Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun

It had happened so quickly, so suddenly, that sometimes it felt like nothing more than a bad dream. He would go to sleep and wake up in his own bed again, he told himself. Everything would go back to normal, and everyone would be happy again. But that never happened. Every time he went to sleep, he woke up in that wretched hellhole once again. Why did this have to happen to him? Why him?

No, he thought, not just me. Everyone else was there. I'm not the only one suffering here. He thought of his parents, whom he had not seen since he arrived at this forsaken place. They, too, had almost died with him. He especially felt sorry for Kyle, his friend's father. He had been swept away in the flooded river with everyone else, but at least his parents had each other. Kyle was alone, just like his sister.

He thought next about his kid sister, Jenna. She must be the loneliest of all. She would be left alone, thinking all her family dead. He had promised himself that one day he would find his way back home. He would take his parents with him, and Kyle, too. They would all go back to the village they loved, and then everything would be like it should be once more.

A foolish thought, he had known, even back then. These people had saved him for a reason. They were the ones that had triggered the storm in Vale that nearly killed him. They had saved him and then told him he was no longer allowed to see his parents.

"You will help us get into Sol Sanctum, Child," he had been told. "Only then will we allow you and your family to return home". He had been asked to betray his village. He never would have agreed to such a thing under normal circumstances, but his parents' lives were at risk. If he refused to help, they would kill him, his parents, and Kyle. So he had agreed to help, and his training began. Years later, he would look back and wonder if things would havebeen different if they had only told him the whole truth then. Maybe they would still be alive.

"Felix!" came the booming voice of one of his captors. "It's time for your training!"

Felix knew better than to keep Saturoswaiting. He didn't even want to think about what kind of punishment he would receive. Quickly scurrying out of his room, he came to stand rigidly before Saturos. The Mars adept looked at him with an appraising eye, and Felix always felt like those cold eyes could bore into his very soul. He thought that maybe if he had wanted, Saturos could kill him with only a look. This thought frightened him greatly.

"Well, come on then," he said with a grunt. "We won't accomplish anything standing around here."

Felix felt sweat trickle down the back of his neck as he saw that trademark smile creep across his teacher's face. He knew that meant he wouldn't enjoy today's lesson. Acting quickly, so as not to anger his teacher, he donned his winter travel gear: Thick gloves and boots, and a coat made out of the fur of some animal he had never seen before. He grabbed his sword and slung the baldric over his shoulder, its weight resting awkwardly on his small frame. As they stepped outside into the frigid air, he once more marveled at how his teacher could step outside in no more clothing than Felix might have worn on a mild summer day in Vale.

Outside the wind blew fiercely. He couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him, and the snow was blowing sideways, sometimes into his eyes. He couldn't really say it was actually snowing out; he quickly learned that, as there were never many clouds, it didn't actually snow. The wind was just so strong that it just blew around the snow that was already on the ground. The snow wasn't thick on the ground, either. Maybe a few inches at best, but he still wasn't used to it. Back in Vale, they were lucky if they got snow once or twice a winter. At least, he had considered it lucky. His sister hated the snow, and anything related to cold weather.

After trekking through the blizzard-like conditions for about five minutes, they reached the training grounds. Saturos stopped and faced Felix with his sword drawn. Felix tried his best to imitate the movements he had seen the Proxian warriors do in their practices, but he had never held a real sword before coming to this village. His stance was narrow and his arms were trembling. Any real warrior would have laughed at his attempts, but Saturos only sighed, realizing just how much he would have to train this child.

Felix did his best to take in his surroundings. Saturos didn't even seem to take on a fighting stance. He just stood there, the tip of his sword almost touching the ground. He seemed lax and unprepared. Felix quickly became infuriated as he realized he was being taunted. He tried to dismiss it and survey his surroundings again. There was a small pile of snow, maybe a foot or two deep off to his right. To his left, the sun was hanging low in the sky, like it always did here. He thought, maybe if he was lucky, he could use these conditions to his advantage.

"Very well, show me what you can do," came the command. Felix quickly lunged at the taller, more experience man. He thrust forward with his sword, only to have it easily deflected. Rolling with the momentum, he came up on Saturos' right with his back to the sun. This was his only chance, he quickly realized. He lunged forward again, only this time he started much closer. With less time to react, Saturos was forced to take several steps backwards, right into the snow pile. His foot sank into the deep snow, and shock became evident on his face for a split second, before it was replaced with a feral look.

His eyes glowed red, and Felix was sure he saw a faint outline of red rings surround his body. The snow around his feet melted, freeing his legs, and Felix suddenly felt the air around him grow very hot. The oppressive heat felt almost tangible, like a very solid, invisible force. He felt the wind rush past him, and he was vaguely aware that his feet no longer touched the ground. When he landed on his back in the snow, he was positive something in his plan had gone horribly wrong. The fact that Saturos stood over him with his sword against the bare skin of his neck only served to reinforce this point. He looked at his teacher in a daze as the perpetually low-hanging sun glinted off his sword.

