What
Remains of the Day
By
Sora G. Silverwind
Summary: Fragments of various days in the lives of the people of Weyard.
Rating: PG-13 to be on the safe side.
Author's notes: Inspired by 24, although I've never watched the show. I was just alerted to it by Kali, who'd suggested it be interesting to see a 24-style HP fic. So I ran with the idea for the GS world and modified it to my own whims—vignettes from random days at random times in Weyard.
Disclaimer: Camelot owns Golden Sun. Yei for them.
Special thanks to: Kali, solitary nights (and days) in the dorm, and Arizona green tea.
O-O-O
12:00am-1:00am
Outside of a house in the town of Kolima, Isaac switches sleeping sides for the umpteenth time that night.
He can't sleep.
His affinity to the earth element doesn't allow him a moment's rest in this troubled land.
For it allows him to hear the tormented pleas of the nature spirits.
It hurts…it hurts…
We are dying…
Help us, please!
They will die along with the forest!
We are thirsty…
You are our only hope!
They will pay for their crimes!
DON'T LEAVE US HERE!
He groans and turns his head slightly, trying to find a comfortable position against the giant root of the tree-turned-house.
He tries to drown out the cries.
They only become more insistent.
The words congeal into incomprehensibility.
I'll help you, he promises silently, clenching his eyes shut. I WILL help you! Just let me get some sleep!
You are our last…chance…
"Nnngh…" Isaac sits up and rubs his eyes.
The town is softly dark around him, save for the pale light of the waning crescent moon.
He twists around and cracks his spine.
He re-folds his yellow scarf—his makeshift pillow for the night.
Then he lays his head back on it.
He gazes blankly at the indigo sky.
The voices are of the forest are muted now that he has crossed back into the world of conscious thought.
Isaac sighs.
"I'll help you," he whispers. "I promise that."
A night wind whistles.
He gets to his feet and stretches.
After wobbling about for a bit, still caught in the wisps of pseudo-sleep, Isaac begins to walk.
His feet take him past the two child-trees in the center of town…
Past Ivan snoozing next to a lumber pile…
And to the west entrance of Kolima.
He sits down on a tree stump and looks out.
The shadows of the trees surrounding the town blend in with the dark, feathery silhouette of Kolima Forest on the horizon.
The worn dirt path before him slithers into the night.
Though he knows of the evil that currently resides in the heart of the forest…though he cannot ignore the entreaties of the spirits of the land…Isaac feels at ease.
With the trees surrounding the town, it's almost as if Kolima is eternally in the embrace of Mother Earth.
He is calm.
Tranquil.
The burden of the journey has not yet fully caught up to him.
And so he hopes.
He hopes…
"Whoah, you're not sleeping after all that walking we just did?"
Isaac jumps to attention.
Garet appears out of the trees, eyes half-closed.
Isaac raises an eyebrow. "And how come you're not sleeping?"
"Nuh-uh, I asked you the question first, so you have to answer it!"
Isaac rolls his eyes. "Too loud," he says. "I keep on hearing the trees talking."
Garet snorts and takes a seat behind Isaac on the stump, sitting back-to-back with him. "I told you this place was a creepfest. We should've stayed in the fields."
"And wake up to the stomach lining of a monster the next morning? I don't think so. At least this place is enclosed—it's safer here."
"Yeah, but if you can't sleep, what's the point?" Garet yawns. "Maybe it would've been better if we'd stayed in Bilibin for the rest of the day."
Isaac shakes his head. "We gotta keep moving the best we can. We can't let Saturos and Menardi get too far ahead. And who knows how much distance they have on us. We've got to push ourselves to close the gap."
A pause.
"…do you think he'll be all right?"
"Hmm?"
"Ivan. Do you think he'll be okay traveling with us?"
Isaac looks over his shoulder. Ivan's still sleeping on the grass, curled up like a cat. "I think he'll be fine," he says. "I mean, sure, he's small, but his storm powers are amazing. I've never seen anything like them. He'll be a great help."
