Please note that this fic contains spoilers unless you've played up until the lighting of Jupiter Lighthouse in GS:TLA.

Golden Sun (c) Camelot

Juxtaposition

It wasn't the kind of thing he would have expected, for the tables to turn as fast as they had. It wasn't like they'd run into trouble at any of the other lighthouses. It was always just a race to solve the puzzles, evade the traps, beat the monsters and make their way to the top of the lighthouse in time to stop the beacon from being lit.

Part of Isaac wanted to berate himself for being so careless, so complacent. Why, why had they considered Felix to be the only threat? Why had it never occurred to them that Saturos and Menardi had ones who were willing to avenge their death? And most of all, why had they not suspected that someone might lay a trap?

They, the four of them – himself, Garet, Ivan, and Mia – had all been through some rough times and close scrapes. They'd nearly been turned into trees by Tret, barely defeated a Kraken threatening to capsize their ship in the Kargol Sea, faced Saturos and Menardi in the form of a powerful, two-headed dragon, and much else besides after they'd left Lalivero on Babi's boat in search of Lumeria and the other lighthouses. And no matter how bleak matters had ever seemed, they'd always been able to pull through, sometimes on luck, sometimes on the right bit of Psynergy at the right time, but always managing to overcome, to find the hope still left and push through.

This time, he couldn't see it. He was about to die, and Ivan, and Garet once his grip on the ledge below them failed; he doubted that Karst and Agatio would simply let Mia go free either.

From the way it sounded, Karst and Agatio thought he was already dead.

"He was more powerful than I could have ever imagined," Karst said grimly, "And with us facing just two of them, I know they could have defeated Menardi and Saturos. But all of that is over now."

"Allowing himself to be distracted so foolishly by concern for a comrade," Agatio scoffed, "How pathetic."

"Well his loss is our gain," Karst's voice was careless, "We now have one less obstacle between ourselves and our goals."

Frustration and indignation surged through Isaac at their words, enough that he tried vainly once more to push himself off the ground and keep fighting. But a moment later, the momentary surge of energy had passed, and he slipped back to the ground with a grunt of pain.

An action that was not unnoticed by the two Fire Adepts.

"He's still alive!" Agatio snapped, whipping around to face him, then turning to Ivan, who appeared to have also made some effort of protest, "Both of them are! Even now!"

"We can't leave them. They're too powerful," Karst said coldly.

"Then let's finish this now."

But they had barely taken two steps forward when a familiar male voice shouted in a commanding tone, "No, Stop this now!"

For a split second, Isaac thought that it was Garet. But that was impossible. He was still somehow miraculously hanging onto the ledge below them with one arm, Mia probably wondering why they hadn't come to help yet.

But that left only one other option...

With what felt a great effort, Isaac turned his head to see the very last person he expected to be defending him.

It was Felix.

Felix was simply glad they'd made it in time. Another few moments, and they might have been too late to save Isaac and his friends.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Karst said furiously, turning on him in an instant.

"It means that we aren't going to sit here let you kill Isaac!" Jenna snapped from behind him. He glanced back at her. If there was a time he was relieved to have his sister beside him, it was right now. Jenna could be hot-tempered and rash at times, but she was to-the-point and didn't let anyone walk over her, and she wouldn't shrink down from backing him, especially at a time like right now.

Glancing back, again, he saw the others, Sheba, Piers, and Kraden. It comforted him, to know they were there. So much rested on walking a very thin line here at this moment. Isaac, Garet and their friends' lives, the lives of his parents, and perhaps even the future of Weyard could balance on this very moment.

"You should be thanking us, we're doing you a favor!" Karst spat harshly.

"You can see for yourself how powerful he is," Agatio said, indicating his own current condition, "You can't really mean to defend him and allow him to survive!"

"I've already seen how powerful he is," Felix said coldly. Memories came back of admitting as much to Isaac himself, after seeing him and his comrades fighting at Venus Lighthouse. This whole matter left him with the faintest sense of déja vu.

It appeared he wasn't the only one who remembered,, though. "So have I," Sheba added, glaring at Karst and Agatio, "We were both there when he faced Saturos and Menardi."

