hours of the morning together. They thought of it as their time to relax and be together as a family as well as a team. A little later Lux made his way over to where Thaddaeus was sleeping.
He nudged him with his foot, "Thaddaeus! Wake up, we must train!" He sat up slowly and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that the weather was much nicer than when they met the Ice Damnum in the blizzard. Then he looked over and noticed that the body was gone.
"What did you guys do with his body?" Thaddaeus inquired.
"We did nothing," Lux responded, "He would have awoke in the night sometime. I suppose he was quite confused with where he was and his instincts led him to journey to a place that he felt safe. I do hope he is well."
Thaddaeus looked bewildered, "I thought he was dead! Weren't you worried he would turn back into a monster?"
"Ah yes, I was aware you had misunderstood concerning him." Lux was laughing because of the unnecessary alarm they had caused Thaddaeus, "No, we only destroyed part of his pseudo-body. The man lives, but it is impossible to regain the nature energy he lost. Neither does he retain memory of his time as a Damnum." Then Lux raised his voice, "Now, enough idle babble, you must gather all the rocks you can move and bring them here! You have only until lunch. Advance!"
Somewhat hesitant and confused, but without asking questions Thaddaeus jumped to his feet. He gathered up his equipment, and ran out to accomplish his objective. Smiling because of the uniqueness of his will, Lux motioned for all the others to gather around. With everyone together in a circle, Lux could see that Ignis' brow was furrowed as he seemed deep in thought.
"I have a question, Lux," Ignis began, "In all the years we have been here you have never taken such an interest in any one person. You have certainly never given them any information about us. I am wondering what it is about Thaddaeus that is different."
"That is certainly a fair question," Lux answered, "I am not sure I have a satisfactory answer at the moment, but I will try. It is not just that he is different, I also have a belief that he will help us accomplish our goal."
Ignis' eyes grew wide, "Can that be possible?!"
"I believe it is," Lux responded thoughtfully, "but I am unsure why I have this feeling. Something is weighing on me heavily, if we do not bring him along...I believe it will be we who pay the price." Everyone's reactions were of surprise and even shock. "That weight aside, he is remarkable. It is buried deep, but he seems to have character traits of determination and honor that are rare in these days, though he hides it by diverting attention to his pointless and infantile boasting."
"I believe I have seen this in him as well," Telu supported Lux, "You sent him off on that absurd mission, yes?" She looked at Lux for an answer. He simply responded by smiling and nodding. "Thaddaeus sprinted past me without stopping for breakfast, even for a mission as strange as that. Lux has always been the best judge of character, but it seems in this instance it is Thaddaeus that has judged astutely. Somehow, he already sees what kind of man our leader is and knows he would never send someone on a pointless mission."
"That must be true," Luna spoke up while playing with the ends of her long braided hair, "I am oblivious to such things, but even I can see that Thaddaeus is responding to Lux differently than expected."
Ignis concluded, "So he will help us finish this, I never thought it could be something like this to assist us in finally reaching our goal. That is incredible, Lux, I feel a great sense of relief."
Lux responded in a serious tone, "I perceive how difficult these twelve years have been on all of you, but especially Ignis. Together, we made the vow all those years ago to take our Iura together. We knew we could never go home if we failed, but still all of you put your trust in me to do what I said I would. Your trust has never wavered, even in twelve years of being away and our spirit energy fading little by little. If I am correct about Thaddaeus, our Iura may end in a matter of weeks. It is truly thrilling, but these will also be the most dangerous times we have ever encountered. Everyone must be extremely careful at all times."
"We all believe in you, Lux." Telu reminded him, the others nodded in agreement.
Lux smiled warmly, then he changed the subject, "The reason I called you all over is to issue orders. Solis, I am putting Thaddaeus in your care, you will train him. Your abilities are most suited for training, you are also the only one of us to have mastered combat with weapons."
Solis' expression went from attentive to childlike enthusiasm, "Am I free to be tough on him?" he asked with growing anticipation.
"Exceedingly," Lux responded, "It will be necessary. Also, Ignis I would have you arrange traps and deterrents around this camp for protection which will allow us to focus on the task at hand. Your abilities should allow you to accomplish this adequately in just a few hours. Then, we will journey out to continue gathering information in nearby towns. We will additionally take the opportunity to barter our goods with the locals. Telu and I will acquire everyone's items for sale and bring them here before departure." Understanding their orders, the five went to prepare for their tasks of the day.
Exhausted, Thaddaeus lay on his back looking up at the sky, while catching his breath. An enormous pile of rocks arranged next to him, he felt as if he had accomplished his objective...whatever that could be. Solis, both impressed and amused at the sight, strolled over to the resting young lad.
Observing the quality of his work, he commented, "You have done well," giggling to himself at the seemingly crazy task he was given, "How do you feel?"
"I feel...very hungry," Thaddaeus responded.
"Ah, quite right. Let us go on the hunt, then." Solis smiled gleefully.