Isaac and Jenna had just arrived on the Tolbi side of the Karagol Sea. They'd been away from Tolbi for about a month now, but Isaac still didn't miss the noise of Gondowan's biggest city. As they made the short walk from the docks to Tolbi, they noticed more and more people pointing at them and coming up to get a better look. The events of the Golden Sun five years ago were common knowledge now and most of the world looked to the Warriors of Vale as equals to the Wise One.
About a year after the Golden Sun, people had started traveling from far and wide, seeking the Warriors' help. They decided that this was the best way they could help all of Weyard and soon after, they had formed the guild 'The Golden Sun.' The guild was established in Tolbi since tons of people flocked to Tolbi for Colosso anyway and within a month, everyone in Weyard knew where to go if they had trouble. The Golden Sun's reputation spread like wild fire and soon it seemed like as soon as one mission was completed, another was there to take its place.
It soon became obvious that there was very little space for downtime, so Mia was forced to open her own branch of The Golden Sun up north near Imil. Piers had left to help her with her duties and in an attempt to give help before it was needed, Ivan traveled the world as a nomad. Keeping in touch wasn't a problem though; Ivan learned that Djinn could be used as messengers and they were much faster than a human courier. This was also how jobs were sent to the guild. Each town was given one Djinni so that they could quickly ask for help from the guild. Once the message was received, a Warrior would send a reply accepting or denying the request and they'd be off.
Back in the crowded streets of Tolbi, Isaac and Jenna merged with the flow of people and were glad that people stopped pointing. The main focus of the city was this year's Colosso. Apparently there was a surprise this year that had still yet to be announced. They moved through the crowds easily, Isaac occasionally casting the Psynergy Move on people not paying attention and soon came to The Golden Sun's headquarters. It was a large, two story stone building with large double oak doors and a thick thatch roof. A chimney poked through the roof at each end of the building and a balcony ran along the exterior on the second floor. A sign hung above the door that read The Golden Sun in black letters superimposed over a large yellow circle. Isaac smiled at the sign. Garet had been against this name favoring The Psynergy Heroes, but he'd been outvoted. He pushed open the door and he and Jenna walked into their guild.
It was a homely kind of place. Fires burned cheerily in the two fireplaces, one containing a large iron pot with what looked like stew in it. Shelves lined the walls and every foot or so was a label with a town's name on it. This is where the Djinn would appear if the town had a job for the guild. In the center of the room was a table big enough for ten people to sit at but only two sat there now. Felix and Sheba sat at one end, a stack of papers sitting in front of them. The papers must have been important because neither Felix nor Sheba noticed Isaac and Jenna's arrival.
"What's this?" Isaac asked, looking over Felix's shoulder, "We don't get written requests now do we?"
"No we don't." Felix answered, "This is a request of a different sort. We've been asked to participate in this year's Colosso."
"We what?!" Jenna and Isaac cried in unison as Isaac snatched the paper from Felix. Sure enough it said in black and white that Babi wanted The Golden Sun to participate in the Colosso. "How long until it starts?"
"A week." Sheba said curtly.
"That gives us time to train." Isaac said going back for his armor and weapons.
"Isaac, we just got back!" Jenna snapped at him. "Can't we relax for a bit?"
Isaac stopped and looked at Jenna. Something about her tone made Isaac think that she didn't have 'rest' on her mind. He gave her a smirk and said, "Why don't you go draw the bath. I'll be there in a minute." Jenna gave Isaac a little wink and disappeared upstairs.
"Could you be a little more obvious next time?" Felix said with a smirk.
"Shut up, what are we looking at for prize money?" Isaac asked. Golden Sun didn't charge for their services, knowing that some towns had very little in the way of money so they accepted donations or whatever the town considered valuable. Doing business this way meant the budget was very tight.
"The winner gets one million coins, runner up gets a hundred thousand, and semi-finalists get a piece of gear." Felix read from another paper.
"A million!? That'd help us out for sure!" Isaac said, feeling more and more excited.
"Yes it definitely would."
"Have you told the others?"
"I sent one of my Djinn to Mia and contacted Ivan telepathically." Sheba said quietly.
"Excellent." Isaac said. "Colosso, huh? Sure is nostalgic."
