He lays there broken, gasping, barely breathing and bleeding. The light from the pulsating second sun above him is a blinding purgatory. It seems to mock him in all its golden glory.
'You couldn't contain me.' It laughs. 'You're too weak. You're too weak to possibly be able to control that much power…'
'…and you're too much of coward to tell them the truth!" A nasty voice in his head snaps. 'You've really messed things up this time.'
He's half covered in crushing rocks, and damn, it hurts. Several ribs are definitely broken, there's red running in to his eyes, and his left arm wasn't meant to bend in that direction. His skin felt like it was on fire, but why? He was so cold inside…
"I'm such a fool…"
The essence of four elements couldn't possibly be contained in one body. The Wise One had actually done him a favor by sealing the power of fire in to the Mars Star. It most likely would have killed him if that giant rock thing hadn't intervened. The other three elements however where still warring within him.
Water was trying valiantly to save him, to heal him. Wind wasn't so bad- It just wanted room to breathe. It was Earth that was eating him alive.
He chuckled at the irony, regretted it with a hiss of pain, and spiraled in to despair with the brief image of a soft, silent smile.
"I'm so stupid."
-There are not many that would argue with that logic, Alex-
He opened his azure eyes, trying to focus through the agony and madness. In truth the only thing holding back the power crazed insanity from before was the pain.
"…shut up, you giant rock thing." He mentally kicked himself. Like that was the most intelligent thing he could have said.
-It seems your mind is deteriorating as fast as your body is.- The Wise One hovered above him, ominous and benevolent at the same time. –But I do note that you're seeing things a little clearer now. Your ignorance to the consequences prompted your boldness and bravery, and you believed your actions had good intentions behind them, in which you where not entirely wrong… –
"Are you going to rub it in my face all day, or can I please die in peace?" Alex muttered darkly. "Or you can finish what you started earlier."
-Alex of Imil, you cannot die. You will survive.-
He barely heard him, already drifting back in to unconsciousness.
"...ex!"
Someone was calling him again.
"Alex!"
Oh, for the love of Mercury, you'd think someone who was so wise would leave him alone already!
"Alex, don't you dare die on me!"
Wait… that voice was familiar, but it wasn't the highly annoying omnipotent entity. And it was too full of emotion to belong to someone that boring.
Someone was holding him. He was being held against something warm and soft… and that felt familiar too. Alex felt warm moisture hit his neck and face. They couldn't possibly be crying, and crying over him of all people, could they?
"You idiot." Whoever it was sobbed softly. "You goddess damned idiot!"
Oh. Alex had a pretty fair idea of who it was now. He forced his eye open a bit to make sure. Oh hell, and he was right too. He had selfishly hoped that he wouldn't have to confront this particular person.
But he was as beautiful as ever, with his chocolate eyes and long brown hair, illuminated from behind by the newly risen Golden Sun. He was upset, he looked worried about him, and Alex knew he didn't deserve any of it. He closed his own eyes, unable to look at those sad ones anymore.
"C'mon, Alex. Stay with me." A hand was gently stroking his hair. "Please stay with me."
"How is he?"
Great. Mia. Wasn't fate just kicking him in the teeth today?
"I don't know… He's just…"
"I'll see what I can do. Ply!"
Good ole Mia. Always willing to help the masses. Too bad he didn't have a chance to tell her he already tried to heal himself earlier and it didn't work-
He cried out and thrashed as his body painfully rejected her psynergy. Felix's arms clamped down and held him tight.
"P-please don't d-do that." Alex managed to stammer out. He was shaking violently now, and Felix had not yet released his death grip. "Not going to work…"
"Alex? What's going on? Why won't it work?"
That's a very good question. It'd be nice if he knew the answer.
Others where gathering around them now. He could feel the pulses of their psynergy and their low whispering voices.
"Felix!" that had to be Jenna. "What's wrong with him?"
"We don't know, I… I…" Was that an edge of panic to Felix's voice? The last time Alex had heard him like that was after he had pulled Felix out of an icy creek back in Prox. The boy obviously wasn't fond of water.
-I believe I can provide an explanation.- The Wise One suddenly appeared above their heads.
"…not you again." Alex groaned.
The Wise One pointedly ignored him and instead addressed the other adepts present.
-Alex foolishly tried to absorb the power of the Golden Sun in to himself. As he has found out, one body, particularly one aligned to a specific element, cannot contain the forces of all four elements. It leads only to madness and death.-
"Then why isn't he dead?"
