Chappie the Third
Exposition time!
Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. Sad, isn't it? And I don't own Finding Nemo.
IOE: Hey, everyone! Thanks for reviewing! I got me another buddy! And I am terribly sorry for the immensely late update; I went on vacation earlier than expected, and I was grounded a few days before we left, so there was no way I could warn you. My bad!
Feizhi: (prays) Please be a human buddy, please be a human buddy….
IOE: Anyway, the new buddy is a djinni!
Feizhi: (gets on knees) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
IOE: (ignoring) Presenting: Flotsam, the Mercury Djinni!
(Curtain opens) (Cute little Mercury djinni hops out)
Feizhi: (eyes widen, mouth waters) It's…so…cute…. (Runs to it) YOU ARE MY SQUISHY! (UBER glomp-age)
IOE: Whoa. Um…okay. Well, here the little guy is. Now, I'm sorry, I love Valeshipping, but I also love Mudshipping. And in this one, I am using Mudshipping. Um…so…here's…the chapter….
Flotsam: (in small voice) Help…meee.
IOE: (blast of fire)
Feizhi: AAA! FIRE! (Runs around)
FS: Yay! (Hides in Ignira's pocket) And now, our feature presentation!
Isaac opened his eyes. He was lying on his back in a bed. The room was small, with a dresser and two windows. He looked at the people sitting near his bed. One of them was a bald old man with glasses and a mustache. He had a fine tan. Isaac thought he looked like Kraden, only with a tan and less hair. The other was a very young boy; Isaac estimated his age to be around six. He had short tan hair and his skin was just as tan as the old man's. Isaac thought he looked a little like a desert boy version of Sheba. Both of them leaned over once they saw that he was awake.
"Well, hello there, lad. Are you feeling better?" asked the old man.
"I found you when I was out grazing with our sheep. You looked terrible, so I brought you here." explained the boy.
Isaac sat up. He felt very refreshed.
"Yes, I feel much better. Where am I?" he asked.
"You are in the village of Mani. My name is Carver," said the old man.
"Yes, I am Isaac," said the Venus Adept, and turned to the boy, "Thank you for saving me, little boy."
The boy's eye twitched. He clenched his fists. Isaac wondered why he had angered the boy. Carver laughed.
"She is my granddaughter," he said.
"And I'm not little," said the girl, "Once I get a little older, I'll be really tall. Just you wait. Besides, I'm eleven. Oh, yeah, and my name's Kiri."
Isaac felt embarrassed for misestimating the girl's age and gender.
"Sorry. Um, but where am I? I don't even know what country I'm in." he said.
"Tarnilla." both people said together.
"What! Is that near Gondowan?" asked Isaac. Perhaps he had never visited this village. It looked like it was in Gondowan because of the color of people's skin.
But both people cocked their heads.
"What is Gondowan?" asked Carver.
"It's a continent and country. There are cities and villages in it like Tolbi, Lalivero, and Kimombo," explained Isaac, remembering places he had visited.
Carver and Kiri exchanged confused looks.
"Um…have you ever heard of the late Babi, the mayor of Tolbi? Or the Suhulla Desert?" Isaac asked hopelessly. He expected the two people to say something like "Oh, yeah, I have."
"Mister, my father was a great merchant. We traveled all over the world. I have never heard of any of the names or places you said," said Kiri, crossing her arms.
Isaac's eyes widened. In Venus' name, where the hell was he?
"Do you have a map?" he asked. Carver nodded, and brought down a map that had been sitting on a picture frame on the wall. He walked over to Isaac to show him.
Isaac looked at the old map. The paper had been ripped in places, and the paper was brown, but he could still see the figures and names on it. There was a large continent that somewhat resembled a chair. It was named Assyr. Below it was a skinny, horizontal continent labeled Tarnilla. To the side of Hack and Assyr was Mikagay. To the southeast of Mikagay was Erro. To the west of northern Assyr was a very small country called Kirko. And below Kirko was Halspien.
This didn't make any sense. None of these continents were the same name or shape as the ones he had known and been to. He was in an entirely different world. He looked at the faded letters at the top of the map. Erutun.
"What!" he said in frustration.
"Grandpa, do you think his memory has been rattled?" asked Kiri.
"Possibly." replied Carver under his breath.
"No, no! My memory's fine!" assured Isaac, and then he recounted the events that occurred shortly before Kiri found him on the hill.
He deliberately left out Jenna's spontaneous kiss. He didn't want to think about it; it meant too many things. It meant that Garet's feelings were definitely ignored, and that Jenna might expect him to take her in, which he would not, only having feelings of friendship for her.