"Pathetic. Haven't you learned anything from what I've taught you? You'll never win a fight if you can't even learn the basics." He sheathed his sword and turned his back to Felix. Felix got the impression that he would be seeing that image from the ground a lot in the months to come.

"However," he continued, back still turned. "I did like your strategy. At least you understand that brute strength alone isn't always how a battle is won. Now, stand up and try again."

Felix sighed inwardly as he picked himself off the ground and prepared himself for the imminent beating.

"Don't you think you're being a little hard on him?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Menardi. He won't ever get better if I don't push him."

"I understand that, but he's still just a chil-"

"He's older now than we were when we started training," Saturosinterrupted. "He's older now than the others were when they began training. And they died in the Sanctum. How do you expect him to be able to survive the trials set before us with so little training? If anything, I should be pushing him harder. I'm going easy on him. Besides, he's not here to make friends with us. We need his help, and he won't believe us if we tell him the truth, so we make him help us out of fear."

"I suppose that's true," Menardi relented. "And we do need his help. We need a Venus adept to even enter the Venus Lighthouse. Speaking of which, any more word on getting a Jupiter or Mercury adept?"

Saturos grimaced at the mention of acquiring other adepts. "No. We might have a lead on a Mercury adept but we know nothing about getting a Jupiter adept. As far as we're aware, the Jupiter clan may be completely wiped out. Whether we have a lead on one or not, next year I shall accompany a small expedition to look into the Mercury adept."

Menardi simply nodded. After their last failure at the Sanctum, the Elders refused to sanction another try for several years, especially since the Venus adept they planned to use was still so inexperienced. They had all known the stakes back then, but in their pride-induced folly, they had never thought they would fail so miserably. They had set out as ten of Prox's finest soldiers. Ten, and only the two of them returned. Menardi wondered if they would fare any better next time they tried.

He turned inward and searched for the power of Venus. They had explained that his psynergy would be far more necessary that his sword skills, and so they were teaching him that as well. They had explained it was different for each element, but it was always an inward force. He just had to find the source of that power. Sure, he had used small amounts of psynergy before. He could move small objects short distances, and had on multiple occasions as a kid, like when he wanted the cookie jar on the top shelf.

What they asked for, however, was beyond the simple manipulation of foreign objects. They were asking him to be able to manipulate his surroundings. They were asking him to be able to turn the very earth beneath his feet into a weapon. Menardi, his psynergyinstructor, had demonstrated multiple times the destructive power of Mars energy. They didn't expect that much out of him just yet, all he had to do was show he had some control over his element.

He felt a strange presence, and immediately knew that it was his connection to the Venus energies. It felt warm, nurturing and benevolent. He reached for that power, and grasped it with his mind. Warmth flooded over him as he reached out with his hand and attempted to mold the earth into something. The earth beneath his feet trembled slightly, so slightly that he was sure only another Venus adept could have noticed.

A small ball of clay separated from the ground and started bending to his will. He willed it to take the form of a pointed object, and the result was a piece of earth that resembled a javelin that was rather fat in the middle and narrow at both ends. Next, he willed it to fly towards the archery targets, but instead it fell to his feet as a soft lump of mushy clay.

Menardi sighed with exasperation. "Try again. This time, focus more on keeping the shape rather than moving it." He followed her directions, and was able to create a slightly more steady clay spear. Instead of throwing it this time, he clutched it in his hand to appraise its stability. Instead of soft clay, it felt like brittle stone. He would have to work on the strength, but he was glad he could at least keep the shape.

"This is better. Keep trying. Now that you've created it, try manipulating it without crushing it." Once again he complied, and watched the piece of rock fly halfway to its target.

"You have to put more force behind it. I'm sure you've noticed that your sphere of influence is only a good ten feet or so. Anything you throw beyond that would be like throwing an object normally. You have to put enough strength behind it to make it go the desired distance. Come, we shall practice having you move things with psynergy for a while. That should strengthen the force of your attacks a little. Once you have a decent control over your powers, we'll test them in combat situations."

Felix stifled a moan as he realized that training with Menardi would soon be just like training with Saturos. He followed her to the other end of the training grounds in search of a decent sized rock, and continued his training, trying to push aside the grim thought.

It had been two and a half years since he had entered this nightmare. Two and a half long years and he still slept on. At least, that's what he liked to tell himself. He knew that the truth was he wouldn't wake up. There was nothing to wake up from.

He had gradually grown better at swordplay, though he was still no match for the trained Proxian soldiers. Even Karst, Menardi's littler sister who was about his age, could defeat him easily. So he practiced. He practiced hard every day, hoping he would prove to be useful enough to them so that they would let him and his family go home after they raided Sol Sanctum. He knew he wouldn't be able to go home. He knew he would never truly havea home after he betrayed Vale, but at least his family could live peacefully.