Isaac climbed the stairs two at a time and came to the second floor. The second floor had four rooms, each with a large basin for baths, a bed and a wardrobe. Isaac knocked on his and Jenna's door and entered after he heard Jenna say to come in. What he found didn't disappoint him. Jenna had already filled the basin and by the look of it, had used her Psynergy to heat the water. She sat in the basin, the water hardly covering her breasts and she was wearing her 'come get me' look. Isaac slowly slipped out of his clothes, teasing Jenna with every article until he was naked as the day he was born and then slid into the water with Jenna. In an instant she'd moved so that she was sitting on Isaac's lap with her legs wrapped around his back and her mouth clamped over his. Isaac moaned into Jenna's mouth and his hands began to move up and down her muscular back. After a while Jenna finally released Isaac from her kiss and leaned back a little, completely exposing her breasts. Isaac reached up and gently began to massage them as Jenna came back in for another kiss. For a while they just held each other as they kissed, but then Jenna broke the kiss again and gave Isaac a sultry look, "What did you think of that?"
"I think we're only getting started." Isaac said pushed Jenna so that he was on top of her. Her happy giggles soon turned to moans of pleasure as Isaac's tongue began to trace circles around Jenna's nipple while his hand slid down her body to between her legs. Her body began to convulse with pleasure as Isaac's strong fingers explored the depths of her body. Her nails raked across his back, leaving red lines as her pleasure came closer to its peak. She moaned even louder as Isaac slipped another finger inside of her and she felt her body growing hotter and hotter with every caress. Her moans drove Isaac wild and he moved to kiss her again, but at that moment, her body reached climax, causing the water around her to boil. Her Psynergy was going crazy, but as her pleasure began to subside, she regained control of it, leaving the two feeling even steamier than before.
Felix awoke the next morning still feeling drowsy. Isaac's room was across the hall from his and the walls weren't very think so he and Sheba had been able to hear everything. For some reason that had put Sheba in the mood and it had turned into a contest between the two couples. Felix was pretty sure he'd won and he looked down and smiled at the still sleeping Sheba. She was shy in public, but behind closed doors, she was completely different. He stroked her blonde hair and gently kissed her cheek before getting out of bed and getting dressed.
When he finally came down stairs, he found Isaac with a cup of coffee at the big center table. They shared a look of mutual challenge and silently declared victory for himself. Isaac poured Felix a cup and he took a long drink as both girls came walking down the stairs slightly bow-legged. The two men shared another look and then laughed as their respective girlfriend kissed him good morning. For a while everything was quiet and romantic, and then the door got kicked in.
"GOOD MORNING GOLDEN SUN!" a voice roared from the door.
"Hey, Garet." Isaac moaned as they all squinted through the morning sun streamed in through the door. "What's got you in such a good mood?"
"I met the love of my life last night!" Garet proclaimed loudly.
"Really? Who is it today?" Felix said sarcastically.
"Shut up. Welcome back by the way, Isaac."
"Thanks. Check this out." Isaac said and tossed Colosso request at Garet.
His eyes grew bigger with every word until he looked up at Isaac and said, "When do we start training?"
The next few days were full of early mornings and late nights as the five Adepts trained and sparred with each other. Isaac and Jenna felt a little rusty the first since they'd spent a relaxing month in Vale, but soon they were back in the rhythm of fighting and feeling stronger than ever. Then on the fourth day of training, Sheba's Djinn came back with the message from Mia and Piers: 'We're on our way.' With the thought of their friends only days away, training intensified and soon the five were feeling invincible. It seemed that the whole world was anxious about this year's Colosso since they didn't receive one job during their training days. Finally it was the last day before Colosso and of course Isaac couldn't sleep. He lay awake reliving the last time he was at Colosso. He'd had his friends' help to make it through the obstacles faster last time…but this time was different. He was older, smarter, and stronger. There was no way he was going to lose.
The day of Colosso couldn't have looked any better; clear blue skies, warm sun and cool breeze. It was the perfect day for a festival. Isaac and the rest of the guild made their way steadily through the crowds and soon were at the registration booth. The lady behind the counter took one look at them and waved them through. Garet seemed most pleased with this, happy to be recognized by anyone for his fame (especially a woman). They met a guard who showed them where to go and before they knew it, they were in an underground room surrounded by big burly men in various types of armor. Some were getting in a last minute workout while others seemed content to just sit around and wait for the matches to start. Isaac and his group moved through the crowd of men looking for a place to sit when a familiar voice called out.
"Long time no see, Isaac!"
"Ivan is that you?" Garet called.
"It's all of us, silly." a girl's voice said.
On the other side of the room came Ivan followed by Piers and Mia. The two groups met and the girls gave hugs while the boys clapped each other on the shoulders. They had just begun to swap stories when one of the bigger men shoved his way into their group. His golden reddish armor shined in the torch light and it through what little they could see of his face into deep shadow. A wicked looking spiked mace hung from his hip and a sword was slung over his shoulder.