"Then why do you stop us now?" Agatio asked incredulously, "We're taking care of a serious hinderance to our goals, both our goals."

"If all you are doing is clearing our path to the beacon, you've done all that is sufficient," Piers said.

"Wait. Do you mean to tell us that you haven't lit the beacon yet?" Karst accused.

"We were just going to light it now," Kraden said.

Agatio snapped, "Then you'd better go and do it then."

"We're not leaving Isaac behind, though," Sheba said flatly.
"No," Felix agreed, "We're not. We can't just kill them because they don't know enough to understand what drives us."

"Does this mean you are betraying us now?" Karst's voice was icy.

He hesitated, reminded all too well of how he'd defied Saturo's and Menardi's orders atop Venus Lighthouse while trying to protect Sheba, and how they'd reacted very similarly. It appeared that both pairs took defiance as betrayal. Slowly he nodded.

All of this, this whole matter, it was such a contradiction with what he knew Isaac couldn't tell what to make of it. Why was Felix protecting him now, even so far as admitting betrayal to do so? He hadn't defended them as such at Venus Lighthouse, even when it had been clear that Saturos and Menardi had been meaning to kill them. What did this all mean? And what had Felix meant when he'd said, "they don't know enough to understand what drives us"?

How had he survived jumping after Sheba at Venus Lighthouse anyway?

Isaac's focus was brought back to the conversation by Agatio's words. "And what is it you intend to do to stop us?"

"You'll have to fight us first if you want to kill them!" Jenna cried.

Both Agatio and Karst hesitated at the Fire Adept's words.

Not for the first time, Isaac's attention was drawn to the other members of Felix's party. Jenna, Sheba, Kraden, and the blue-haired adept that he realized with a jolt of shock was likely Piers the Lumerian, the one they'd followed all the way to Kibombo in an attempt to find. All of them looked more powerful and worn than when he'd seen them last, and the weighed-down expression that seemed to echo in Felix's every move reminded him of something Master Hama had said: "Felix bears a terrible burden, a fate I would not wish on any man." Still, every member of the group stared defiantly at Karst and Agatio, leaving everyone in no doubt that they would back up what Jenna had said.

Then Kraden shook his head, "Look at you both. You're in no condition to fight the four of them now. It would probably be best if you left now."

Isaac suddenly felt the faintest flicker of hope.

Karst hesitated again, then relaxed. "Very well. Do you promise to light the beacon if we leave now?"

"What?" Agatio demanded, shocked, "We're giving up?"

"They're right, Agatio. If we fight them now, we will be destroyed. I'm not a half-wit," Karst said with a shrug.

"But what about avenging your sister!?"

"I'll have my revenge some other time," Karst replied smugly, "I repeat, Felix, will you light the lighthouses if we leave now?"

Felix nodded. And there again, was Isaac's confusion. What was the reason Felix was lighting the lighthouses? He'd just admitted betrayal to Karst and Agatio, yet that betrayal didn't seem to have any effect on his resolve to light them.

"Fine then," Agatio growled, "Do with them as you wish."

A look of relief and triumph flashed over the faces of the four adepts and Kraden.

"But!" Agatio added, cutting short their victory "Don't forget to take the Mars Star that Isaac carries."

Felix, Jenna and Kraden flinched, looking shocked. "How did you-" Felix began.
"Alex told us all about it, you idiots," Karst said scornfully.

"Now take the Mars star now, before we're forced to make you!" Agatio said, taking a threatening step forward. Seeing this, Piers moved to intercept him.

"Do not force our hand in this!" Agatio said fiercely.