It was growing late in the year, and soon the sea passages would be frozen shut. Saturos had already left and come back with a Mercury adept in tow: Alex. Felix wasn't sure if he liked him any better than Saturos; he was just as frightening. Fortunately, Alex spent a great deal of his time locked in his room studying the seal on alchemy. Menardi had explained they hoped he would better understand the trials of the Sanctum. In the coming spring, Saturos, Menardi, Alex and himself would all leave for Vale. In the meantime, he found himself practicing sword and psynergy with Saturos again.

He was currently locked in a fierce battle with the Proxian soldier. He had been able to make his battles last longer and longer, and right now they had been fighting for what felt like a little more than twenty seconds. He wasn't very good yet, but he had learned how to defend against Saturos' psynergy a little bit, and he was now able to mix sword fighting and his psynergy with little effort, too.

He could feel sweat trickle down his neck, and he was aware that his hair was plastered to his forehead. His muscles ached and his whole body screamed for a break, but he would not yield to Saturos, not yet. He knew everyone was watching. Alex, Menardi, and even her little sister whom he still could not best in combat.

He feinted left and stepped in to the right with a low sweep of his blade. Saturos deftly jumped backwards and raised his left had in the air. Felix quickly recognized the stance before he even saw him call upon the psynergy. He knew he had to act quickly. The power of Venus flowed through him as he attempted to shield himself. It was a warm sensation, and he felt as if he was only an extension of Gaia. He caught a glimpse of fire flying towards him before a rock wall placed itself between them. Pebbles and rubble flew weakly at him as his pathetic psynergy was overcome by the powerful Mars adept's power. His goal had been accomplished, however, and he was unharmed.

He wasted no time and called upon Venus' power again. He felt the earth beneath him, as if it were a living entity. No, it was a living entity, he was sure of that. He could feel the ground itself pulse with life, even in this barren wasteland. The warm sensation flooded into him again, and for a brief second, his fatigue seemed to disappear.

Calling upon the power of his living ally, he drew the earth up in the form of large rocks and threw them at Saturos. The skilled adept was able to dodge to the right, and with a disdainful smirk, found himself standing next to Felix. Felix's fatigue was back, and he could do nothing but watch the scene unfold, as one would watch a play. The next thing he was aware of was three feet of metal sticking through his left kidney. This was the first time he had been this injured in a spar with Saturos, and he decided he didn't really like the feel of metal sticking through his body.

Doubling over in pain, he fell into the now-crimson snow and let out all the air his lungs held in cry of pain. He could barely make out Saturos' voice above his own screaming.

"Get over yourself. You're a Venus adept, aren't you? So you should have access to at least the most basic healing energies the earth has to offer. Use them. If you can't access those powers at all times, then you won't live through our journey."

Felix lifted his right hand to his kidney and tried to call upon the life energies of the earth. He felt Venus power surge through his hand for a second, but he couldn't keep his concentration. The energy dispersed through his hand and he was left with a feeling of isolation. He felt abandoned, forsaken by the very earth he had grown to love. Trying again, he was rewarded with a sensation of emptiness. Realization crept over him that this must be what dying feels like.

"Pathetic. Alex, come and heal him. He's no good to us dead." Felix was suddenly aware of a cooling sensation running through his body. Something that felt like water filled the gap in his side and solidified into flesh. The pain slowly receded until he was able to open his eyes and see everyone walking away from him. He felt like a fool and knew they all thought he was useless.

He stood up and resumed his training. He wouldn't allow himself to be useless.

The tender sea waves caressed the side of the boat, gently rocking it back and forth. The crashing sound of the ocean was unlike the gentle rhythm of the river that flowed past his house in Vale. This was the first time in almost three years now that he had been this close to such a large body of water, however, and it was enough to frighten him. He made sure to keep his emotions in check, and most importantly, an empty expression on his face. He would not give his tormentors the pleasure of knowing he was afraid. He would let no one know his thoughts. This was the result of three years in Prox. Now they would be leaving for Vale though. He would once again see his home, though not under the conditions he would have wished.

He set about carrying supplies onto the boat as Alex and Saturos prepared the ship itself. He couldn't see Menardi anywhere and assumed she must be below deck somewhere. He didn't know how long the voyage would take, but he didn't want to ask, either. He couldn't remember much of his trip to Prox, and was sure he didn't really want to.

It didn't really matter, though. Everything before now was pointless. All that mattered now was the success of this mission. If he succeeded, his parents and Kyle would be allowed to go home. They didn't deserve to suffer like this, and he would be sure to end their misery.

His training was now over, and he might not be as powerful as any of the Proxian soldiers his age, but he'd be damned if he was going to be useless.

Well, what do you think? Good? Bad? Please review, any feedback helps. I would like to know what I did well, and what needs improvement.