Finally, the beginning of a second story. The idea to this story floated in my mind since I finished my first story, but with ending school and stuff like that, I only found time now to write it down (well, at least the first chapter).
As in the first story, there will be mistakes, and there might be some expressions a native English speaker wouldn't use. I still hope that someone can enjoy it - I don't know if I'll finish the story when nobody's interested.
So, the story is tagged as a Jenna/Saturos pairing. Yet, the story will also contain Jenna's thoughts about Isaac and Garet (they might be dead), Felix' thoughts about Prox (and Karst, hooray for Duskshipping) and Kraden babbling nonsense. The Felix/Menardi pairing is called Stockholmshipping (according to ), so this might be ReverseStockholmshipping. Well, and I'd like to make this name part of the story, the Stockholm syndrome is an interesting psychological issue, and I hope that I can use it well.
Enough from me, here we go!
Disclaimer: I don't own Camelot, Golden Sun or anything else related to the video games industry.
Igniting The Spark
She hated him. Since the first moment when he stood behind her, threatening Kraden and her and commanding Isaac and Garet to get the Elemental Stars, Jenna had felt the urge to burn the arrogant smile from his face. Saturos just sneered at her and exposed a feeling of superiority. Although Menardi was much rougher on her, the cold grin of the male Proxian made her blood boil.
The appearance of her brother hadn't helped at all. In fact, she had been so disappointed that Felix was now a companion of these criminals that she hadn't spoken to him the next day after they had fled from Mount Aleph. Actually, she hadn't spoken to anyone. She had lost her family (well, Felix was back, but he collaborated with her kidnappers), and now, she had lost her friends, too.
Birds were singing in the trees, crickets were chirping in the grass, and the sun stood already high in the cloudless sky, warming Angara to a pleasant temperature. Yet, the day wasn't very promising for someone. It was the second morning after their "departure", and Jenna woke up in a tent in the forest, somewhere near the town of Vault. More precisely, she was woken up by Menardi yelling to her that she wouldn't get any food if she stayed in the tent any longer. The smell of tea and of something strange filled her nostrils as she crawled out of the tent and looked around.
Jenna was the last of the group to stand up; Felix, Kraden and Saturos were already sitting around a fireplace, while Alex (Jenna wondered if he was human at all) was probably somewhere in the environment, doing whatever his business was.
"Good morning, Jenna", Kraden greeted. "Indeed very interesting, camping outside the village and exploring the miracles of the world, isn't it?"
Jenna grimaced. "No", she said grimly, "not at all."
Her brother opened his mouth to say something, but she shot him a death glare and he remained silent, a sad expression on his face.
Saturos stirred his cup of strange liquid and asked in a casual way: "You slept well?"
"My bed would've been more comfortable, thank you", Jenna snarled and sat down next to Kraden, grabbing a slice of bread from a leather bag and chewing away on it until her brother held out to her a piece of cheese and some bacon. Wordlessly, she took the cheese and continued to eat in angry silence.
Behind her, Menardi said disapprovingly: "You don't have to eat this, you know! I said that bread and water would have tamed this spoiled brat better!"
Felix jumped up and exclaimed: "Hey! She's my sister and we didn't have to take her with us!"
Very calmly, Saturos said: "But we had to. She would have tried to rescue those pesky little friends of her and she would have died trying. And now, she's a... well, kind of a reinsurance, I'd say."
Felix' eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that? Don't you trust me?"
"Exactly", Menardi said bluntly.
Saturos sighed. "Felix. We trust you. But, you know, if – and that's a big "if" – if these two boys have survived, your loyalty to us might be strained. And if they didn't survive, then there's no one left to explain what happened and we're able to save Prox. Oh, and there's even another good reason. Jenna, if you come with us, you'll see your parents again in Prox."
Although she was previously oblivious to the argument around her, Jenna froze at Saturos' last words.
She swallowed the piece of bread she was chewing on and said slowly: "Mom and Dad... they are alive...?"
Menardi scolded Felix: "What? You didn't tell your sister? You're a lousy brother!"
The brown-haired boy made a sad face and held his hands up in defence. "I... she turned away each time I tried to talk to her. Sorry, Jen, I wanted to..."
"Anyway", Saturos interjected, "I'm sure now that we all have a common destination, this thing is settled. Now, Little Miss Trouble, have a cup of coffee and we're ready to take off... no, Menardi, I meant Jenna! I'd never call you names! Really!"
Saturos dodged Menardi's scythe and jumped behind a tree, calling for Alex to rescue him from his companion's wrath. While the female Proxian slammed her weapon continuously into the tree, a blue light flashed behind Jenna, Felix and Kraden, and suddenly, Alex stood behind them.
With a swift move, he took the iron coffeepot, poured its content into a cup and held it out to Jenna, slightly bowing to her.
