Well, all my tests are over (finally!) (but school isn't) and I've been writing too many one-shots, so I've decided to finally get this idea written. This is just something that's been making itself heard in my mind for a while. It's based on many things, but mostly on a Chinese epic novel called Three Kingdoms, which is based on the fall of the Han dynasty and… Well, I don't think you care about that stuff.

Besides, even if you read the book, you probably would see no connection, because my weird mind has changed everything completely around.

Anyway, this is just the prologue, which really has nothing to do with the plot of the story, but it's necessary for…later. So read, review, enjoy, and don't expect it to make any sense! …Yet.

Oh, by the way, this might seem like just a write-up of what happened on the Mars Lighthouse, but—even though it is—it is really needed for the end of the story. (How many times do I have to repeat myself so no one will flame me?)

Disclaimer: Avari does not own Golden Sun or ThreeKingdoms (which is by far the best history-based novel ever). She doesn't own death scenes, angsty Felix, or bright flashes of light.


Prologue: Miracle


The two dragons were tiring. Weariness was evident in the curve of their necks, the fading red gleam in their eyes, the way they held their heads. Victory was near for the eight Adepts who faced them.

Isaac leaped forward and slashed at the smaller dragon. It roared in pain as the cold steel bit into its flesh. It backed away slowly, blood dripping from its scaled hide.

The Adepts watched the two fire beasts warily. The dragons, while near defeat, were still dangerous. The larger dragon hissed at them. The smaller one's eyes were glowing malevolently.

The more agile dragon—the smaller one—lunged forward, raking its claws across Ivan's arm. The boy winced but slashed back at the dragon with his light sword, leaving an angry red scratch.

It's time to end this, thought Felix. "Stone Spire!" A huge rock missile appeared above the heads of the two fire dragons and fell to earth, crushing them beneath its weight.

A red light blazed. The eight Adepts and Kraden covered their eyes.

When the crimson glow faded, two figures were left lying on the red stone floor. Felix took one look at them and felt his sword fall from his limp hand.

"No… It can't be…"

In place of the two dragons, Karst and Agatio lay on the ground, their clothes ripped, their bodies covered in blood.

The Venus Adept rushed forward and knelt down by the two Adepts. Karst raised her head and looked at him. Her red eyes struggled to focus on his face.

"Felix, you came…"

By her side, Agatio tried to move, but grimaced with the pain. "Leave us, Felix. Take the Mars Star and light the beacon. You must complete our task."

Felix ignored him. If he could just heal them, then all of them would be able to light the beacon—together.

He pulled off his gloves and placed his bare hand in Karst's. Her skin was strangely cold against his, unusual for a Mars Adept. Closing his eyes, he focused his energy. "Cure," he whispered. By his side, Mia was tending to Agatio. He let his power flow into Karst's body and waited for the healing process to take over.

"Oh no…" he heard Mia murmur. Felix opened his eyes to see that Karst hadn't healed at all. The gashes and cuts that riddled her body remained open, bleeding slowly. The Psynergy wasn't working. Karst seemed immune to his Psynergy. Mia, too, was having no luck. Agatio lay silently on the stones, the motion of his chest slowing.

"Picard, you take over!" Felix snapped. Picard looked startled at the Venus Adept's unusually harsh order, but he obeyed and knelt down beside the two fallen warriors, a blue aura already gathering around him.

Karst coughed, blood staining her lips, and spoke, shaking her head at Picard. "Agatio's right. There's nothing you can do for us. The eye…it told us we didn't have the will to go on. Go. Light the beacon."

"No!" said Mia forcefully. "We're not leaving you here to die!"

Agatio smiled bitterly. "Can't you see, healer that you are? It's too late for us. We were destined to fall here."

"No…" Felix felt his body going numb. Karst and Agatio were his friends. He had grown up with them for three years. They had taken a different path from him, but their goal and his were ultimately the same.

And now they were dying.

Agatio drew a raspy breath. "I'm sorry…about Jupiter Lighthouse."

"We've put that behind us," Isaac said quietly. "We know better what your intentions were. What matters now is lighting the final beacon."