"I over-heard you talking. Are you the Warriors of Vale?" he spoke in a deep voice that was almost a growl.
"What if we are?" Garet growled back, rubbing his ribs where he'd been shoved.
"I thought that was Isaac." He laughed, "Think you can stay awake this time?"
"I thought that armor looked familiar." Isaac said and the next thing anyone knew, the gladiator had flown across the room and collided with a set of weights. "I guess this time you couldn't stay awake."
"Isaac! What did you-"
"Force Gem." Isaac said simply, digging the gem out of his satchel.
"Ok, I think we should refrain from using Psynergy or Djinn." Ivan suggested tentatively.
"Sounds boring, but you're probably right." Garet agreed.
After that, the other fighters made sure to give the Warriors of Vale the proper respect and after a while, a guard came to give them instructions. He told each fighter to stand in a specific circle and file out in order. The Warriors of Vale were put in the rear and only then did the guard notice the unconscious fighter. He glanced at Isaac who just shrugged and that seemed good enough for the guard. He went back to the front of the line and motioned to the first fighter and lead them out into the arena.
The crowd shouted its applause for the first seven fighters, but as soon as Isaac was seen, the crowd became deafening. All the Warriors waved as they marched out and were lead to the center of the arena where they stopped to face the ruler of Tolbi: Babi. It took a while for the crowd to calm down, but when silence finally fell, Babi rose from his chair and addressed his kingdom.
"As I'm sure you've seen, this year's surprise is that none other than the Warriors of Vale have entered Colosso." He paused to let the crowd scream its enthusiasm. "Hopefully these fine men can at least give these heroes a challenge and give us an amazing show. Now I have one other surprise: there will be no obstacle course this year. Instead we have for your entertainment, a battle royale of sorts. Fighters, take your positions and get ready!"
Babi took his seat once more among the excited chatter of the crowd as the fighters were lead to various places in the arena. Everyone seemed confused as the guards quickly ran for the exits. There was the sound of a large gong and suddenly walls shot up all around the fighters splitting them into groups of two. Isaac looked around and found that he was trapped in a room with one the fighters in armor. This guy's favorite color seemed to be green since there wasn't one piece of gear on him that wasn't green. He looked hesitant, but he rushed Isaac with a small knife. Isaac had to stifle a laugh as he easily dodged the attack and turned to counter, only to have a crossbow pointing at him. He ducked at the last second and managed to dodge, but his scarf was now nailed to the ground. The green fighter took a few steps back and loaded another bolt, but before he could fire it, Isaac had thrown a sleep bomb at his feet. The bomb exploded, but the soldier remained awake, if a little drowsy. This gave Isaac all the time he needed to draw his sword, cut his scarf and roll away from the second bolt. Isaac brought the Gaia Blade up into a defensive posture and rushed the green fighter; he wasn't going to give him time to load another bolt. Isaac closed the distance between them and with a mighty strike to the head, knocked the fighter out cold.
Isaac breathed heavily; he'd almost lost twice already. It was time to get serious. He heard a grinding noise behind him and turn to see Garet standing over a blue fighter. They shared a look and both knew what the other meant: Psynergy was legal in this fight. Isaac thrust his hand forward and vines began to grown from the ground, wrapping around Garet's ankles. Isaac rushed forward to end it in one blow, but Garet merely burn the vines and countered with his Fire Brand. Sparks flew from the blades, but seemed to hover in mid-air. Then Garet shoved back and his Psynergy Heat Wave hit Isaac full in the chest. He back flipped away casting Cure on himself and then unleased Grand Gaia. Garet guarded against it and then cast Guard on himself. Isaac smirked and thrust his sword forward, casting Ragnarok. The giant Psynergy sword tore the ground at Garet's feet asunder and he fell to the ground. He tried to roll away from the next attack, but vines had already trapped him again. With his hands bound, Garet couldn't cast any Psynergy to protect himself and all he could do was watch as Isaac's Clay Spire fell to smash into him.
With Garet knocked out, Isaac had a few seconds to breathe. Only then did he notice that everyone else seemed to have come to the same decision as him and Garet. Lightning struck the ground at two ends of the arena, water could be heard splashing nearby and fire raged on the other side of one wall. Isaac steeled himself for the next fight; which friend would he have to fight next.