"Here, Little Miss Trouble, your coffee. Seems like your tour guides are busy with their shenanigans", Alex said in a amused voice, causing Felix to put a protective hand on Jenna's shoulder.
"Stop it, Alex, you'd better help Saturos instead of hitting on my sister", Felix warned.
"Tsk! You'd better get yourself a girlfriend, slowpoke. I'm just a gentleman and you can only learn from me", Alex replied and showed a beaming smile. Jenna blushed and looked deeply into her cup of coffee. "But relax with your big-brother-complex, my heart is in Imil. Of course that doesn't mean that we can't go out somewhere if you're bored, Jenna..."
"Alright, that's enough, you scoundrel!" Felix leaped forward to grab Alex and cut him down to size, but the blue-haired man grinned one last time and vanished into thin air, so the Valean grasped at nothing and fell on the ground.
Kraden, having sat motionlessly for the whole time, helped Felix up and put a hand on his shoulder, then said in a parental voice: "Well, Felix, Alex may be a bit overbearing, but he has a point. Look, boy, it's complicated with the girls: You shouldn't be a bootlicker, but it doesn't pay out to be entirely silent, too. And I can tell that Jenna is definitely not disgusted by Alex' manners."
Jenna looked even deeper into her cup of coffee, the strong scent filling her head and sharpening her senses. Meanwhile, Felix wondered what he had done to deserve this punishment. Being lectured by a lonesome old man on how to score with girls – this damned Alex! He'd better tell nothing about Felix' life in Prox to Jenna or Kraden...
"So... whatever is coffee?" Jenna wondered aloud.
Kraden didn't let the chance of another lengthy lecture pass and approached her, his right index finger raised. "Well, this dark brown to black liquid is made by grinding coffee beans, or Coffea Atteca, and putting them into hot water. Coffee beans can be harvested in Atteka. They have a stimulant effect and..."
"Alright! Stop! I'm fine with it if it's not poisonous!" Jenna yelled and kept her ears shut with her hands.
Felix grinned and said to the old man: "You're still the same, Kraden."
With a puzzled face, the scholar went back to his former place, shrugged, and sipped down his cup of coffee in one gulp.
After Menardi had calmed down, the group continued their journey, following a muddy trail through the forest towards Vault. Nothing extraordinary happened, besides Alex actually travelling with them. The sun shined down on them, no cloud was visible, but it wasn't too warm to travel; in fact, it was quite perfect and if one saw the group, one could have thought that a family used the nice weather for a trekking tour. Of course, nothing could have been further away from the truth.
The thick forest around them was brimming over with the sounds of animals and other creatures, but not many were unwary enough to attack the group, somehow they could sense the Proxian's might over the fire, nature's worst enemy. A small gang of goblins got scorched by Menardi, but after that, the group wasn't attacked by anything else.
At midday, Saturos ordered them to halt at a small clearing. Jenna could feel her feet aching due to the unknown strain, and her stomach grumbled already louder than the birds' twittering, so she was definitely happy to sit down and eat something.
"Jenna, how about doing something useful for our group? You could roast these pieces of meat – it's not like you've got other important things to do, anyway..." Saturos suddenly said behind her.
"What? You take me hostage and expect me to earn this situation? May you rot in hell, you pompous slave driver! I hope you die horribly!" Jenna cried hysterically, her face red with anger.
Saturos sneered, he was visibly enjoying her flash of anger. "Now, now, there's no need to get personal!" Then, he became more serious and added: "You should remember some things. Firstly, without us, you'd be a brotherless orphan. And I bet you'd like to see your parents again. Secondly, you'd be very likely dead – deep-fried like your two little fellows in Sol Sanctum. And lastly: We could let you starve, you know. Now stop whining like a little girl and do something useful, Little Miss Trouble."
Jenna clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, concentrating on setting the silver-haired man on fire, but nothing happened.
"Nice try, but it'll take more than a little spark to harm a Proxian", he said, walking towards Menardi and Alex.
Besides her, Felix breathed a sigh of relief. "Damn it, Jenna. I thought he'd char you right here. Seems like he has a good day..."
Kraden, standing behind Felix, stepped forward and nodded. Despite his age, the scholar was probably a more persevering wayfarer than Jenna. "Felix is right, Jenna. We shouldn't forget that they could kill us anytime. I'm... I'm really sorry that I put you in this situation... and Isaac and Garet, too. They are probably dead, and it's my fault..."
Kraden sat down, burying his head in his hands, gazing into the fireplace. For the first time, Jenna didn't see the vivid, eccentric scholar with a purely optimistic way of looking at things, but an old, gaunt man who had just realized that he had the blood of two boys on his hands.
"There's... no excuse. It was my greed for knowledge that killed them..."
