Disclaimer: This is a modern AU (alternate universe) fan fiction story based on the Golden Sun game series, as created by Camelot and published by Nintendo. Mr. Lys the history teacher is an original character that was originally slated to appear in another GS fanfic of mine, "Precursor." All characters and locations from the games belong to Nintendo and Camelot.

CHAPTER ONE

When a lone man entered the phone booth on the corner of 10th and Main, it was night out. Thunder grumbled in the distance, and rain fell harshly against the Plexiglas sides. While such details did not make his night any easier, none were of much concern to the stranger.

After inserting the required change, the man deftly dialed the intended digits. "It has been done," he informed when the call was answered.

The story was no longer under their control.

"Experts are saying that the census shows yet another population movement, similar to that seen little more than a century ago. One likely reason, they've said, is that families are opting to move away from the crowded cities, such as Tolbi or Xian in Angara, or Kibombo in Gondowan, to quieter regions such as Lalivero, Vault, and Contigo.

"In Tolbi today, the CEO of L&B Enterprises announced that the company will be opening new stores across Angara and Contigo, while continuing to fund research in aerospace and multiple medical fields. The number of jobs to be created by this endeavor is estimated to range clear into the-"

The audio cut out with a soft, "click," causing Dora Wood to glance sideways at her son. After a moment's pause, the boy, or rather, her sixteen-year old teenager, sat back from the radio controls. He gave a long, tired sigh, and returned to staring out his window. In truth, staring out his window was perhaps all he had done during the entire drive north, and his middle-aged mother didn't expect much change in the behavior anytime soon.

So much for another forty-five minutes of music after news and traffic.

The woman put on a smile, keeping her eyes on the road before them but sparing the occasional glimpse. "I think we're really going to like it here, Isaac," she tried. "I grew up in a town much like this one, you know. Grandpa was even thinking of moving here once. There's less traffic, less noise…" She decided to broach the subject she knew would need more discussing later. "The school won't be so packed, so I want to hear you've at least tried making friends this time. And no more fights. I don't care if it's always the other person that starts it, you're to go straight to a teacher at the first sign of trouble, or—"

"Mom, I'll be fine."

"Funny," she continued, attempting to keep all—or at least most—of the irritation out of her voice. They were both tired and both stressed beyond a point that either wanted to admit, and, given the time, their hunger and low blood sugar levels would only fuel a disagreement between the mother and son duo. They'd already had enough of those lately. "Seems I remember you saying exactly that… right before you gave that boy Shin a black eye."

Isaac Wood rolled his own eyes at the recent memory. "I was aiming for his shoulder. Not my fault he ducked."

"Alright, alright. But I still don't want to find out, after the fact, that you've been having problems. You have to tell people about these things, Sweetie." Dora gave a pleading look, but her son was still occupied with watching the scenery go by. She shook her head, giving up for the time being, and the drive continued in silence.

It was… small. That would be the first thing Isaac thought upon seeing the house. Sure, there were two floors to it, but the width of it from the front view just looked so... cramped. The "For Sale" sign was still posted in the yard, with a large, red strip of a sticker saying "SOLD" in bold white font slapped over it. The teen tried raking his memory for how much his mom had invested in the place. Hopefully, it hadn't been much. Even compared to the apartment complex they had been living in, the house they were now moving into just looked… well… small!

"Well? What do you think?" His mom was beaming beside him, waiting for his opinion on what she must have thought to be a great catch. Sure, it was more inheritance than purchase, yeah, but telling her it was small and that the mini moving van in the front yard was roomier probably wouldn't have been the smartest of moves.

"It looks… er… great." His eyes roved over the scraggly hedges under the front windows, a small tree of… some kind, and the occasional brown patch in the grass. "Really nice." Dora, thankfully, didn't seem to catch the dull, I-really-don't-want-to-be-here sarcasm.

"I knew it. We are definitely going to like it here. Oh?" The woman put her hands on her hips, and tipped her head curiously as she studied the house. "Hmm. That roof might need some added work, though."

Isaac took that as a worthy cue, and coughed lightly. "Um, Mom?" He motioned with a jerk of his head toward the house when she looked to him. "Think we could move on inside?"

