Author's Notes: This is a story that I started writing a few years ago, before I got a case of writer's block that has lasted for two years. Just recently, though, the block lifted, and I've been writing once again.
However, the idea for this story has been in my head for much longer than the written form. While I started writing the War of Sages story only about a year-and-a-half ago, the entire plot has existed in my mind since I beat The Lost Age, which was way back in the day.
Unlike a lot of other Golden Sun 3 fics, this one is more or less devoid of characters from the original games...which makes sense, considering how it takes place 417 years after the end of TLA (yes, I got that specific...). This first chapter is actually a brief explanation of some of the background info you'll need to know, like what happened to the characters of the games, and some of the events that have happened in the years since then. I was once criticized for this first prologue, and I do admit, the way I wrote it just reeks of "History Lesson," but this is really the only way I knew to get all the info in there.
Once you've read this here little boring, overly specific lesson in my version of the Golden Sun universe (it genuinely amazed me to reread this and realize how much detail I paid to giving specific years...), the first true chapter will be yours for the taking.
--Ben
P.S. - Feel free to tell me if I make a typo. In fact, I encourage it. I check these chapters a lot before I finally post them, but even then I'm not sure if I catch them all.
Prologue
After Isaac and his companions returned from Prox, they found that Vale had been totally annihilated, sunken under the ground along with Mt. Aleph. To their own happiness, however, not a soul was harmed in the incident, and under the shining light of the Golden Sun they had restored, the town of Vale was rebuilt.
Following the reconstruction, each of the heroes involved parted ways. Sheba and Ivan left together, both seeking answers to their past, and lived in Contigo with Ivan's elder sister, Hama for a time. Hama would return to Lama Temple in time, and afterwards, they left to their hometowns to finish their lives in peace.
Piers, who had been banished from his home of Lemuria many months before, remained in Vale for a while, then left mysteriously one night. The rumors that he was brought back into Lemuria in secret would last for decades after his leaving.
Mia, disheartened by the betrayal they all suffered at the hands of her clansmate Alex, left immediately for Imil, and with a calm hand, ensured that none of the few remaining members of the Mercury Clan followed in his footsteps. Garet, despite pressure from his family to remain in Vale, left with her, although he came home often. The two were ultimately wed and had a son, who would grow to be extraordinarily powerful in his teenage years.
Isaac and Jenna were also wed, although they stayed in Vale. They lived with Felix, who had feared that the townspeople would reject him. Much to his happiness, he was welcomed with open arms, and would ultimately become "Uncle Fewix" to Isaac and Jenna's daughter.
Kraden, distraught by the death of Lord Babi, left for Tolbi immediately to pay his respects. He would go on to advise Iodem, who took over after Babi as had been his last request. During his last days, the scholar became burdened with a terrible truth.
Alex was nowhere to be seen, but if he had truly gleaned the powers of the Stone of Sages, he may have had the power to survive the sinking of Mount Aleph. Laying on his death bed some six years after the event that became known as the "Return", Kraden confessed this to Iodem.
Iodem did his best to try and track down the traitor, but it was to no avail. He couldn't get to Mt. Aleph, partially because of the Golden Sun's unbridled power, and partially because the site of the old Vale had become a construction zone.
Under the instruction of the Wise One, a new lighthouse was being built. Dubbed the Sol Lighthouse, this structure would become the new Sol Sanctum, which was buried beneath the earth along with Mt. Aleph. It would also serve as the housing point for the Stone of Sages when it appeared.
At the same time of the construction of the Sol Lighthouse, the other lighthouses were being added onto. Temples were built near each of the lighthouses, under the authority of the Wise One, and Iodem ultimately had to give up his search to help the construction of the Venus Temple from the ruins of Babi Lighthouse.
Each of the temples was set in a hallowed place. The Mercury Temple was built in the side of a mountain west of Imil, where the first Mercury clansmen had lived during the Lost Age. The ancient tunnels under Babi Lighthouse served as the Venus Temple's skeleton. In the center of the crater left behind when the City of the Anemos became the Moon, the Jupiter Temple was built. The people of Prox, in the highest form of honor they knew, placed the Mars Temple on the place where Saturos, Agatio, Karst, and Menardi first became warriors, just north of Mars Lighthouse, at the edge of the gulf at the end of the world.
None of the people of Weyard knew the purpose of these Elemental Temples, however. They simply assumed that since the Wise One, a known deity, had suggested they be built, they had some importance beyond their understanding. In fact, their role was very simple.
