Golden Sun: The Broken Seal

Chapter 3: Mysterious Circumstances

Isaac could swear that he heard his mother let out a yell of rage as he, Garet and Jenna left his house. "But why would she do that?" he wondered. "I patched up the roof well enough, unless..." He turned over to look at Garet, who was engaged in some scaterbrained conversation with Jenna. "Unless that lout's influence is starting to rub off on me." Still, Garet was a good friend. Isaac was willing to give him the benifit of the doubt.

As they neared Garet's house, Isaac turned his attention to the conversation that his two friends were having. He couldn't make much sense of it, although Garet was stammering a lot and Jenna blushing in equal measure. Isaac couldn't help grinning-it was almost cute how Garet had absolutely no idea how to hide, let alone deal with a crush. Jenna seemed to enjoy the attention, probably because the male fire adept almost always ended up embarressing himself.

Still, there were times when Isaac felt a degree of jealousey towards Garet's frequent conversations with Jenna. It was pretty obvious where this small jealousey came from, he knew that his relationship with the girl, at least to him, went beyond the bounds of normal friendship. He'd felt it for quite awhile, ever since that tragic night where he'd lost his father and Jenna her entire family. Garet's presence was welcome, but Jenna was able to make it more bearable than even he could, since she was the only one who had any idea of what he was going through. Of course, it was the same for her. There'd been a few times when Isaac considered telling her about these feelings, but could never bring himself to do it. Ever since the death of his father he'd been more reluctant to open up to people, and although he was back to his old self now, he was old enough to understand that any special feelings he harboured for her may simply be a crush. "May as well let Garet play the lovesick one," he thought. "At least we'll get plenty of laughs."

XXXX

The three adepts were conversing as they passed Garet's house. Garet suddenly trailed off as he saw his eight year old brother Aaron almost skipping up to him. He was grinning like a maniac, a sign that he'd either been rewarded for doing a menial chore or he knew of some iminant trouble or hidden secret. Given the fact that he was grinning at Garet, the later seemed to be the case. "Hey there pal, what's up with the grin?" asked Garet.

"I would have thought you'd know," Aaron chuckled.

"Er, no?" Garet looked at Jenna who was giggling, seemingly knowing what Aaron was talking about. Isaac looked fairly puzzled but was starting to have an idea as to what Aaron was happy about. Garet was still completely clueless. "Aaron, what happened?"

"You're training stone crushed Kay's flowers!" exclaimed Aaron, breaking into a little dance of joy. Seeing Kay yelling at Garet was always an amusing show, even if it did occur regularly.

"Er, really?" asked Garet weakly.

"Yep. She should find out right about...now."

"GARET!"

Jenna, Isaac and Aaron burst out laughing as they saw Garet's twenty year oldsister Kay storming out from the garden, cradeling a clutch of crushed flowers in her hands. All colour from Garet's face had drained and he'd broken into a sweat. "Garet you make me so mad sometimes! Any idea why?"

"Um, well-..."

"Your training stone crushed my flowers!" The tenth time this has happened!" she shouted, sounding like a banshee. The look on Garet's face made it seem like he was viewing one also.

"Um, will saying sorry help?" he asked timidly

"Sorry! Sorry? You have no clue do you?" she shrieked. "Oh you'll be in for it tonight! Just wait and see!" With that, she headed back to the garden to give the deceased flowers the burial she deserved.

Garet turned back to face Jenna and Isaac, who were doubling up. Aaron had run off, probably to tell his friends about the show that they could expect at his house tonight. Garet seemed to stammer for awhile. "Um, shall we get going then?" he asked eventually.

XXXX

Garet's face was white as they crossed the bridge suspended over the bridge, and it wasn't due to his fear of water. Deciding to let him stew in fear, Jenna and Isaac were conversing with each other; "So what do you think we'll be doing on Mt. Aleph exactly?" Jenna asked.

Isaac shrugged. "I don't know. Since it's Kraden we're dealing with, probably not much."

"Yeah, he'll probably be telling us what to do more than letting us do it," chuckled Jenna. "You know, showing us how 'wise' he is in the ways of psyenergy and alchemy."

Garet groaned at this, starting to recover from the aftershock of Kay's tantrum. "You don't have to remind me. Still, we should get a good view of the surounding lands."

"So?" asked Isaac. "What's to see? Isn't it just plains stretching south of Vale and mountains to the north?"

"I guess," shrugged Garet. "Still, we may be able to catch sight of Vault."