"Oh! Yes, yes, of course." The modestly plump woman fumbled for a suitcase handle, now in noticeably higher spirits. "Let's get a look around on the inside before we empty the trunk. It may need some cleaning beforehand. And I can just send you up later to have a look at that roofing." For Isaac's sake, it was probably for the best that Dora didn't see the grimace on her son's face as she bustled inside.

For some, Vale High was the gateway to a better future. For others, it was little more than a day-to-day routine. For the rest, well, they probably couldn't care less about it, so long as that bell continued to ring on time every afternoon.

Isaac wasn't sure yet which category of student he would soon fall under. It wasn't that he didn't care, and there were times when his work and grades showed an intelligent "spark," as one teacher had once called it. But when it came down to it, Isaac didn't purposely do the bare minimum needed to get by in school. In fact, he usually tried very, very hard to do the maximum.

…Unfortunately, most of those attempts ended with him asleep at the kitchen table at night, a crick in his neck and back the next morning, and a less than thrilling letter of the alphabet scribbled in vivid red on the front of the test or assignment he would be handed back a few days later. It was somewhat depressing when he thought about it, and his mother was never exactly thrilled when she had to read over his latest grades.

…While sitting across from the school's principal.

…In his office.

...Yeah...

Isaac shuddered with an odd twitch. This time was going to be different, though. He wasn't in Tolbi any longer. He was in Vale, where no one knew a thing about him. He could make an honest attempt at finishing the remaining two years of his high school career out of that proverbial fire, and back into that only slightly safer frying pan. And, if he was lucky, maybe he'd finally find a way to get out and stay out of that frying pan, as well.

Preferably without going back into the fire.

"You must be Isaac Wood, I take it." It wasn't said as a question, but Isaac still nodded dumbly in reply. The woman straightened from jotting X's and dashes in what looked to be an attendance roster for the class, and at last turned her head to finally observe what was, apparently, her newest student. She was a woman of medium stature, roughly the same height as Isaac, if not slightly shorter, with brown eyes and long, light brunette hair pulled into a ponytail that fell to her lower back. "Good," she said shortly, and her mouth formed a serious line. Was she strict, or just bored? It was hard for Isaac to tell for sure, so far. For all he knew, it was about to be both. The instructor turned back to her large, spiral notebook from before, and flipped to a tab labeled, "Seating." A modestly manicured finger hovered across and down a rough diagram of squares with names jotted in the middle of each.

"Lucky you; I seem to have a small selection for you," the instructor stated, briefly glancing up at the classroom of chatty students ahead of her. "Three, in fact. Window near the middle, on towards the back, or front and center?"

"Uhh," Isaac answered intelligently, late to realize exactly what she was asking of him. Front and center was out of the question, and it was little wonder that it would remain empty. The window sounded inviting, if not for the higher-than-thou glances being cast his way from the crew already there. So that left… "I-I guess… back?" It didn't look like much better of a choice, seeing as how he'd be flanked by a frowning guy with a possible attitude problem to his right, and a sleeping guy with crazy red hair to his left. But maybe, if each of them kept to their own, he'd be able to hold out without getting in trouble for at least this class.

The teacher nodded at his choice, and quickly jotted his first and last name into the box representing the seat. "Alright. Now that we have that out of the way," she straightened again as she continued to speak in a mostly unconcerned fashion, "I'm Mrs. Chaucha Maris. You will call me Mrs. Maris, welcome to Trigonometry, here's your syllabus, late assignments lose ten points per day, no late assignments past five days, I am not here to babysit, and I do not put up with deliberate troublemaking. You can pick out a textbook for yourself at the table behind your desk. Any questions? Good. Head on back to your seat now, if you'd please, I have a class to start."

Uh, okay then.

Assuring himself that, yes, his head was still attached to his shoulders, Isaac nodded once more, picked the path which was the clearest to his new desk, and started his trek to the back of the room. While he was doing that, Mrs. Maris called for everyone's attention. Surprisingly, or maybe not, the room fell almost completely silent at her command.