Unbeknownst to the entire world, a small portion of the Stone of Sages had been stripped from Alex, placed inside of Isaac. It passed down his lineage, being held by the youngest Venus Adept in his bloodline. Nothing ever seemed to indicate its presence; the strength of the people his blood flowed in wasn't abnormal, they showed no strange reactions around objects with Psynergetic charges, and no amount of sensing could reveal the Stone's presence. And so life continued on, as Alchemy brought about growth and prosperity to all of Weyard...
Two hundred ninety-seven years later, or year 292 of the Neo-Golden Age Calendar:
Prox and Vale finally make true peace, as the two Adept villages had been at odds with each other ever since the Return. That summer, a huge, four day celebration is planned in Sol Lighthouse, known as the Sol Festival. People from all across Weyard gather to join in the pleasures of true brotherhood. The Sol Festival is so successful, the people of Vale decide to have it each summer from there on.
Year 303 N.G.A.:
A small group of Kolimans travel into the evergreen covered forests that have grown up southwest of Vault, intent on making a bundle in lumber sales. They name the forest and their town after Kolima's current patriarch, Daig.
Year 322 N.G.A.:
A Proxean soldier is killed by a warrior of Shaman Village, traveling south into Hesperia to meet up with an old friend from Shaman. Prox's leader hastily orders a company of soldiers to destroy the Shaman's feeble military. Three years later, Vale withdraws its ties of friendship with Prox, and shuts them out of the Sol Festival, which has grown to be even more successful than Colosso.
Year 334 N.G.A.:
After years of social instability in light of the battles with Shaman, Prox's leader draws all of the Mars Clan together in the Mars Temple. In preparation for the possible attack that could follow, the majority of Weyard's towns form militias, while those with existing armies strengthen their military might; and yet, for many years afterwards, nothing is seen or heard of the once feared Fire Clan of the North.
Year 367 N.G.A.:
Tolbi, which has grown more and more feeble each year since the reign of Babi and Iodem, elects a new mayor. Damian, a strong young man who served in the Tolbian Army, takes over, and within months, he reaches popularity rivaling that of Babi himself. Healing the wounds that past rulers had made in their search for pleasure, Damian turns Tolbi into a world power again in only the span of a few months.
Year 376 N.G.A.:
Prox comes out of its withdrawal and appoints a new leader, a young commoner named Mardinol. Mardinol immediately begins diplomatic meetings with Vale, hoping to repair the rift between them. He also tries to heal ties with other Adept cities, namely Contigo and the newly-reformed Lalivero, a hotbed for the remnants of the once thought long dead Venus Clan. The same year, Mardinol's wife gives him his first child.
Year 377 N.G.A.:
A baby boy is born in Daig with a level of power stronger than a full-grown man's straight out of his mother's womb.
Year 383 N.G.A.:
Vale finally agrees to reform its bond of brotherhood with Prox, as do Contigo and Lalivero. The Sol Festival for that year is the most successful in decades. However, Daig is conspicuously unrepresented. The mother of the overwhelming strong child born six years ago has given birth again, this time to die shortly afterwards. Her second son has such a low level of power, he can scarcely be considered an Adept. Strangely, the older child leaves the town briefly one night. He is found the next morning in a circle of fallen trees, all of which were standing the previous night.
Year 386 N.G.A.:
On the very last day of the Sol Festival, the current holder of the Stone's power in Isaac's lineage gives birth to twins; one boy and one girl. The boy, a Venus Adept whom they christen Caleb, receives the power instantly. A new carrier for the Stone is now in the world.
Year 399 N.G.A.:
A strange string of devastating assaults on Hesperia's northern plains catch the attention of the world. Prox is immediately blamed, but is forgiven when it is realized that these attacks are being done by someone with Venus powers. Lalivero immediately sends troops to aid, hoping to avoid being blamed.
Year 401 N.G.A.:
While Lalivero searches for the Venus-wielding assailant of Hesperia, an outbreak of Jupiter assaults plague the Eastern Sea. The small, recently formed volcanic island of Forsica is immediately searched, as it appeared to be the most likely place for a base of operations. None who were sent ever came back.
Year 405 N.G.A.:
Caleb, now a young man, starts to exhibit strange behavior in the presence of Psynergy Stones. The most noticeable side-effect of exposure is a sudden, sharp increase in his total level of power, which is normally rather low. His twin sister, Sarah, grows more worried about him with every passing day.
It is now the year 406. Adepts make up roughly half of Weyard's population, and the numbers keep rising with each new birth. The summer months are fast turning to fall, and it is time for the Sol Festival. In light of recent events, there is not expected to be a good turnout this year. However, to the twins, now 20 years old, this is the least of their worries. On the first day of the festival, an enigmatic figure appears in Vale, searching for the two of them...