The wall to his front began to sink into the ground and none other than Jenna stood there waiting to face him. She stepped over the unconscious form of Ivan and dropped her staff only to replace it with Ivan's light sword: the Kikuichimonji. There was a fire in her eyes that Isaac hadn't seen in at least five years. She thrust her sword forward and a Dragon Plume shot toward Isaac. He rolled forward casting Ragnarok again, but Jenna countered it with a Searing Beam. The attacks exploded in mid-air and Isaac was forced to shield his eyes. When he could see again, Jenna had closed the distance between them and slashed with the light sword. Isaac took the hit hard to the chest and was pushed back, but he was ok. He countered the next blow and casted Grand Gaia. The ground around their feet exploded upward, but Isaac took less damage and managed to land on his feet while Jenna hit the ground hard. He took a moment to heal himself and then muttered his apologies before the final wall came down to reveal Felix.
The two Venus adepts stared at each other and smirked, this was just another contest between them. Felix lashed out first with a Ragnarok, but Isaac countered with one of his own. The giant swords clashed right along with Isaac's Gaia Blade and Felix's Sol Blade. They traded blows each as powerful as the other and matched Psynergy for Psynergy. For each Grand Gaia Isaac cast, Felix would respond with a Quake Sphere. Isaac rushed in with a powerful strike and Felix blocked. They stared into each other's eyes. Both knew the other was fatigued and nearing their limit. Felix gave a mighty push and forced Isaac back a few steps before casting his final Psynergy: Odyssey. Isaac recognized it at the last second and cast Oddesey himself. The ten swords clashed resulting in the largest explosion yet. When the dust finally cleared, Felix was high in the air, a giant ball of Venus Psynergy power balanced on his sword: Megiddo. Isaac knew this power, the power of the Sol Blade. His grip on the Gaia Blade tightened and it began to glow. He launched his weapon's own special move: Titan Blade. A gigantic sword shot out of Isaac's as Megiddo began to fall. The two special attacks collided; the Titan Blade piercing Megiddo all the way to its hilt, but Megiddo was simply too powerful. The giant ball continued to fall toward Isaac and there was nothing he could do. Isaac felt the ground around his feet explode and then there was blackness.
Isaac woke up in a soft, familiar bed. He opened his eyes and found that he was back in his room at the guild. He began to take in his surroundings and he found that Jenna was sitting in a chair next to his bed. She smiled when their eyes met and she leaned down to give him a gentle kiss.
"You fought amazingly." She said softly.
"Even though I lost?"
"Felix said that he could barely stand after pulling off that last attack. Besides, you had to fight me before you took him on. Only makes sense since I gave you a good pounding first."
"Yeah that does make sense." Isaac chuckled. He stretched in bed and then climbed out, feeling incredibly stiff. Jenna put his arm over her shoulders and together they walked downstairs to where the other six were celebrating. A huge pile of money sat on the long table and all around it danced his friends; most with a pint of ale in their hands, Mia, Ivan and Sheba preferring to sip wine. When they caught sight of Isaac three cheers filled the guild and a pint of ale was shoved into Isaac and Jenna's hand. They gladly drank deeply and while Isaac was still too sore to dance, Jenna began to dance with Garet.
"You ok?" Felix asked, plopping into a chair next to Isaac.
"Just a bit stiff." Isaac chuckled, "You really gave me a beating."
"Don't act like you didn't fight with all you had!" Felix cried. "If you'd struck the last hit, it would've been you who won the million coins."
"At least I still got a hundred thousand right?"
"Sure did. Only one of us is allowed to participate next year though."
They both laughed loudly at this and with Felix's help, Isaac got up to join in the dance. Isaac thought that this was the best way to live life: in the company of friends and family, dancing and drinking the night away. All of that came to screeching halt when a Mercury Djinn appeared on a shelf above the label 'Imil.'
Mia leapt to her feet and sprinted to the shelf. She scooped the Djinn up in her hand and held it to her ear. Even from the other side of the room, everyone could see the blood drain from her face. She muttered a response to the Djinn and sent it back to where it had come from. She turned on the spot, a look of sheer terror on her face and shouted, "Mercury Lighthouse is under attack!" To everyone's horror, the Djinn for Contigo, Lalivero, and Prox all showed up. Each had a similar message.
"What's going on?!" Jenna cried in dismay.
"Seems like someone isn't happy about the light houses being lit." Felix said ominously.
Author Note:
Well this is the first story I've written in a long time. Thought I'd take a break from my normal Naruto stories and give one of my favorite video games a shot. Hope you all like it and there's plenty more to come. I have lots of ideas for the Golden Sun crew.