"Vault? What's that?" asked Jenna curiously. Isaac was also fairly interested. Since Garet's grandfather was mayor of Vale, he often frequented visiting travellers, considering that they were Vale's primary scource of information of the events of the outside world. It was throughsuch travellers that they'd learnt of the decline of psyenergy in the outside world, now only weilded by few individuals that were either revered or shunned, depending on the culture.Vale was officially isolationsist and self sufficent, primarily due to the secrets of psyenergy that had to be preserved.

Garet tried to exclude an air of knowlage as he began to explain (failing miserably-intelligence wasn't his forte). "Vault is a town south of Vale, about two days walk. Apparantly its located at the heart of Angara."

Jenna snorted; "Seems like self promotion to me."

"Sounds like it," Isaac agreed.

"Still," said Jenna as they finished crossing the bridge. "It would probably be worth visiting. Ceartinly more exciting then dreary Vale."

"Aw come on, Vale isn't that bad," Isaac protested half heartedly."

"Ohh, 'ickle Isaac a city boy is he?" asked Garet sarcasticly. "Oh well, you can stay here if you want, Jenna and I can go out and explore the world, perhaps even find the Mars Clan." He clasped a hand to his chest; "Finally, I could find someone who shares the pain!"

"Pain?" exclaimed Jenna. "What pain? The pain of having low intelligence?"

"Nah, the pain of having a boring Venus adept as a best friend." Isaac grinned, although he wasn't sure whether he should take that as a compliment or an insult. Probably both.

"Wow Garet, you actually managed to say something in a historical context," remarked Isaac sarcasticly. Garet gave him a playfull punch. Traditionlly the Mars Clan and Venus Clan were staunch allies, at least from what he remembered Kraden saying (he often drabled off when giving lectures). Still, Garet would be wasting his time if he did such a thing. The four clans (Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Mercury) were supposed to have died out long ago. Vale was the only place left in the world where adepts could be found regularly and even then, they much weaker than those said to have existed in ages past. Although everyone could weid psyenergy to a limited degree, it was mostly only the elders that had any significant ties to a particular element. Isaac, Garet and Jenna were three exceptions to this rule. The elders expected great things of them.

"Still, Garet does have a point though," remarked Jenna. "You've got to learn to lossen up more, be less cautious"

"Hey, I'm fine the way I am," protested Isaac. Garet shrugged and started another conversation with Jenna. Isaac sighed. There were times when he felt like he was the odity of their trio. Garet and Jenna were clearly alike in personality-loud, obnoxious, sometimes annoying but still people with a well developed sense of humour and blessed with the spirit of true friendship. On the other hand, Isaac was silent, perceptive and often reluctant to socialise. When Felix had still been alive the personalities had been balanced out, considering that the two of them were so similar in many respects. There were times when Isaac considered Felix more of a friend then Garet, given his tendency to stick up for him whenever Jenna and Garet were slinging insults in his direction. He would have also proven useful in the history lessons that Kraden gave, given his love of the subject.Still, those days were long past, and Isaac, along with Jenna, had to deal with it. Isaac often phyricly wondered what kind of adept Felix would have grown up to become. Still, he never voiced such querries. There was no reason to upset Jenna over the memory of her departed brother. Even Garet, who often displayed a lack of tact, was able to understand that. Anyway-

"They seem to know little of Sol Sanctum's mysteries." Isaac froze at the turn of the bend that led to Kraden's cottage. Jenna and Garet seemed to have heard it too. They started to walk on again, but Isaac pulled them back. "I was right, you are cautious," remarked Jenna cheekily.

"Quiet," hissed Isaac as they lingered against the hill face of which Kraden's cottage was situated, hiding them from view. Isaac furrowed his brow. The male voice seemed familiar. In fact, the entire situation reeked of deja vu.

"The elders must not allow anyone to enter it, not even Kraden." There was the voice again, filled with power. It still sounded familiar, but was missing something. "Weariness perhaps?" wondered Isaac. "But why should weariness be present?" He glanced at Garet and Jenna. They were both listening intently, although Garet didn't seem to be displaying any signs of recognition. "But why should he?" wondered Isaac. "Why would I expect him to?"

"Kraden...can we use him?" The question came from a female voice, seemingly brimming with power also. To Isaac, it was as seemingly familiar as the male one.

"Hmm... his knowlage is no mean thing. Yes, we can use him. He could prove usefull at the lighthouses."

