Golden Sun Shadowed
Chapter 2: Premonition
I stood at the edge of a cliff, and the wind gently flowed across my face, brushing stray wisps of my hair to the side. The wind tried in vain to whisper its secrets to me. I listened intently, but I could not discern its words. A thousand different thoughts that were not my own passed through my head. Each thought was broken and incomplete. No matter how hard I listened, the ideas did not remain in my mind. It was like trying to catch smoke with my bare hands.
"I'm sorry," I said, speaking to air. "I cannot understand you."
In my mind's eye, I saw a room that was perfectly square. The floor tile was charred and blackened, as though it had been scorched by immense heat. However, there were a few green buds of grass and flowers on the ground, determined to bloom. The left half of the ceiling was a dark blue with black clouds. The right part of the ceiling looked like sky, but it was tinted a blood red. The western wall was a desolate wasteland, with only the skeletons of trees remaining. The eastern wall depicted a golden sun rising, giving off a reddish glow. Around the rising sun was thriving wildlife, mirroring the sun's color. My eyes shifted to the center of the room, where a celestial warrior stood. At first I thought he was also a painting, but then I realized he was too graphic for a picture.
The warrior was clad in silver armor, although he wore no helm. His hair was a light blond color, and was sprawled everywhere across his head. A yellow cloak gripped the warrior's neck and flowed down to the ground. He wore brown boots and gauntlets, but most noteworthy were his piercing blue eyes. His left hand was raised and I saw him clutching a red star in the sky. His right hand gripped a sword. He even had feathered wings on his back; those of an angel's. The hero stood gazing into my eyes, and then his mouth began to move. He tried to speak to me, but I did not comprehend his words.
Surely this was another way in which the wind tried communicating with me, but I still did not understand...
I awoke with a gasp, realizing I had been dreaming. My racing heart managed to calm itself as I found myself back in the inn. What did the dream mean? What was I thinking; a dream meaning something? It was nothing more than a dream; it never would be more than my imagination. Sure, I had some strange powers, but a premonition...?
The Shaman's Rod... Master Hammet... yesterday's events came back to me. I sat up straight in my bed. There was light coming through the window, so it must have been morning. The bed next to me was empty, so I assumed Master Hammet was already awake.
I walked over to a dresser, where I kept my clothes. My normal attire was there: brown slacks, a purple kilt, and a green hoodie that had a cloak instead of a hood attached to the back. Instead of my regular shoes, however, I found a brand new pair. Master Hammet must have bought me new ones to make up for my burned pair.
The sun was way too bright for it to be early morning. I dressed as fast as I could, and rushed outside. My worst fear was confirmed: Master Hammet and the rest of his servants had packed up their cargo and were about to leave!
"Ivan!" Master Hammet flagged me over to the wagon, where he stood. My eyes made contact with him. "We're leaving three hours earlier than what I said last night. I've already made arrangements for you to stay at the mayor's house."
If it were possible for me to pale, I'm sure I would have. I certainly felt sick. "Why are you leaving early?" I asked.
"Every now and then, a few rocks still fall from the sky. It's too dangerous here, so I'm heading back to Kalay." Master Hammet must have sensed my trepidation. "Do not worry about it! Kalay is right across the bridge. You can't miss it." My master came closer to me. He put his hands on my shoulders, and whispered so that only I could hear. "Your strange powers will help you, Ivan. You will recover my rod, and in the process you will become stronger. Do whatever you feel is right. Maybe you will enjoy this more than you think."
Consoled by my master's words, I nodded my head. "Thank you," I whispered back. "I will recover the Shaman's Rod. I'll search the minds of those in Vault."
"Good lad!" My master exclaimed and patted my head. This time he spoke loudly enough for others to hear. "First, go and see the mayor and thank him for his hospitality. After you recover the Shaman's Rod, offer your services to those who need it." Master Hammet climbed into the carriage. "I will see you again soon! Farewell!"
I smiled and waved goodbye as the wagon departed from Vault. Strangely, I did not feel in the least worried. Everything would work out. I knew it would.
When the wagon had disappeared from view, I walked resolutely to the mayor's house. After I had thanked him, I would proceed to search the minds of the villagers. Master Hammet was right. My strange powers would help me.
The mayor was very kind to me, and explained that he did not believe any of the villagers of Vault would have stolen the rod.