Karst looked up at them all one last time. "Then go. Finish this."

The nine of them watched helplessly as the eyes of the two warriors clouded over and their bodies went limp.

Sheba stood between Felix and Jenna, trying to make sense of her feelings. Karst and Agatio had opposed them at every turn, bullying them into hurrying to light the lighthouses, and even trying to kill Isaac to revenge Karst's sister. So why did she mourn their deaths?

In her turmoil, Sheba looked up at Felix's face. The grief etched there was terrible. He had known Karst and Agatio for a long time, longer than Sheba had known him or Jenna or Picard. He had known them as friends, Sheba knew. In his mind, the two Mars Adepts had only been trying to save the land they loved. They had chosen to go against the common values in Weyard to save Prox and the entire world. And they had died for their beliefs.

Sheba gently reached up and laid a hand on Felix's shoulder.

Mia stood up, ignoring the tears that ran down her face and the dark blood smeared over her robes. "I'm sorry, Felix," she said quietly.

But Felix had already blocked out the pain, sealing his mind off from the grief. The vulnerable look of pain Sheba had just seen in his eyes was gone, replaced by a hard, cold expression.

"Let's go," he said. Silently, they followed him out of the hall and towards their destination—the aerie of the final lighthouse.


The eight Adepts stood in front of the stone dragon head. In front of them, the four opened doors—representing man, bird, fish, and dragon—gleamed eerily.

You have lit the four flames of the elements, a voice said in their minds. The Adepts looked at each other in confusion. Behind them, Kraden gazed around the red stone room in awe, searching for the source of the voice. You have passed the test of the Mars Lighthouse. Take this path to the aerie, and find your journey's end.

A white light shone as an engraved symbol appeared in front of them on the floor.

Good luck.

The nine of them crowded onto the carved design.

Kraden stared in interest at the elaborately illustrated emblem. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sheba glared at him, silencing the old scholar.

Mia raised the Teleport Lapis in one hand.

"Teleport!"

They disappeared.

They appeared on the lighthouse aerie, facing the gap in the stone where the beacon would soon emerge. Around them the winds raged, tugging at their clothes. Snow blew into their faces, stinging their cheeks.

"Let's finish this," whispered Felix. He stepped forward, the Mars Star clasped tightly in his gloved hand.

—Betrayers, you have arrived!— The voice resonated around them, in the air, in their very bones.

They started and looked around in confusion, squinting through the blizzard, searching for the source of the voice.

"The wind's too strong! I can't see anything!" complained Mia.

"I heard it too," said Jenna, "but I don't see anyone else up here!"

"I should have known it wouldn't be this easy," muttered Ivan to Sheba. She nodded and scanned the snowy sky nervously.

—So, you still intend to light the beacon of Mars Lighthouse?— The thundering voice echoed in their minds.

"Who are you?" Isaac shouted.

—Have you forgotten me so soon, Isaac? And you, Garet?—

"What is it talking about, Isaac?" asked Mia. "Do you have any idea what it is?"

Isaac shook his head.

—Then search your heart, boy!—

The nine of them stared up in amazement at the rock-like form that had just appeared out of nowhere. It hovered above the aerie, glowing, apparently using some kind of power even stronger than Psynergy to defy gravity.

"It's the Wise One!" exclaimed Garet.

"The Wise One?" said Sheba, puzzled.

"After the Elemental Stars were stolen from Sol Sanctum, the Wise One prevented Mt. Aleph from erupting so that Garet and I could escape," explained Isaac. "The Wise One held off the eruption until we could escape. He even halted the lava flow."

"That's impossible!" exclaimed Mia. "Nobody has enough power to do that!"

"Well," said Garet, "I was there, and it happened, so you'll just have to believe us!"

"If it can do all that, this Wise One sounds more like a god than an Adept!" said Picard in disbelief.

"I don't know what it is…" Isaac said doubtfully.

The Wise One ignored the bickering of the Adepts below him. —I did not just save you. I also tasked you with recovering the four Elemental Stars. Why have you disobeyed my command?—

"Because Prox will be destroyed if we don't light the beacon!"

