Golden Sun: The Sands of Time

Yay. First full, multi-chapter fic. Go me.

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Chapter 1: Rebuilding

"Move." This was a simple command. And yet, it was a command in the truest sense of the word. The young, 18-year old blonde knew that. He also knew the effects of the current focus of his thoughts. And was thus unsurprised when the huge stone he was concentrating on grinded along the ground, pushed along by a ghostly hand. Coming to a rest next to wall, the task of lifting it up and setting it in place was taken up by an energetic redhead by the name of Garet.

The name of this would-be village was Vale. For many years, Vale had guarded the ancient secrets of the powers of Alchemy. Now, with Alchemy's strength unleashed on this world, the resulting energy flow had culminated in the destruction of the village. Now, with string hands and willing hearts, the village was once again beginning to thrive and be rebuilt by it's inhabitants. And some outside help as well. Although their offer of "help" was rather questionable.

"Ivan! For the last time, will you QUIT messing up the work? Your stupid whirlwinds messed up the sand piles, then devastated the area we allocated for the new inn, and now? You just knocked over the whole pile of lumber!"

The boy in question stood up from the current stack of wood, red-faced. Apologizing to the rather angry Venus adept in front of him, he tried to defend himself from the wrath of his friend.

" Hey, I was only sparring with Picard! You're the one who always tells us to hone our skills, right, Felix?"

Felix growled angrily. "Yes, I do tell you to hone your skills. However, I don't tell you to do it at the expense of messing up the reconstruction. Now, if you don't mind and have nothing to help with, would you kindly leave?" Turning away, he hollered at Picard to grab a few cans

Brushing himself off, Ivan muttered something under his breath and stomped away to rest himself under a tree. A few seconds later, he was joined by a smiling girl. Sheba glanced over at her dispirited friend.

"C'mon, Ivan. You know Felix didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Ivan sighed. "I know that. I just feel that I should be helping more. After all, I plan on settling down here after they finish rebuilding the town…"

"You're kidding." Sheba shot back. "What about your master Hammet? I thought you were gonna go live with him in Kalay."

"You didn't know?" Suddenly, Sheba noticed a sadness in Ivan's eyes. "Master Hammet was killed by raiders about a week after we returned to Vale. I have nothing left for me in Kalay."

" I- I'm, sorry. I didn't know." Ivan shook his head.

" Don't be. I suspect none of the others know either. No one's informed them about this."

"Then how-"

"I received it in a dream one night. When I woke up, I shrugged it off. But then someone came from Kalay and told me about it."

Sheba sat in silence. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to Ivan, or how to comfort him. After about a minute, Ivan turned to her.

"Well, what about you? Are you going to return to Lalivero after this?"

Sheba shook her head. "No. Faran treated me well, but there, I…… I was not Sheba. I was a Child of the Gods. I could not be myself. I don't want to return."

"I see. Well, I guess we're gonna turn into a couple of freeloading Jupiter adepts, huh?"

Involuntarily, she let out a snort of laughter. "Ivan, you sure know how to make a person feel better."

"Consider it a gift." Ivan smiled, before getting bopped on the head with a piece of wood.

" Hey, Ivan!" Shouted the thrower, namely Jenna. " Come over here and bring the Cyclone Chip! We need to clear out a few weeds!"

"Coming, coming." Standing up, he smiled at Sheba. " Catch you later, okay?"

"Okay." Sheba nodded, then watched Ivan weave his way through the people milling about and stopping next to Jenna. With a sigh, she lay back and allowed herself to relax under the cool shade of the trees, letting all thoughts slip away from her mind.

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Agony.

That was all he knew, all he had known for the past month. Inch by inch, he had crawled underground like a worm, fighting for every gasp of air. No food for him. Only the water created from his own psynergy. And now, he could feel it. Feel fresh air. Just above him.

But his strength was spent. So weak… so weak…

NO! An inner voice screamed at him, refusing to allow him to give up. He would not fail now. He had too much to do.

"They need me. Jorgmund needs me." Pain wracked his body. Anger. Anger at his failure. He would die, underground, a few feet away from civilization. A few feet from salvation.

Last chance. He screwed up his hand, and continued scrabbling away at the soil. It was lighter here, not packed so tight. Silently, he thanked his lucky stars. Then, with his last reserve of strength, he punched upwards, his gloved hand breaking through the soil and exposing itself to the air. Now, all he had to do was widen the hole and he would be…

Yeah, right. He could barely focus on breathing right now, and his vision was starting to go blurry. If he fell asleep now, odds were that he'd never wake up again. Damn. He was so sleepy…. so…. sleepy……

Abruptly, the ground shifted, rolling around and tossing up the soil in his face. Then, he could feel someone grabbing his hand and hauling him out roughly, before he was dumped onto the dirt. Looking up, he was just able to catch a glimpse of cold sapphire eyes staring at him before he passed out.

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He awoke to warmth and cessation of the agony he'd known for what seemed an eternity. Based on his immediate surroundings, he assumed he was in a cave somewhere. A soft orange light permeated the area, making the normally dark area seem warm and cozy.

However, seeing as he had been stuck in pitch-blackness for the excess of one month, he felt a rather intense pain in his eyes whenever he glanced directly at the lights. Covering his eyes with his hand, he managed to stutter out to himself:" Wh- where am I?"

Abruptly, another vaguely familiar voice pierced through the silence. " You are in the town of Vale, in the healer's cavern." Stepping into view, Isaac pressed a sword to his throat. "And you, Alex, have a lot of explaining to do."