Unbidden into his mind, the image of a certain blue-haired girl in Jenna's place appeared. And Isaac, trying hard not to blush in front of Carver and Kiri, quickly pushed it out of his mind.
Kiri spoke.
"Grandpa, what do you make of it? I think I believe this guy." she said. The old man put a hand to his chin.
"Well, I'd say it's either a very extreme case of mental illness, or he's telling the truth. But how did he end up here?" he asked himself.
Isaac's stomach growled.
Carver looked up.
"Oh my! Where are our manners? I'll make something in the kitchen for all of us; I'm a bit hungry myself." he said, stood, and left the room.
Kiri jumped.
"Yay! I'm hungry, too!" she said, and ran out of the room.
Isaac sat in the bed for a while, thinking. He could hear pots and utensils moving around from what he assumed was the kitchen. He sighed. They reminded him of Dora's, his mother's, cooking. He wondered if she'd already known that he had disappeared. He wondered if the others were trying to find him, or maybe get revenge on the Order.
And then he remembered something that they had mentioned. They had mentioned that he had a great amount of power. Yes, that was true, but his friends were just as strong as he was from their long, long quest. Why was he so special? If they could sense the Psynergy he, Isaac, had, they would have been able to detect Jenna's, or Garet's power. They had encountered them, too, yet they were after Isaac in particular.
The sound of someone entering the room dispersed Isaac's thoughts. He looked up to see Kiri. She walked in and sat down.
"Grandpa says I have to keep you company while he makes lunch. He says I'll get in the way," she explained irritably.
"Wait…it's around the middle of the day?" asked Isaac, hearing the word "lunch." How could that be? He remembered when he had first come to Erutun, it had been daylight then, too. But it had been night in Weyard.
"Yeah, I know. It's hot. You can get out from under those covers; I'm sweating just looking at you," said Kiri, making a fanning motion with her hands. Isaac did feel very warm, so he got out from under the covers and sat up on top of the sheets. He noticed that he was still wearing the clothes he wore in Weyard before he came here. They were covered in dust.
There was a bit of silence. So Isaac tried to break the uneasiness with a conversation.
"Where are your parents? Are they on a-"He began, but Kiri interrupted.
"My father died three years ago. I never knew my mother. Bandits raided our caravan. He tried to protect me, and died. I couldn't save him. I didn't have enough power to take on the bandits. They had powers, too," she said quietly. Kiri's voice was silent, and had a different sound to it, as though she were about to cry.
"'Powers?' You mean Psynergy?" asked Isaac, trying to keep the girl from getting upset. Kiri nodded.
"Yeah. There are a few people in Erutun who can use one of the four elements to wield magic. Most people use time, death, the heavens, or the sea for magic over here. I'm a Uranus Proficient. Watch." she said quickly, getting excited. She picked up a wooden staff that had been sitting on the ground. It was very thin, and at the top of the staff, the stick curled into itself, like a lollipop, only onto one side.
"I made this myself," she said eagerly. She tapped it on the ground, whispered, "Float", and slowly drifted to the ceiling. Isaac could see she had a purple swirling aura, instead of the blue one Adepts had. He could also see a ghostly hand lifting her up, the same one that moved objects in the Move Psynergy. Kiri struck a superhero pose. He smiled and clapped.
Kiri laughed, and let the ghostly hand gently set her down.
"Anyway, my family tried to decide who I should live with. They argued a lot, and finally decided I should live with Grandpa," she said quickly.
Carver walked in with a tray of tea and sandwiches.
"Kiri, are you showing off? I thought I heard something bump the ceiling." he asked his granddaughter. Kiri grinned and dropped her staff.
"No, Grandpa. Hooray, lunch!" she exclaimed, and rushed to her grandfather.
"No, young lady, we serve our guest first." he said.
Carver set down the tray on Isaac's lap, and then he wiped his brow. He then walked out of the room, explaining that he would get trays for the both of them.
Kiri fidgeted in her seat, looking at her meal on Isaac's tray like a wolf on a cornered lamb. Finally, Carver came back with two trays, and gave one to Kiri, who took a cup of tea and a sandwich on her tray. Carver did the same, except less hastily. He then set the teapot on Isaac's bedside table.
Isaac bit into the sandwich. It tasted excellent, but he couldn't tell the substance that was in it. It tasted good, however. He then glanced at his tea when he finished. He didn't want to drink something hot when it was the hottest part of the day, but he took the cup to his lips. He took a sip; it tasted wonderful.
Carver chuckled.