"Alright, people. We have a new student today, which you all seem to have already noticed- Lyle stop chattering and face the front when the instructor is speaking, thank you." Okay, now the class was completely silent, right after the few scattered chuckles and giggles throughout the room ceased as well. Isaac, meanwhile, was ignoring as much as he could as he continued to his desk, where he would finally be able to drop his nearly empty backpack on the floor. He didn't need to see the glances or stares he was surely receiving from the other teens he passed. Not one to miss a beat, Mrs. Maris continued right along. "Isaac Wood is joining us from Tolbi. Is there anything you'd like to say, Isaac?"

Once again, Isaac realized a few seconds too late that he was being asked something, and even longer to process what it was exactly that he was being asked. "Uhhh," he started, looking around at all of the blank and uninterested looks, "no. Not really."

"Very well. Please pick out a book and take your seat. Everyone else: page 217." Isaac did as told, and it seemed as though that would be that. That is, until Mrs. Maris paused a minute into her lesson. She pursed her lips and breathed out through her nose. For several terrifying seconds, Isaac thought the woman's disapproving frown was aimed at him. What had he done? How had he managed to screw up already? His mom was going to have a fit!

"Garet Jerra, would you mind joining us sometime today?"

Wait, who?

"Garet Jerra."

Isaac was confused. The teacher was definitely looking in his direction, but surely she hadn't forgotten his name already. Had she? To his right, the teen with the brown hair pulled back in a loose ponytail chuckled to himself and shook his head at his notepaper. Other students around the room were chancing glances back at him and hiding their own snickers as well. Isaac's confusion continued to climb.

Mrs. Maris shook her head. Isaac's confusion began to trade out for dread as he saw the woman pick up a ruler stick from the chalk tray and start down the aisle between desks. It wasn't until she stopped just in front of him with arms crossed and turned to the side that Isaac realized the true intended target: the redhead who was still snoozing while draped across the desk to Isaac's left. The teacher granted one last warning. "Mr. Jerra." Five seconds (and something that sounded like a snore) later, the ruler smacked loudly against the desk.

"DULLAHAN IN THE LUNCH ROOM!"

Isaac jumped in his seat at the boy's outburst, while everyone else in the room snorted or burst into outright laughed. Everyone, that is, except Mrs. Maris.

"Thank you for that enlightening declaration, Mr. Jerra. Feel completely free to take it with you to detention hall if you-"

The boy frantically waved his hands in front of him. "NO! No no, that's- that's okay, Mrs. Maris. I'm sorry. I swear I'll stay awake this time." His face split into a desperate grin. Mrs. Maris tapped the ruler on her crossed arm and smirked just the slightest bit.

"Thank you, Mr. Jerra. Your commitment is appreciated. Page 217." With that, the instructor turned and moved back to the front of the room, leaving Garet to exhale a relieved sigh. It was also then that he realized the lack of an empty desk beside him.

The redheaded boy blinked a few times, and at last stated the obvious. "You're new." He ignored or completely missed the snickers coming from the students directly around them.

Isaac raised an eyebrow, not entirely sure how to respond to that. "Um, yeah, thanks for pointing that out." Was this guy for real?

"No no, I mean… This is Vale."

"That's what the exit sign on the highway said."

"No no no. I mean this is Vale. No one new ever comes here."

Isaac visibly deflated. Great.

Isaac couldn't be more relieved when the bell signaling the end of the class period at last sounded. Then he remembered that he had three more classes to go, three more chances to screw up, and suddenly the bell didn't sound as grand.

"Hey, sorry 'bout earlier."

Isaac looked up from gathering his things to see the redhead looking at him. Oh, he'd been talking to him. "Don't worry about it. Everyone falls asleep in class at some point."

The redhead gave a frustrated sigh, but somehow it didn't feel like it was directed at Isaac. "I mean the pointing out that you're new here."

Oh. "Can't really say that your facts are wrong. We've only been here for a few days now."

"We?"

"My mom and I."

"Oh! Right." For a short moment, they finished packing up their belongings in silence. "I'm Garet, by the way."

"Isaac."