Felix sat down beside him, patting the scholar's back. "You couldn't know it, Kraden. Also, Isaac is a clever boy and Garet is too stubborn to die."
Jenna didn't know what to say. Her mouth was dry, Kraden's sulkiness dragged her down, too. Somehow, she thought about Saturos' instruction to roast meat, and she was glad to do something that would keep her distracted from all this. While the bright sunrays illuminated the clearing, Jenna felt like looking through a haze. She didn't notice the birds singing above her, nor Saturos, Menardi and Alex arguing about whether they should risk visiting Vault, nor the meat slowly becoming black, much to the disgust of the rest of the group.
Later that day, despite Alex' concerns, the group travelled to Vault to refresh their supplies. They had split up; Saturos and Jenna looked for food, while Menardi and Felix searched through the local armourer's arsenal. The Proxians had made clear that any attempt at flight would result in pain for both siblings. Alex and Kraden were already at the inn, and Jenna wondered what they were doing. Talking about how to flirt? She shuddered and quickly dismissed the thought while Saturos pointed at several things like bread, meat and water, which were gathered together by the old, chubby vendor, his eyes beaming at the thought of the unexpected profit.
While the man was busy, Saturos turned to Jenna and asked: "So, anything special you'd like to have here, Little Miss Trouble? Sweets, spirit, snails?"
"You wouldn't buy it anyway, would you?" Jenna grumbled.
"No, but I could tease you while consuming it in front of you... of course I will buy it. We can afford a little more than necessary, if it's not completely fancy. Just don't tell Menardi, she'd rip off my head. And don't get too used to it; we won't be visiting villages very often."
The auburn-haired girl was amazed. She hadn't expected Saturos to even think of her needs – much less of her wishes. Well, or maybe he was just buying her contentment.
"Um... I'd like... a jar of honey?"
"I think that's no problem, take two if you want, so it'll last longer. But don't expect me to steal it from wild bees if you run out of it – Alex could do that, maybe some stings would shrink his ego. And now carry our purchases, this is no pleasure trip. Come on, come on, my grandmother would be faster!"
Jenna panted heavily while she carried the supplies to the inn. At least she was sure again that she didn't like him.
Luckily, the inn wasn't far away, so she managed to stumble into the room she shared with Menardi and laid down all of their supplies without dropping any of them. Exhausted, she fell onto her bed, stretching her legs and thinking of Vale and Garet's and Isaac's fate.
Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by a booming female voice. Menardi was back.
"You lazy whelp, you're already tired? If you want to eat something at least fairly enjoyable – unlike the burnt meat you made – I'd recommend you to follow me to the tavern downstairs."
Jenna bit back a harsh answer and thought that at least, she had to spend less time with Menardi alone.
With the exception of Alex, the whole group sat at a large table in the tavern, eagerly waiting for dinner. Despite Vault being a small village, they were not alone in the room, a rich merchant and his following were eating here, too.
After a hastily devoured meal, meat and noodles with some vegetables, the group slowly dissolved. Kraden was the first to leave the table, he was still in a bad mood and nearly dozed off while halfheartedly gnawing on his meat.
Shortly afterwards, Menardi left, too, declaring that she needed her beauty sleep. Nobody dared to comment this, although Jenna opened her mouth to say something, but Felix kicked her on the shin to prevent her from suicide.
After the Proxian woman had left, Saturos said dryly: "I know it's hard to withstand the urge to say something. But the self-preservative drive is stronger."
Suddenly, it bubbled out of Jenna: "Where exactly are our parents? What have you done to them? Why can't we see them?"
Felix gesticulated to her to stop asking, but Saturos put him off with a wave of his hand. "They're safe. You'll see them when we return to Prox. Just behave, like Felix."
"But... why are you doing this? Why do you need Felix and why do you want to destroy Weyard?" Jenna asked, feeling lost.
"Let's just say that I don't want my hometown to fall into the growing abyss beyond Weyard. You'll see the rest", Saturos said calmly. He drained his glass of wine and leaned back. "Felix, maybe you should explain your motives to her. Little Miss Trouble isn't actually necessary for our journey, but I can't let her go home, either. Now, let's go to bed. Tomorrow will be a hard day."
Before entering the room he shared with Saturos, Felix said to Jenna: "I'll explain everything to you tomorrow. Now let's get some sleep... Little Miss Trouble."
Jenna grimaced and tried to hit him, but Felix laughed, slipped into his room and closed the door behind him. Slowly, the auburn-haired girl headed to her room, once again wondering what she had blundered into.
It's somehow very short, but I wanted it to end after one day... Tell me your opinion, how can I do better, what should I do next time? Anything besides flaming is highly appreciated.
I don't know when I'll add chapter two, I'm travelling myself for the next two weeks (in Spain, not in Weyard, unfortunately ;). But it WILL appear one day!