"Like that? It's green mint tea. Our village is known for making fabulous green mint tea," he said.
Isaac took down the tea. It wasn't very hot, and the mint felt very cool in his hot, dry mouth. It
When he finished, he sighed in relief and let himself slowly fall onto the wall behind him. He sighed again in relief. He felt very relaxed.
"So, how is he going to get home?" asked Kiri, and the good feeling was gone.
XCXCXCXCXCXCXCXCXCXCXC
Jenna, Felix, Garet, Ivan, and Master Hamma all sat in the living room of Felix and Jenna's home. When Felix had awoken from his nap, he had noticed that Jenna had merely gone out and gone about his business. Their parents had come home shortly after he had awoken, and gone straight to bed; they were very weary.
He now sat on a couch, listening to Ivan explaining what had happened. When Ivan had finished, there was silence in the room.
"Well, what do we do?" asked Garet.
"Obviously, we find the cult." said Felix. He looked at his younger sister. She looked very upset; it looked as though she had been crying. She also had dark circles under her eyes. He decided that they should decide what to do as quickly as possible, so that she could get some rest.
"Easier said than done," snorted Garet, "We don't know where they are."
"We can ask around the towns. From what you described, it's not as though they wouldn't attract attention," replied Felix calmly.
"That sounds like a good idea," said Ivan. Jenna nodded.
"Great. Let's start tomorrow!" said Garet.
"Well, then, I bid you all a good night," said Hamma. Ivan said the same, and they left. Garet just said "'Bye," and left.
When they were gone, Jenna gave a sigh of relief and fell on the sofa she was sitting on with a wumph! She was fast asleep. Felix smiled and let her be. He then headed upstairs to his room, where he packed his things. But even then, he just wasn't tired. The nap he had taken earlier had really taken away most of his fatigue. He sat on his bed staring at his walls, and then an idea came to him.
He headed into his sister's room, and packed most of her things for her, not wanting to even look at things she wore that were for her gender only. However, her shirts, skirts, other clothes, and other necessary items were all neatly packed in her bags.
Now finally weary, he settled himself into his own bed, and sleep slowly took him.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Isaac, Carver, and Kiri had been taking a long time trying to figure out what they should do to get Isaac back to his world.
They now sat in silence. They had come up with no ideas whatsoever. Carver sighed in irritation, his head in his hands. Kiri stared at the wall. Isaac slouched in his bed, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration, and frowning.
And then a familiar voice echoed in the room.
"Well, if it isn't Isaac again…."
All three looked up. Isaac remembered that voice.
The room darkened. Carver and Kiri cried out. It was pitch black, suddenly, and a familiar, hovering, one-eyed, boulder appeared in the center of the room.
"Wise One!" exclaimed Isaac. The boulder moved downward a bit and then back up in what Isaac guessed was a nod.
"I went through quite a lot of trouble to get into this world, young Adept. My authority is only meant for Weyard's dimension. I see that you are in need of assistance," the Wise One said.
"Who is this, Isaac?" asked Carver. The boulder turned to him.
"I am the Wise One. I am an omniscient being as old as the ages, and I have come to Isaac's aid," he said.
"But why me, Wise One? You said you went through a lot of trouble to get here, and just to help me?" asked Isaac, scratching his head. He had become too accustomed to talking to the Wise One. At first, he had been filled with awe, but now it was more like seeing someone you've bumped into now and again. He could sort of make our Carver and Kiri in the darkness; they looked a mix between fear and wonder.
The Wise One turned to Isaac and lowered his eyelid a little, which must have been its way of smiling.
"I cannot give you reasons for why I am going to all this trouble, for I want you to discover this on your own for my own reasons…"
Isaac frowned. Once again, people were dropping him oblique hints that didn't help much.
The Wise One continued:
"…Anyway, you must use the way you got here to get out. You don't belong here. Venus, Mars, Mercury, and Jupiter are the capital ruling existences in your dimension. Here, Saturn, Pluto, Neptune, and Uranus are the capital ruling existences. There are four shrines to these existences guarded by their keepers in this world. You must obtain an item blessed by the existence itself from each shrine. When you have all four blessed items, combine your power with them, and then touch all of them at once. This will take you home. Do you understand, young Adept?"
Isaac nodded.
"Wise One, why am I here?" he asked.
"When the cult tried to kill you, they all attacked you at once, did they not?" asked Wise One.
"Yes," said Isaac, shuddering at remembering the excruciating pain.
"When they did so, their attacks tried to disperse your life, and you Psynergy. When their attacks contacted your Psynergy, it enacted a teleportation from your dimension of Weyard to this one." said the Wise One.