"But he just seems so…you know…" Garet mimes breaking a twig in half with both of his hands. "He was ready to fall asleep the instant we got here. He seemed to really be struggling to keep up with us. I don't think he's used to so much walking or fighting. Don't get me wrong," he hastily adds. "It's not like I'm trying to get rid of him. Fact is, I think he's pretty cool, if a bit on the wimpy side. But…he's probably going to slow us down. Like you said, we need to keep moving. Will he be able to keep up? And what about his master person? He's going to want to save him sooner or later, and we won't know how much time that'll take."
Isaac runs a hand through his hair. He glances at Kolima Forest in the distance. "I…I don't know," he says. "I know what you're saying, and I've thought about it a little, myself. But I think that the more help we have with us, the better."
"We're going to have to take the slack for him in battle, you know. You remember the last fight against those zombies today? We may as well have cracked his skull open and dangled his brain in front of them! 'Here, zombie, zombie! That's a good undead maniac!'"
"Garet!"
"I'm serious! Did you see the way they went after him? He's living, breathing, monster bait! And he doesn't have a lot of stamina. Every time I see the little guy after a fight or when the day's over, it looks like he's ready to fall to pieces."
"So you're saying he's a liability."
"Well…yeah."
Isaac sighs. "Listen, I don't like the idea of getting more people involved in this than I have to," he begins, tracing the ring outlines on the tree stump. "They'll end up as liabilities for us, like you just said about Ivan. But wouldn't you say that we're both liabilities to each other, too?"
"But we're friends!"
"And Ivan's not?"
"Well, I mean…"
"Garet, why did we take on this quest in the first place?"
"Because the Elemental Stars got stolen."
"Why'd they get stolen?
"Because two weird freaks thought it'd be a swell thing to do."
"That too. But…they'd never gotten through to the inner sanctum if we hadn't disabled the trap mechanism. Do you get what I'm saying?"
"…not really."
"It's responsibility, Garet. We hold responsibility for what just happened with Mt. Aleph and the Elemental Stars. That's what this is all about. Whatever falls into our hands, we'll take responsibility for the consequences of our involvement, even if it's just a tiny part. Ivan…no, all three of us…are things we need to be responsible for, whether it be that Ivan can't defend himself, or if I make a bad decision, or if you get sick 'cause you ate some poisonous forest mushrooms."
"Hey! That was below the belt, you jerk!"
Isaac snickers.
Garet elbows him in the ribs. "You had to get all smart on me, didn't you?"
"Heh…I've just had too much time to think at night, that's all."
"Pfft...I'll say."
The conversation falls quiet for a few moments.
Crickets chirp amongst the grass.
"Hey, Isaac?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you hear, exactly? When you say you hear the trees talking…what do they talk about?"
Isaac thinks this over for a moment. "Well, the ones here are upset over what's been going on with the lumberjacks and such. They…they keep on asking me to save them. And they're crying…"
"Crying?"
"I don't know how else to describe it. It..." Isaac again hesitates. "They're unhappy, to say the least, but I think it goes deeper than that."
"Not to be mean or anything, but you can't, like...block them out?"
"I don't hear them as much if I'm awake. Must be some sort of subconscious connection or something."
"Did you hear them before?"
"Only occasionally, and it wasn't as clear as it is now."
Garet adjusts his position to face Isaac. "Do you think that you hearing the trees is a result of Mt. Aleph erupting and all that?" he asks.
Isaac shrugs. "I don't know. I just know that I hear them...and they need help. And because I can hear them, I can't just ignore them. I need to help them."
"Correction," Garet says, smirking. "We need to help them. After all, we're in this together, aren't we? You and me and the wimp? So we've got to stick together—we've got to look out for each other."
"Yeah." Isaac smiles. "We're stuck together, for now."
The two friends look at each other.
They snort a laugh.
"Remember how we couldn't stand being in the same room with each other before?" Garet asks.