Garet swung his backpack over one shoulder and gave a goofy grin. "Cool. Welcome to Vale, Isaac. Oh, and the sour guy behind you is the dwarf known as Grumpy."

Turning in place, Isaac almost jumped again at seeing that the brown-haired teen was still standing at the desk to the right of Isaac's. The teen in question rolled his eyes before switching his backpack to the left shoulder. "It's Felix. Nice to meet you, Isaac." He extended his now free right hand, which Isaac hesitantly shook. "Don't mind Garet. He's a natural Dopey."

"Hey!"

Isaac couldn't help a faint smile. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"Yeah, yeah, let's all laugh it up at Garet," the redhead groused. "I'm off to class. Where you headed next, Isaac?"

Oh right, next class. Isaac shifted through the front pouch on his bag where he had stuffed his schedule, and pulled out the now crumpled slip of blue paper. "Um… It says 'World History' is next." Garet and Felix both peered around Isaac to read the printout from either side.

"You have Mr. Lys downstairs for your teacher," Felix noted first, after which Garet continued.

"Nice. Mia has that class. Long blue hair, insanely polite and helpful; no way you'll miss her. Then it looks like… Oh man! You're back with us for Bio, and I think Mia has that same Lit class as you at the end."

Felix nodded. "Jenna has Literature that period, too."

"How awesome is that?"

"Probably a lot more awesome if any of us actually gets to a class on time."

Isaac merely nodded, having not spoken through the entire back-and-forth exchange between his new classmates. It left him feeling a little lost. "So um… Can I go for class now?"

Garet momentarily looked confused by the question. "Huh? Oh! Sure thing! You know where it is, right?"

Pointing out that Felix had already confirmed that the classroom for World History was downstairs, Isaac assured them he'd be able to figure it out from there. It seemed to be a good enough answer for them. The three of them exited into the hallway, and separated with one last, "See you in Bio!" from Garet. Finding his way back to the main staircase, Isaac headed for the ground floor. The stairs, like back at the school in Tolbi, were wide to allow for the heavy traffic between class periods. Unfortunately, the school itself was smaller. It was the only reasoning Isaac could think of to explain why the staircases at Vale High weren't as wide as Tolbi High's had been, and thus were still fairly packed with students going between floors. This meant it was more than easy to brush shoulders with other students.

"Hey!" Even more unfortunate was Isaac's luck in dodging such situations.

Turning around after a particularly rough shoulder-bumping in the midst of all the jostling, Isaac saw a scattered mess of papers and a textbook littering the middle of the stairwell. A student with long blue hair was stooping to try and quickly gather the materials before any more damage could be done, while the rest of the student body glanced at the scene and continued around it. Long blue hair? Hadn't that been the description Garet had given of their friend? Sol be darned if Isaac could remember the name at that moment, though. He quickly stooped as well to help pick up the papers that had followed him down the steps.

"Sorry! Sorry, didn't mean to."

"Yeah, you better not have."

That… did not sound like a girl, and definitely not a polite and helpful girl. Looking up, Isaac finally got a good look at the other student. It wasn't a girl at all! It was a male student, probably a senior judging from the older age appearance, and with aqua blue hair that reached down to the middle of his back. The frown on his face was one that suggested that he would gladly place all of the blame for the situation on Isaac for daring to get in this person's way.

So much for the day getting off to a decent start…

Luckily, the day soon started to look up again. The real Mia, Isaac decided after getting the name again, was easily a million times better to meet than the jerk back at the stairs. Apparently, the history instructor shared a similar thought process. Instead of giving Isaac an option for his seating choice, Isaac had instantly been directed to the desk next to Mia's, and Mia herself had been directed to help him out in getting caught up with the lesson.

She was a pretty one. Her aqua blue hair was long like with the guy on the stairs, but where his bangs had been trimmed to frame his face, hers had been pulled back into braids that met in a single one down her back. Her eyes of the same hue showed wells of openhearted kindness. But perhaps what struck Isaac the most of all was how absolutely genuine she was in wanting to know more about a complete stranger.

"How long have you been in Vale, Isaac?"