Isaac nodded. That seemed to make sense, but something didn't feel like it fit.
"So when their powers all came together with my power of Venus, it opens a portal? Why is that? And do you know why they left my friends, who are just as strong as I, alone?" he asked. If the Wise One was omniscient and indeed an ally, then he was the only one Isaac knew would know the answer to his last question.
"No, that is not…entirely the reason. I will not explain why, for it isn't really the most important thing at the moment, and you must discover so for yourself. That is all I can say to your curious mind.
"I am afraid that it is time for me to take my leave. Find the shrines. Find the objects. Go home. Until next time, Young Adept." said Wise One, disappearing.
"No, wait!" Isaac called, reaching out, but the Wise One was gone. The room returned to its normal state.
"Well, that wasn't the most helpful of floating rocks. He didn't tell you where the shrines are." said Kiri, rolling her eyes.
"Kiri! That was a most hollowed figure, and deserves respect." hissed Carver.
"I suppose I'll just have to travel all over Erutun until I find them all." said Isaac, shrugging.
"My boy, that would be most dangerous! Besides, Erutun is enormous!" Carver said.
"I've traveled all over Weyard, which is just as large. I am also a very skilled Adept." assured Isaac.
Kiri shook her head.
"No way. Grandpa, I want to go with him. I know where all the shrines are, after all, from my travels with Papa," she said.
"Kiri, you are eleven, and Isaac is a man. If it is too dangerous for him, then-" Carver began.
"We both have powers," Kiri protested, "And Papa will be watching us."
At the mention of Kiri's father, Carver lessened.
"I will not allow it," he said softly, "And that's final."
Kiri grumbled something that rewarded her with an ushering to her room.
Isaac stood up and stretched. Carver came back in.
"Alright," he said, "I have some armor and weapons my…my son used to sell and ended up here. You can use them, they're just a little dusty. I'll buy you a change of clothes, and anything else you'll need. Perhaps Kiri will lend you some of her herbs; she has a stock of them in her room to take with her when she herds the sheep in case of wolves."
Isaac nodded.
"Thank you. Would you happen to have any maps that I could borrow?" he asked.
Carver sighed.
"I'm afraid that all I have is the one we just showed you," he said.
"Ah well. May I have it anyway?" asked Isaac.
"Of course," replied Carver. He removed the map from its frame.
"It is very old, so be careful, but don't feel bad if something happens to it; I don't even know why we have it," he said.
Isaac nodded and took it.
"Thank you," he said.
The next hour or two involved Isaac and Carver obtaining the armor and buying clothes and a large leather bag for Isaac. Carver offered to give him a horse, but Isaac insisted it wasn't necessary.
Finally, they came back to Carver's house, and Isaac fitted on his new clothes while Carver washed his old ones. After that, Isaac packed everything together. At last he was ready.
He stood outside the small house with his bag over his shoulder.
Kiri and Carver exited the home, Carver with a defeated look on his face, and Kiri looking very happy. She also had a bag over her shoulder, and was holding her staff. They approached Isaac.
"I talked Grandpa into letting me come with you as a guide!" exclaimed Kiri.
"Only if you want to," said Carver.
Isaac scratched the back of his head.
"Um…"
"Think! You can't just search all over; not all of the shrines are on land! I know where those are!" said Kiri.
Isaac blinked.
"They are?" he asked. Kiri nodded.
Isaac sighed.
"Alright then." he said, defeated.
Kiri cried for joy and jumped up and down. Isaac thanked Carver for his hospitality, and Kiri gave Carver a hug.
And then they were off.
IOE: Whew! That was long!
Feizhi: Well, it should have been...BUT WHERE IS MY SQUISHY!
IOE: Maybe I should send Flotsam back, for all of our safeties. That gives me an idea! OKAY! When you review this chapter, you have four choices: one, you propose a different buddy (you can choose what it is) instead of Flotsam, two, you say we just keep him, three, you propose to keep Flotsam but add on a new buddy (you can choose what it is), or four, you don't participate in this and just review the chapter. Well, I hope you liked it! Boy, I really need to have Isaac seem more masculine…and Kiri's getting on my nerves…I should kill her…when no one's reading…. Oh, and the Wise One's stuff? Yeah, well, I can't tell you, cuz it's part of the plot, but I'm sure it's kind of obvious why he can't tell Isaac why he's special, and why the total reason for Isaac ending up in Erutun isn't just because of the mixing of Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus energy. R&R!
Feizhi: (wails) SQUISHY!