"Oh, man," Isaac says, shaking his head. "You used me as your practice dummy to 'refine your fighting technique' like the Knight of the Sun supposedly did in all those stories your mom used to tell you."
"Well, it worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah, like a rusty door works—gets the job done, but it's loud, annoying, and painful."
Garet swats at Isaac's head, but Isaac's quick enough to duck. "Let me ask you something else," Isaac continues, laughing. "Is Ivan my replacement as your ragdoll?"
Garet promptly shoves Isaac off the tree stump. "You know," he says, a corner of his mouth twitching, "if all you're going to do this entire night is take potshots at me, then I'm heading back to sleep. You oughta get some shuteye, yourself, if you want to start out bright and early tomorrow."
Garet starts to walk away—
"Hey, you never told me why you were up at this time of night."
"Ahh..." Garet sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "I had to go relieve myself from those mushrooms I ate earlier."
O-O-O
Later...
Isaac still lies awake.
His eyes are closed, but his mouth is half-open as he fights a mental battle with insomnia.
Garet, meanwhile, snoozes happily on the other side of the massive tree root.
Minutes pass.
There's a quiet gasp from somewhere, followed by a panting fit.
But Isaac doesn't notice.
Another minute dies.
Footsteps pad upon the grass.
A timid presence kneels beside Isaac.
Isaac's eyes pop open.
Ivan stares back at him, hand slightly outstretched.
"Ivan?" Isaac says groggily.
"S-sorry," Ivan stammers, looking embarrassed. "I just...y-you're...you're awake." A sigh. "And a-alive..."
Isaac sits up suddenly.
Ivan's face is a mask of terror.
"Ivan, what's wrong?" Isaac asks, concerned.
Ivan is paralyzed for a moment. "N-nothing!" he stammers. "It's just...no, it's nothing. Is Garet all right?"
"He should be fine." Isaac takes a peek over his shoulder. "Yep, snoring like a lion. He's dandy. What's going on, seriously? Something's got you spooked."
Ivan looks down and bites his lip. "It's f-fine." He fiddles with his hands. "Just...just be careful the next time we're in battle, okay?"
Isaac is baffled. "We're always careful in battle. Why wouldn't we be?"
"Then j-just be more careful, all right?"
Isaac purses his lips and exhales through his nose. "Ivan, tell me what's bothering you."
A pause.
Ivan looks at Isaac hesitantly. "You...you won't think I'm crazy, or anything?"
Isaac simpers. "Depends on what it is." He pats the grass next to him. "Whatever it is, though, I promise I won't laugh. Sit down."
"A-all right." Ivan slowly settles himself on the ground, drawing a shaky breath as he does so. "I...I had a nightmare," he begins. "About y-you and Garet dying...because I killed you g-guys..."
Isaac blinks. "But that's just—"
"No, please, hear me out!" Ivan insists. "My dreams come true, sometimes! It's happened before! Like, once I dreamt that this one kid I usually saw playing in the Kalay marketplace would die, and he drowned a week later when the bridge over the river near Kalay broke. And then, when Hammet once lost his wedding ring, I dreamed about where it was, and when he checked there, it was there!" He calms himself down. "I dream about people and places that I don't see until later. I may have even dreamed about this quest before, though if I have, I don't remember many of the details."
"So when you dreamed that me and Garet died, you got scared that we had?"
Ivan nods. "I'd killed you two...because I couldn't control my powers properly," he explains softly. He hugs his knees. "After I woke up, I thought maybe because of that whole thing with the falling sparkles and the hidden reserves of Psynergy we talked about that maybe my Psynergy had somehow gone crazy while I was sleeping, and that I'd accidentally killed you and Garet..." He bows his head. "S-sorry...I must sound so silly..."
Isaac shakes his head. "It's all right," he says, patting Ivan's shoulder lightly. "Thanks for worrying about us. We're both okay, really. Unless Garet hasn't fully recovered from those mushrooms, that is."