—Prox? They have brought this disaster upon themselves.—

Sheba scowled. "Are you saying we should just abandon them to die? What did they do to deserve that?"

—The people of Prox have committed an unforgivable sin. They must pay the price.—

"For lighting the lighthouses? Is that their sin?" asked Isaac angrily. "Does that warrant total destruction?"

"They were only fighting for their homeland!"

"If we don't light the beacon, Gaia Falls will eventually erode all of Weyard!"

"We have fought so long to save all the people of our world, and now you would stop us?" asked Picard, his voice calm despite his anger.

"How can you just allow the world to crumble into nothingness?" yelled Jenna.

"The seal needs to be broken! The world will be destroyed if it's not!"

The Adepts paused in their verbal barrage. The Wise One was silent. It eyed them all carefully, appearing a bit disconcerted.

"We've got it thinking," Jenna whispered confidently to Sheba.

But Sheba felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something was wrong. Her Jupiterian senses were warning her, telling her to run as fast as she could, away from the Mars Lighthouse… She stood her ground, ignoring her instincts. She would not abandon her friends.

The wind howled fiercely around them as they waited for the Wise One's reaction.

—You have learned far too much.—

Kraden broke in. "Wise One, you can't continue to protect the lighthouses! You know what's happening! It is your duty to protect all of Weyard! If Weyard is destroyed, you will have failed us all!"

There was no reply. The storm was increasing in intensity. Sheba began to shiver with a combination of cold and fear.

"Why won't you answer us, Wise One?" asked Jenna, trying to keep her temper under control.

—If Alchemy is unleashed, mankind may well destroy all of Weyard itself.—

"But we can combine our strengths and ensure that Alchemy is not used for evil!"

—It is inevitable. In time, one man will seek to rule over all. It is human nature, inescapable. Humans are inherently grasping and violent. War and chaos cannot be prevented.—

Something inside Felix snapped. "But you were the one who killed Saturos and Menardi! It's your fault they died!" he shouted, raising his voice above the increasing storm. Each word was filled with a hatred the others had never heard Felix express before. "If you didn't have this crazy idea that the world needed to be saved, you would never have sent Isaac and Garet out after them, and they would still be alive right now. And you killed Karst and Agatio, too. You led them here and turned them into dragons, to die by their friends' hands! You forced them to believe in a destiny that sent them to their deaths!"

The Venus Adept ran out of words and stood there, breathing heavily, his eyes showing a fierceness of spirit not unlike his sister's intense temper, a side he rarely showed around the others.

—That was not my doing. I cannot interfere in the actions of mankind.—

"If you can't interfere, then how about getting out of our way so we can light the beacon, huh?" challenged Jenna, her brown eyes sparking dangerously.

"Ooo... Good one, Jenna!" Ivan grinned.

"End it, Felix!" said Isaac.

Felix stepped forward, the gleaming Mars Star held high in his right hand. The Wise One glowed as he raised the Elemental Star. The other Adepts could see the Psynergy that had halted Felix.

"Wise One!" said Picard angrily. "Didn't you just say that you aren't allowed to interfere with our actions?"

—That is correct. I cannot stop you. But... what if some miracle were to occur, one that prevented you from igniting the beacon?—

The Wise One eyed each of them in turn, as if measuring them up.

Beside Jenna, Sheba felt the Wise One's gaze on her.

A cold malice watched them, waiting for the right moment to strike. But behind the malevolent stare, there was a hint of admiration, and a touch of respect. Even so, the darkness needed proof. There was only one way…

Sheba flinched, feeling a chill run down her back.

"Miracle? What are you talking about? What kind of miracle?" asked Garet.

—If you can defeat a miracle, only then can you ignite the beacon's flame.—

There was a brilliant flash of light…


A quick note before you all go and review (hint hint): That was not Felix/Karst. I'm not overly fond of that pairing.

Felix: Uh… but Karst is dead anyway, isn't she?

What are you doing here?

Felix: Helping you write.

…Sure…

Felix: Well she's dead, so she can't be paired with anyone. Right?

…That's what you think…

Felix: O.O Review, or this story will get even weirder.

You haven't seen anything yet…