The female sighed. "But he's more stubborn then we expected."

"Yes, and cunning. Cunning beyond measure."

Garet and Jenna were making motions for them to confront the two but Isaac silently urged restraint. It was strange, but he felt like pieces of a puzzle were coming together, like gaps in his memory were being restored.

"Well, we can't tarry long as far as the old man is concerned." This came from the male one.

"Indeed?"

"Yes. It'll only be a matter of time until he gains entrance to the sanctum and retrieves the four stars."

The woman let out a hollow laugh. "That probably wouldn't be so bad. Retrieving them from him would be much easier then going into the sanctum again."

"Again?" Isaac wondered.

" Also, you're forgetting that only adepts can enter the sanctum," pointed out the woman. "And even if he did gain entry, he's a senile old man. He'd probably trip the switch like we did."

"You don't have to remind me of that incident."

"It's been three years."

"So? It still weighs heavilly on my mind."

"That wasn't your fault, you shouldn't punish yourself for it."

"What does Sol Sanctum have to do with switches and an incident three years ago?" wondered Isaac, trying to make sense of it all. It was odd, but he felt like he'd asked that same question before. But when? "Think about the storm three years ago," echoed part of his mind. "Ring a bell?"

"Well anyway, it doesn't matter," continued the woman. "If he won't come willingly we can always..." She trailed off.

"What is it?" The female didn't answer. All Isaac could hear was one set of footsteps closely followed by another. He quickly got up from his crouched position and tried to look like he'd been walking. With any luck, Garet and Jenna had followed his cue. He didn't have time to check though, as it was at this point that the mystery pair rounded the corner. Isaac's mouth hung open at the sight of them. The man was indeed humanoid but there were key differences-his skin was a lightish grey colour with hair of a similar tone. He was wearing a blue chestplate and a longsword was sheathed in a scabbard that hung from his belt. The woman's pigmentation was white and her hair was a curled gold. She might have been considered reasonably attractive but the red markings on her face that were akin to warpaint cancelled out any notion of that. The scythe she carried at her side didn't help matters either. They seemed eerily familiar. In fact, he felt that that his mind had surmised their appearance word for word since the last time he saw them. "Huh? When did I see them?" Isaac wondered.

"You there!" hissed the man. "What are you doing!"

"What are we doing?" asked Garet. "We're just passing through. Something wrong with that?"

"Don't lie to us!" sneered the woman. "You were evesdropping on our conversation weren't you?"

"Huh? You were having a conversation?" asked Jenna innocently. "We only just got here, we weren't trying to interupt you or anything." Isaac let out a sigh of relief, glad that not only had Garet and Jenna been quick on the uptake (quite unusual in Garet's case) but they were both being level headed.

Isaac noticed that the female was staring intently at him, making him feel like his very soul was under scrutiny. "And you expect us to believe this?" she asked slowly. "How do we know that you haven't been sneaking around?"

"What?" exclaimed Garet. "You're the ones who were sneaking around!"

"Sneaking..." hissed the man. "Who are you to acuse me?"

"I think we've got every right to, considering that you're the outsiders here," pointed out Jenna haughtilly. Isaac slapped his hand against his forhead. They were surely going to get into a fight with this kind of attitude.

The man's gaze slowly survayed them. "So...Kraden's engagement was with you?"

"Yes, we were on our way to meet him," stated Jenna simply. "We'd already be there if you'd let us pass."

"Oh I see!" snarled the woman. "And I suppose you think your appointment is important enough to drive us away?"

Garet went to say something but Isaac gave him a quick elbow in the chest, not wanting to incur the strangers wrath, like before. "What, before?" he wondered. "Er, no, you don't have to go," he said diplomaticly, back to focusing on the present. "Feel free to stay in Vale, just please respect our affairs."

"Wimp," Garet murmured, clutching his winded stomach.

"Nevertheless, Kraden sent us away because of you," said the man. "I don't like playing second fiddle." Isaac noticed that his right hand was slowly edging towards the hilt of his sword. The woman was clutching her scythe unusually tightly, almost as if getting ready for battle. "Surely...surely they wouldn't," thought Isaac. "Why wouldn't they? They've done so before." The man's hand clasped the hilt of his sword, seemingly ready to draw it out...but decided against it, going into a more relaxed position. "Go," he said simply."

"You're...you're letting us go?" stammered Isaac. The man nodded.