"Oh, uh," Isaac paused in the note he was jotting down from the reading. Mr. Lys had given them a chapter to go through, wasting no time in returning to whatever work he was now typing key-by-key into the computer. If Isaac were to take a guess, he would say the balding, jittery man was in need of a class on keyboarding.

They had arrived in the middle of the previous week. His mother had been the one to decide on the plan that Isaac would start school on Monday. Isaac told Mia as much, conveniently leaving out the detail about Dora doing the panning.

Mia nodded. It made sense to her, at least. "Good idea. Did you get to see much of the town over the weekend, then?"

"Not really. We needed to clear out the moving van as soon as possible so it could be returned. Pretty much all I've seen so far beside the school has been a few fast food places with takeout menus." The two of them chuckled at that. Thanks to Mia, Isaac learned he had pretty much seen all that Vale had to offer when it came to chain brand dining. Vale may have been a growing town, but it still didn't have the same pull that other towns to the south had when it came to major restaurants.

Considering how they were in a town at the base of a mountain, next to a major river, and with who knew how many special zoning laws, Isaac couldn't really find it within himself to be surprised.

"And what about the people? Everyone treating you alright so far?"

Isaac made a so-so face for that one. He had been alright with Garet and Felix earlier. But then there were the generally unfriendly looks he received from most of the remaining students. Plus there had been that one guy on the stairs…

"Oh, him." Mia's expression switched from eagerly interested to bored and deadpanned at the provided description. "That sounds like Alex. Alex Azul. Ignore him; he's a jerk."

And that was all that was mentioned about the unpleasant guy from before. The two continued to chat off and on for the remainder of the class period. Then it was off to Biology, meaning another encounter with the two guys from math. Gary and Frank, was it? George and Fred? No, no. Garet and Felix. Isaac was quickly coming to the conclusion that he would need to remember those names, especially when the owners took it upon themselves to haul him with them to the cafeteria during their class' lunch break.

No, really. They actually hauled him.

"Stick with us, buddy!" Garet had pretty much crowed, flinging an arm uninvited over Isaac's shoulders. If he noticed the sudden stiffness of those shoulders, he was very good at playing oblivious. "We'll make sure you learn the ropes of the place in no time."

It was also at lunch that Isaac finally met Jenna: Felix's sister, Mia's close friend, and Garet's trusted accomplice in the art of pranks and irritating Felix.

"Alrighty, Isaac. Spill."

Isaac lowered the halfway decent cheeseburger he was about to eat. A brief glance at everyone gave no follow up details. "I'm sorry?"

"I heard you ran into Alex earlier. Sucks that it would happen on your first day, but too bad, so sad." Jenna waved a hand as though shooing the thought. "Ignoring crabby pants"—there may have been a snort from Garet's direction—"how are you liking things so far? Everyone else treating you right? Seen any of the sights yet? Settling down okay?"

Jenna, Isaac was quickly learning, was one of those people who could ramble away at a quick pace, and very likely have no idea she was doing it. She probably saw everyone else as just being slow. It was almost bizarre to imagine that she was the younger sister of someone as quiet and laid back as Felix. Side-by-side, however, it was becoming easy enough to see the similarities. Jenna's hair was a deep auburn, as though someone had taken Felix's brown and directly added in the red. They even had the same unruly strands of hair that insisted on standing out from the rest of their bangs in the front.

Isaac repeated almost the exact same answers he had given to Mia earlier. But then Jenna had thrown him the curveball. "Cool." She swiped a tatter tot from Felix's tray and popped it in her mouth, ignoring the dark look it earned her as she chewed and swallowed. "Want to hang out with us after school? Vale doesn't really offer much, but we do have a pretty awesome park. How about it?"

The new student blinked at the girl stupidly. Was there something in Vale's water supply? Had Isaac really woken up and gone to school that morning? Was he seriously being invited to "hang out" with people his age? Obviously, something was wrong with the universe that day.

"Um… Thanks. Really, I appreciate it, but…" Ohhh, crud. What was he supposed to do? No one had been like this towards him in years! Nice? Ha! He was usually lucky if he could so much as get the time of day from a classmate!