"My precious urn was stolen from me also," he said. "I hope that you will help me find my own belonging too. The villagers of Vault and I have a certain bond, and I do not believe any of them have tried to break this bond. It was probably the travelers who arrived in town two days ago. To help you find the culprits, I have said that no one can leave the village that has been here more than three days." The mayor smiled at me. "Good luck!"
"Thank you," I replied, happy that the mayor was aiding me. I strode out of the mayor's house, feeling unusually confident. Master Hammet's soothing words still had a pretty strong effect on me.
At Vault's graveyard, I found the three travelers conversing quietly among themselves about something. As soon as they saw me, they immediately stopped talking, and just stood glaring at me. Two of the travelers were female; they wore purple. The one in the middle of the three was male, and he was obviously their leader. Unlike his comrades, the leader wore tan clothes.
I said no word; I knew what had to be done. I walked boldly up to the tan leader and placed my hand on his arm. I closed my eyes, and began to cast mind read.
"Wha-what's he doing?" The leader said.
Don't pay attention to them; keep your focus, Ivan. Relax... what do you see?
"That kid's really freaking me out!" The girl on the leader's left side said.
Ok, some images are getting clearer. Just a little bit farther and I'll be able to see what they did yesterday...
"You little leech!" The third one exclaimed. I was about to get a clear picture in my head, but right at that moment the girl kicked me and broke my concentration. Darn it!
"He's so weird," the leader said. "I don't know what the heck he was doing, and I don't care! Let's get out of here!" The three travelers nodded their heads to one another, and took off towards then inn. I tried to follow, but they didn't let me get close to them again.
All of the villagers seemed innocent, like the mayor said, and the three travelers wouldn't come near me. Not long ago, a group of six other travelers had arrived, but they left within thirty minutes. They seemed a bit suspicious, but obviously they couldn't have stolen my master's rod so I left them alone. After a fruitless search, I returned to the mayor's house. I needed a break.
I stood staring at the wooden wall, as if the answer would be embedded on it. I was lost in my thoughts, when a hand tugged my shoulder. I turned around and saw the mayor's two children.
"Um... Ivan?" The little boy said. The girl stood quietly by and watched, but her eyes were curious also.
"What is it?"
"You won't find your stolen stick. That's what I think."
I closed my eyes and used a shallow mind read, just for the heck of it. I was bored, and I felt like flaunting my powers a little bit and becoming mysterious.
Actually, I think Ivan will find the stick. I just don't see why a stick would be so important, the boy thought.
I opened my eyes. "You don't really believe what you say, do you? You think that I will find the rod, right?"
Both the boy and girl's eyes widened.
"You know that? You can tell when I'm lying?" The boy said.
I merely smiled at them. The two, awed, went back to their own section of the house. They were nice kids... too bad I didn't have time to play with them.
I was about to continue my examination of the wall, when the door opened. Two travelers strode in. Both seemed to be but a little older than me. That's pretty young to be wandering.
They began to talk to the mayor. It seemed like they were introducing themselves. Their eyes had not yet seen me, but I openly stared at them.
One of them was nothing unusual: very tall, brown eyes, hair that stood straight up on its ends, brown leather armor and gloves, and a giant sword. Well, talk about color-coded.
The second one, however, made my heart beat faster. He seemed to be the leader of the two, but that wasn't all. He was the exact same warrior from my dream last night, except without the wings.
I caught myself before the two noticed my staring and quickly transferred my gaze to the wall. What did this mean? These two... surely I was meant to talk to them. Suddenly I felt a little bit apprehensive. Ok, so if they come and talk to me, fine; I'll talk back. But if they don't, I'll just leave them alone. Right, so I better prepare something to say if they want to talk to me.
Oh! I know! I'll dazzle them with my mind reading powers. I wonder if the one is an angel of Sol? Ha! Angel of Sol... I can't believe I even thought that.
The two travelers' presence was close behind me. I turned around and carefully looked at them, then cast mind read on the big one. I still didn't have the courage to mind read the "angel of Sol."
There are a lot of rumors about this kid having strange powers, the big one thought.
I smiled slightly at the two. "Yes... yes, I do possess strange powers," I said. Both warriors looked alarmed.
Encouraged by my previous mind read success, I cast the same thing on the "angel of Sol."
He must be using psynergy to read our minds.