Ivan chuckles under his breath, but the laughter leaves his face as quickly as it came. "I can never tell which of my dreams will come true or not. And it really, really scares me."
Isaac lies against the tree trunk. "I'm sorry...I don't know what to tell you to make you feel better," he admits. "Just that...I don't believe you'll do anything like you did in the dream."
"I won't?"
"You haven't given us any reason to believe that."
"R-really?"
"Really." Isaac smiles reassuringly. "You're doing great. It's not that hard to use Psynergy, really, once you get the hang of it. Actually, I think it's harder to lose control of Psynergy than to not. I've never had any problems with my powers going haywire, and neither has Garet. And if Garet has never lost control, then that should say something."
"Mars Awakened, Isaac, you just can't resist, can you?" Garet mumbles sleepily from the other side.
Ivan grins.
Isaac snickers. "It's for a good cause."
"So, like..." Ivan fidgets with his hands again. "You're not s-scared of me, or anything like that? Of what I could possibly do?"
"No, not at all."
"Ivan, rabbits are scarier than you," comes Garet's amused reply.
Ivan blinks.
"Dude, I thought you were sleeping," Isaac says, throwing a dubious glance Garet's way.
A yawn. "So did I," Garet murmurs. "So did I..."
Isaac rolls his eyes and turns his attention back to Ivan. "Don't worry about it too much," he says. "It's not that I think you're crazy for getting worked up over a dream, but that...I don't think there's much point to worry about something that we don't know for sure will happen, you get what I'm saying?"
"Yeah, but..."
"Ivan."
The firm tone of Isaac's voice causes Ivan to look up.
"You're not a burden to us. You're not a...a liability. You're a friend."
Ivan stares at him.
Isaac smiles.
Silence.
"A friend..." Ivan whispers. He laughs. "I need to get used to that idea."
Isaac gives him a quizzical glance.
Ivan shakes his head. "Nothing. Isaac, do you believe in ghosts?"
"Er?"
"Just like I asked. Do you believe in ghosts?"
"Why?"
"Because...because I get the creeps in this area. Chills and things like that."
"Aww...we've got a chicken in our group!"
"N-no! I'm just asking Isaac if he believes in ghosts!"
"Bawk bawk bawk! If you're a chicken, I'm roasting you for dinner tomorrow! Mwahaha!"
"Garet, you were a lot more helpful when you were sleeping."
"You know you missed me."
"It's kind of hard to with your size."
"Oooh...he got you..."
"Okay, that's it! You'll be the appetizer to Ivan's main dish!"
"What? I'm just an appetizer? I deserve a better place than that! And here I thought I was your best friend!"
"'Was' is the key word."
"Yeah, well, bring it on!"
"Ladies first!"
"You asked for it! RAAAAAAUGH—augggh!"
"What's the matter?"
"Ugghhh...craaaaaampsss..."
"Sheesh, even with an upset stomach, you still had an appetite for me and Ivan? Tsk, tsk."
"Awww, shaddup, will you? Can't you see I'm in agony over here? Ow ow ow!"
"Psh. You'll be fine in the morning."
"I'm touched by your concern."
"That's what friends are for."
"Keep smiling, buddy, keep smiling."
"It's hard not to with the way your hair looks right after you wake up. OW! You didn't have to hit me so hard!"
"Someday...someday...I'm going to get you back for all those jokes."
"No, you won't. You'll forget about it. There's too many jokes to keep track of."
"If I weren't doubled over in total pain right now..."
"Hehehe."
"Hey."
"What?"
"Ivan."
"What about him?"
A pause.
Isaac and Garet look over at Ivan.
The boy's slumped against the tree trunk, his head tilted to one side in reverie.
Isaac and Garet look at each other.
Then back at Ivan.
Ivan's head slides down...down...down...
FWUMP!
Before it hits the ground, it lands on a folded-up yellow scarf, courtesy of Isaac's quick reflexes.
Garet raises an eyebrow.
Isaac smirks back at him. "Just looking out for a friend."
"You're a quick learner," is Garet's response.