"You're welcome to join us, Isaac, but don't feel that you have to." Mia smiled kindly, paying no attention to Jenna now pouting across the table. "This is only your first day, after all."

"R-right. Yeah. Thanks. But I really should head home after school today. My mom's kinda expecting me to help unpack some more things."

Jenna slouched in her chair with her arms crossed. Her brother gave her a light shove against the side of her head, causing her to flail to both right herself and to swat at him in return. "Don't worry about it, Isaac," Felix assured him, easily fending off his younger sibling without needing to look. "Jenna's just being a brat."

Isaac smiled the best he could to return the friendly sentiments.

Dora turned off the tap to the kitchen sink when she heard the front door open that afternoon. "Isaac? Is that you?" she called, quickly drying her hands on a dish towel and moving so she could more easily see into the front room. Isaac dropped his book bag next to the door and turned to lock the dead bolt behind him. "Oh, good. I noticed you left your cell phone this morning. Didn't want you getting lost on the walk home."

Isaac shook his head. "Nah, I was okay." He pulled out of his jacket pocket and held up a familiar piece of folded printer paper. His mother instantly recognized it as the map of Vale she had printed for him.

"Good. Good, I'm glad. How was school? Oh, and move your bag, will you, please? I need to go to the store later, and I don't want to hurt myself trying to get to my own door."

Isaac opted to leave the first question unanswered, and stooped to pick up the heavy thing at his feet. "What do you need from the store? I could go down the street and get it for you." He dropped the bag at the end of the couch. The store itself wasn't much to write home about. It wasn't the larger department store on the other side of town, but for a mom and pop business, it did a pretty good job at stocking what they had needed for that first weekend.

His mother had already moved back into the kitchen, not seeming to notice the topic change. "Would you, dear? There isn't much that we need right away, but if you could get a few of the things…" She trailed off, and Isaac heard her riffling through items in one of the higher cabinets. She must have found the step stool they'd been hunting through boxes for all weekend. "There's a list there on the table." Isaac moved into the eating nook to pick up the mentioned scrap of paper. "I've starred the items I especially need today. Hold on, you need money." There was the sound of feet touching linoleum, followed by Dora walking back around and out of the kitchen, and past him for her purse on the couch.

Dora shoved things aside in her purse, straightening only once she found and held her smaller change purse in hand. She pulled some bills out as she turned back to face him. "Here we go. This should be enough." Isaac held out a hand to accept the money. His mother, however, continued to hold the bills near her bosom. Looking up, Isaac could've groaned. "My little boy… all grown up and going to the store for his mother." Aww, not the Proud Mom Look again. He was just going to the store, not winning a championship!

"Um… Mom?" Isaac waved his hand a little, still waiting to be handed the money. Distraction tactics and quick retreats were always a good idea, or else hugs and kisses were going to be involved soon.

Dora broke out of her trance with a sigh, and handed over the bills with a fond, watery smile. Isaac gave a small smile back before making his retreat to the door. Snatching up his jacket from where he'd draped it over the stair railing, plus the ring of house keys, he was gone and with the door locked behind him in record time.

Sam Patcher was bored. Not much ever happened in his parents' grocery store, especially since the larger chain store had moved in a few years before. Honestly, though, Patcher didn't much care. As neat as the store had been when he was a kid, it had started to lose its charm by the time he was old enough to work there, and all but depressing by the time he entered college.

The bell over the door chimed as someone entered through the double doors. Sam looked up lazily from the magazine he was reading on the checkout counter to spot the blond teenager he didn't recognize. His father would normally love to lecture Sam on the importance of monitoring unknown customers, especially young ones that may be aspiring kleptos and prone to lifting things, but, honestly, Sam just really didn't care today. He lifted a hand in greeting, not waiting much beyond a nod from the newcomer before directing his attention back to his magazine.

Sometime later, Sam yawned and scratched at the pale stubble on his chin. His mother liked to nag that he needed to shave away his attempts at facial hair, but she liked to nag about a lot of things. For example, his spiked yellow hair. He wasn't sure if it was the part about the hair being spiked, or the part about having dyed the hair unnaturally yellow. Maybe it was the streak of blue on the left. What could he say? He was in college, now. He could allow himself to go through some phases. Yellow hair and a randomly colored streak and a goatee were his current one.