Different thoughts ran circles around Isaac's mind, each conflicting with each other. He was still too weak to defend himself even if he wanted to stop them from taking the Mars Star, no matter what happened. That itself wasn't the issue. The point was, he felt that some great fact in all this, some part of everything – their quest, Felix's quest, the lighthouses, the seal on Alchemy – that he was missing. Felix still wanted to light the lighthouses, but was willing to fight to save him, Garet, Ivan and Mia. He seemed to be reluctant to take the Mars Star, and something about his words and actions had convinced Isaac that while Felix shared goals with the Proxians, he was not the same as them, terrorizing and fighting for their own gain. It had been a long time since he and Felix had played together with Jenna and Garet as children in Vale, and so much had happened in the time since then. Isaac couldn't pretend that he knew what Felix's goals or objectives were, but the knowledge of who Felix had been then and what he was doing now left him with an instinct that, whatever it was he was doing, Felix wasn't trying to bring about the world's destruction, nor did he mean them harm.

Taking a deep breath, he said as loudly as he could, "Go on, Felix. Take it."

Everyone turned in surprise to stare. Felix tensed.

"I don't know why you're doing this, but I trust you. Take the Mars Star," Isaac repeated, reaching down and carefully detaching the Myrthril sac that Kraden had made so long ago.

After a few quick glances at his comrades and a nod from Jenna, Felix slowly walked over, an unreadable expression on his face. Kneeling down next to Isaac, he reached out and carefully took the Mars Star from Issac's grip. Their eyes met for one moment. Searching his gaze, Isaac could detect a definite note of apology from Felix.
"I'm sorry," the older Earth adept mouthed silently before getting up and turning back to face the rest of the group. "I have it."

"Took you long enough," Agatio sneered.

"Let us go to the aerie then and light the lighthouse," Karst said coldly.

"Go on, Felix," Kraden said, "We'll look after Garet the others."

Letting his hand drop again, Isaac watched as Jenna and Sheba ran over to him and Ivan, thinking silently, Felix, you better not prove me wrong on trusting you.

Isaac's gaze had been so searching, a mix of emotions that had included both trust and suspicion, accusation and confusion. Above all, it had made Felix far too aware how much things had changed between them, since when he'd been an ordinary child in Vale, expecting nothing more than to grow up keeping the same secrets and learning the same things that his ancestors had for hundreds of years. But of course, that had changed. Everything he had known had changed. All that he had been taught had been called into question, then proven to be based on half-truths, with too grave of consequences to ignore the full ones.

It had been hard enough for him, and he hadn't expected anyone to believe it. Even when he'd explained what he'd known to Jenna, it had taken a while for her to accept it, and the fact that their parents were being held hostage had probably factored in to her initial compliance far more than any truth about Prox's destruction. It was why he'd never tried to talk to Isaac and Garet and their friends before, even when he hadn't been under Saturo's and Menardi's eyes. They were set on stopping him, and if they hadn't believed him, he would have had to fight them. He hadn't been ready to fight them then. Even now, he didn't feel ready to fight them. Even if it hadn't been for the fact that all the members of his group were opposed to the idea, particularly Jenna, the bonds that came from growing up in Vale ran strong. In Vale, you trusted and counted on the other villagers for everything, and they counted on you. The friendships that came from that kind of trust were deep.

"I'm sorry," he'd mouthed, and he was. Sorry for betraying Vale, sorry for going against everything they'd ever been taught. Sorry for never explaining himself, for playing the part of the villainous cohort to Saturos and Menardi, and now Karst and Agatio.

"Felix?" Piers's voice broke through his thoughts.

He turned back, "What?"

"We can't trust them," Piers said calmly. It took Felix a moment to remember that he was referring to Karst and Agatio. "Take me with you."

"That's a good idea," Sheba nodded from where she was kneeling next to Ivan, "If they try anything, he'll be with you."

"And he's a Water Adept," Jenna added.

"Safety in numbers, as they say," Kraden agreed.

Felix shook his head faintly for a moment at his own distraction then stopped, realizing they would probably take that as refusal. "Thank you, everyone," he said gratefully, then nodded to Piers. "Let's go."

As the two headed for the aerie, after Karst and Agatio, Felix reflected on the fact that, while he might feel alone in facing Isaac and his friends, Jenna, Sheba, Piers and Kraden would be there to support him. And maybe now, after this was over, they would have a chance to talk to Isaac and the others like they'd been wanting to do, and clear matters once and for all.

There was a shot, at least. He had to go for it.

I appreciate all comments and constructive criticism. Thanks for reading!