-I sealed the element of fire in to the Mars Star at the last minute. That is why he still lives. But he won't for much longer in his current state.-
He felt Felix stiffen against him and sucked in a sharp breath. "What do you mean?"
-There are still two foreign elements contained in his body. They cannot be contained inside a body not aligned to them. If they remain, they will destroy him from the inside out.-
"Then what's the problem?" someone remarked coldly. "Alex hasn't done anything good for us, and he tried to steal ultimate power!"
They could at least try not to talk about him like he wasn't there. He hadn't slighted anyone on purpose, he only attempted to claim the power before if fell in to the wrong hands… Isaac and Felix had inadvertently started rumors about the coming return of alchemy, and within the week they'd probably have to deal with ambition crazed lunatics. Alex would admit that maybe he had gotten a little carried away and the whole 'Lets raze Vale!' mindset afterward wasn't exactly pleasant, but had at least tried to do the right thing.
-His methods where a little outside of the lines, but Alex was on the right track.- The Wise One continued. –When you all returned, I was going to inform you of the ancient responsibility you have unlocked. When alchemy ruled the world, there were four guardians of the four elements, four adepts who were charged with the task of keeping things from getting out of hand. They stood watch over the land and over the Golden Sun.-
The Wise One stopped for a moment. - …Now that you have chosen to unleash alchemy, you much chose who will keep the balance. Once a Guardian is set to an element, they are tied to it for life. The Guardian of Mercury has already been chosen.-
"Alright." Hmm, that was…. Isaac! Boy, he was getting good at this name game. "What do we have to do?"
-Two men and two women, one for each element. This will ensure the balance.-
"Well, we've already got one guy, and all our earth adepts are guys, sooooo… It comes down to Isaac and Felix for Venus."
Wow. They sure decided things fast. One minute they wanted to leave him for dead, the next they were jumping on the chance for a part of the prize. Maybe he should stop thinking… All this internal commentary was making his head hurt.
"W-wait! Shouldn't we be thinking this through?"
"No time." Mia replied. "He's not going to last much longer."
-If the elements do not have a successor for their power, they will be lost.-
He felt Felix nod. "Isaac should-"
"No, Felix." Isaac cut him off. "You'd be much better than me. You're a lot stronger than I am."
"But-"
"Don't argue Felix. I think you'd win if we had a group vote anyway."
"But… I… Fine." Alex grinned in spite of himself. Felix was just so cute when he was flustered.
"Then the only other adepts that qualify are me and Jenna." Sheba said as she stepped forward. "Two girls and two boys, right?"
-Correct. Take the Mars Star and join your hands.-
Felix's hand slipped in to his right, but Alex couldn't quite bite back a whimper as white hot fire raced up his left.
"…Sorry!"
Alex gritted his teeth and willed himself to stay conscious. The Wise One hovered directly above their circle now, and he was glowing with energy. It started a chain reaction that started to literally rip the other elements out of him. At least, that's what it felt like. The light that poured out of the four of them was unbearably bright and intense.
He didn't even realize he'd been screaming until it was all over and- damn, now his throat hurt too. Today was just not his day.
Alex was choking on air, mere moments from passing out again, when Felix inconspicuously kissed him.
"It's over…" The new Guardian of Venus murmured against him. "It's over."
If only it was true. But it didn't matter as everything sunk in to black.
…To be continued? Maybe? I apologize for massive out of character-ness. I've never actually written GS fanfiction before. That old story in my archives is one my cousin and I wrote, but it was mostly her.
I've wanted to write a Golden Sun fanfiction since I got the game like seven years ago. I've always liked Alex, and I'm bias to Felix because I played The Lost Age first. XD I love the two of them so much!
Hence why I can't make Alex evil. Misguided, yes. Evil I IS GONNA TAKE OVER DA WORLDS AND RAPE JUU, nooooooo. I kinda cry when people make him out to be this horrible, unbelievably cruel and sadistic bad guy. I'll be the first one to admit he can come across as an egotistical prick, BUT REALLY GUYS.
:cough: Right then. I may write more when I'm sick again. For some reason, I need to be diseased to be able to write. And this whole thing is SO crack in a can… WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME?!??!?!
Yo, if anyone who happens to come across this and wants to use this ending for their own work, feel free to use and abuse. But credit is always nice! :heart:
LONG LIVE THE ALEX X FELIX.
….And the Piers X Felix. We need moar of both!