It was in lowering his hand to turn the page that he realized someone was standing nearby. Glancing up again, he eyed the unknown kid from before. The guy was poking at the potted plant at the end of the counter. Sam's mom had put it there for decoration at some point maybe a week or two earlier, before she and everyone else had promptly forgotten to occasionally water the damn thing. It had at least looked sorta cool when it was a leafy ball at the top of some twiggy looking trunk, or whatever it was called. Nowadays, it wasn't uncommon for Sam to need to brush away the tiny dead leaves that would get mixed in with a customer's shopping during checkout.

"You break it, you buy it," he grumbled, feeling annoyed at the kid. Probably a high schooler, from the looks of the guy. The kid jumped in surprise and straightened. If Sam weren't so bored and annoyed, he might have bothered to laugh at the deer in headlights look the kid gave him. "You're new."

The kid let out a breath in his own annoyance. "So I hear." He set his shopping on the counter, and dug into his pocket as Sam started to ring up the items.

"You from Vault?"

"Nope. Tolbi. Just moved here."

"This neighborhood?"

A nod.

"Figured. Can't say we get much business aside from people living right around here. Let's see… If you just moved here, then you must be in…"

"Down the street that way. The blue house."

"Oh! Old Man Matthew's place! Yeah, I know the one. Knew the previous owner. So you guys bought it, huh?"

The kid shrugged. "Inherited. He was my grandfather. Father's side. Didn't see him much, though. They were going to sell the house, but then my mom decided to keep it, fix it, and move in after all."

"Huh." Sam finished ringing up the items and read off the total. "Sorry for the loss, then, I guess. He was a pretty cool guy." The kid didn't seem too broken up over it, handing over the payment with just another shrug, but Sam got the feeling he was grateful for the sentiment nonetheless.

Once the kid was gone, Sam propped his elbow back on the counter and resumed his reading. That is, he tried to do that. Another dead leaf had drifted onto the page while he'd been distracted. Brushing it away, he raised his head to glare at the stupid plant that was to blame.

Sam's glare fell.

The dead plant was… not dead? Strange. Sam could've sworn that it was withered and beyond help earlier. He had half a mind to check what sort of plant it was, maybe even look it up online that night. With a shrug, the other half won out, and he went back to reading the article about some excavation plans in the coming year. Maybe the plant was just going through a phase, too.

"The heat advisory here in downtown Lalivero is going to continue at its current level of orange, even as we move into early fall. Residents are advised to stay indoors as much as possible. If you must go out, be sure to stay well hydrated. Tune in for this and more on tonight's ten o' clock news."

CHAPTER ONE – END

Dedicated to PaPa
January 1929 – May 16, 2013

Also dedicated to my cousin Laura
April 1980 - May 24, 1997

May your stories never end

Welcome to the completely reworked version of my first fan fiction ever. It also just happens to have a launch date that matches the 10th Anniversary of the original. Almost like I planned it, or something. But wow... Ten years of fan fiction? Wow... Just... Wow. Special thanks goes to Uber Spoonz for reading over this opening chapter for me.

To those who read and followed the original TNK, hello hello and glad to have you back! I still love you guys, you're all awesome, and I hope that TNK:R will meet many an expectation. For those who are new, I hope you will stay for the ride, and that this story doesn't disappoint. You're awesome, I'm sure I'll love you all too, and uh... ignore that old thing behind the curtain, will you? Or don't. Up to you. Just be forewarned that I've had the past ten years to tweak my writing style, and a third game has been added to the GS series since then. This version is currently looking to be double the length, with much more character and story development, and several plot points and twists have been added, edited, or removed entirely.

The first few chapters may have a month in between updates. Sorry, guys. I need to give myself something more of a buffer to work with before I can start having regularly scheduled updates. Recent happenings offline have both slowed my progress, and made me more determined than ever to make this story happen. The ultimate goal is to eventually be able to update once every two to three weeks, so we'll see how that goes.

'Til next time! Laters!