They call this psynergy? "My ability is called psynergy? I had no idea!" I exclaimed, continuing to mind read the same one.
His powers are not all that special. We have them too.
"You have them too, don't you?" I asked, not feeling like a freak of nature for once in my life. "Your names are..." The two caught onto my trick and tried to back away, but I stepped forward at the same time.
Isaac, thought the "angel."
Garet, thought the big one.
"Isaac and Garet. My name is Ivan. Pleased to meet you," I said, still smiling. The two still looked unsure of me. They exchanged glances that practically screamed that they were unhappy. Feeling like a freak of nature again, I asked, "are my powers really all that frightening?"
The big one, or Garet as I should now call him, looked to the angel Isaac for an answer. Isaac shook his head, and I felt relieved that he did not think me strange. I wanted to show my gratitude to them in exchange. I was so happy to find someone out there with abilities like mine. There was some sort of bond connecting us; I could feel it. If we both had psynergy, why wouldn't we be able to share it?
"Give me your hand," I ordered Isaac. Isaac's eyebrows shot up questionably but he complied. After our hands were clasped together, I advanced towards Garet, with Isaac following my lead.
Garet wore his unhappy face again, and backed away from us until he couldn't go any farther. I used mind read.
Aaaaah! Stop reading my mind, Ivan!
I did stop and turned to Isaac. "So Isaac, were you able to read Garet's mind?" I asked, hoping he had. Isaac looked amazed and nodded his head. "I thought so. We combined our psynergy and you were also able to see into Garet's mind."
"Woah, cool! You read my mind, Isaac? No fair! I want to read minds too!" Garet exclaimed.
"You're right! It's not fair to read one-on-one," I said, and released Isaac's hand and clasped Garet's instead. Both of us advanced towards the now unhappy Isaac, and I closed my eyes, about to use mind read, when-
"Wow, cool! I read your mind, Isaac!" Garet said.
I opened my eyes and looked at Garet strangely. "Um, Garet? I didn't use mind read yet."
"What!" Garet exclaimed. "But I heard a voice in my head..."
I shook my head. "But I didn't... oh well... forget it. Let's try again, Garet. Ready?"
Garet nodded his head, so I closed my eyes and concentrated on mind read.
Did it work this time? Ok enough already. Stop reading my mind; I can feel your psynergy.
I opened my eyes and released Garet's hand.
"Wow, cool! I read your mind, Isaac!" Garet said again, with a cheesy smile on his face.
I needed these two's help... I didn't know how I knew, but it doesn't matter. Maybe it was because of my dream; maybe it's because we share the ability of psynergy.
So, despite the fact that I did not want to ask for help, I did. Everything was explained about the Shaman's Rod. I told them that I had mind read all of the villagers, but the three travelers who came two days ago had ran away. "I think we should start by mind reading them, but they won't let me near them," I explained.
Isaac and Garet were very kind and agreed to help. At first they were concerned about showing psynergy to "outsiders," as they put it, which surprised me. Evidently, they could tell when I used mind read.
"There's nothing to worry about. Normal people can't see mind read," I assured them.
All three of us left the mayor's house, after the mayor himself wished us luck. He seemed pleased that Isaac and Garet were going to help me retrieve the stolen goods. With new hope in my heart, I felt practically invincible. After all, I had an "angel" with me!
I turned to my newfound friends and proclaimed, "let's go get those thieves!"
Author's Note: It may seem like I'm Garet bashing, but I'm not. There's a logical explanation... but that would ruin the story if I told you, eh? Although this story is mainly the original GS story line, there will be surprising events too. And a love story. Oh yea can't forget the love story . I'm not playing the game while I write this story, so a few things might be slightly different. I might change it on purpose or I might have just forgotten... but never fear! I've beat the original GS 6 times so I think my memory will be ok... hopefully...
Oh! Also, as a side note, I'll try to update this weekly, but I won't if I don't get a review, know what I mean? What's the point of writing if not one person reads...? So the more reviews the better, yea? You might inspire me! Btw, this chapter is long and took forever to write... be happy. So... um... yea... going to acknowledgment section...
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Camelot and Nintendo for creating Golden Sun. Golden Sun is a trademark of Camelot and Nintendo; I do not own it. Um... not sure who or what to give credit for inspiration.
Uh... Normally this is where Reviewer acknowledgments would be, but since I am editting, and ff made their new policy, I just deleted them.