"'Bought time," Garet muttered. He started to walk ahead but the woman steped in front of him. She stared intently at him, as if peering into the recesses of his counciousness. She turned to face her partner. "Wait, are you sure about this Saturos?"

"Menardi, we have no reason to delay these children any furthur."

"So Saturos and Menardi are their names," thought Isaac. "I'd do well to remember them. But damit, why do they seem so familiar?"

"Come on, let's go," said Garet, leading them past the mystery duo. Jenna quickly followed. Isaac took up the rear, but stopped and turned back to look at them. It was driving him nuts, the feeling that he'd seen them before...that they may have had something to do with the storm...

"Go child, you mustn't keep Kraden waiting," murmured the one apparantly named Saturos. Isaac refused to move.

"Didn't you here him?" asked the one named Menardi. "Scram! Before we change our minds!" Backing off warilly, Isaac obliged.

XXXX

Saturos watched the blonde teenage brat walk off. "Right," he said to Menardi as soon as he was out of earshot. "Now that those kids have scampered off I suggest we-..."

"Saturos," interupted Menardi. "What are we going to do about the two boys?"

"What? Why would they concern us?"

Menardi sighed. "Don't you remember them?"

Saturos laughed. "I would have thought you'd know me well enough to know that I don't associate with teenage brats, apart from-..."

"Those boys. They're the same ones that we ambushed three years ago."

What little colour there was in Saturos's face quickly drained. "You...you are sure?"

"Quite. I'm no Jupiter Adept but the boys are undoubtedly the same. From what I can tell, their memories are starting to return." Saturos clenched his fist. Not really in fear, but ceartinly in trepidation. "If they alert the elders," he voiced softly. "Ugh, we should have killed them when we had the chance, rather than simply leaving them uncouncious!"

"Don't dwell on it, we couldn't have predicted that it would come to this," soothed Menardi. "Actually, this could be turned into our advantage."

"Really? How's that?"

Menardi grinned. "Kraden understands more than they do. They're adepts, they could give him access to Sol Sanctum, he could get in after all. Perhaps even make it to the Sanctum's heart."

"They're just kids. How could they succeed where we failed?"

"The fact that their memories are starting to recover is a clear sign of their potential power. They could have what it takes. Even if they fail, how would that be a disadvantage to us?"

Saturos nodded. "Yes...yes, that could work. Anyway, let's find the others, see what their thoughts are on the matter." With a nod from Menardi, the two of them walked off, neither of them looking anywhere but straight forward

If either of them had chanced to look up, they would have seen someone watching them-a brown haired male in his early twenties wearing a frayed green traveling cloak, hiding the two short swords sheathed in his belt. He sighed-from the looks of things, it seemed that the two Proxians had formulated a plan that suited their interests. Hopefully those three adepts could do something about it, but he was in no position to give advice at this point, that would lead to awkward questions. He would have loved to eliminate Saturos and Menardi himself, but he was no adept, he'd simply get himself killed. Sighing, he walked off. He may as well see what Vale had to offer. Even if the sanctum's seal was broken, it wasn't a straight guarantee of the apocolypse that would result with alchemy's return...

XXXX

"Honestly, the nerve of those two!" exclaimed Jenna as they walked the last stretch of path towards Kraden's house. "Why were they so hostile? People like that really get on my nerves!"

"What, people like yourself?" asked Garet sarcasticly. Jenna simply stuck her tounge out at him. Garet turned to Isaac. "Still, if people in the outside world are like that, maybe you were right about staying in Vale."

"Er, pardon?" asked Isaac.

"I said you may have been right about staying in Vale."

"I'm sorry, what are we talking about?" asked Isaac. His mind was still on the two strangers.

Garet and Jenna turned to face him. "Alright Isaac, what's wrong?" asked Jenna. Garet stared at him with equal curiosity. Isaac wished he could simply sink into the ground. Should he tell her that he thought that those two were responsible from preventing him and Garet from being able to find help and save her family, that they'd triggered the storm that caused the disaster in the first place? Probably not. At best she'd think he was paranoid, at worst she'd think he was trying to upset her over the memories of the incident. Garet though...

"Um, Jenna, could you go on ahead?" he asked eventually. "I need to talk with Garet privatly. You know, boy stuff."

Jenna raised an eyebrow. "Whatever," she said eventually, heading off down the path haughtilly, ponytail swinging from side to side. Garet turned to face Isaac. "Boy stuff? Man, with an excuse that bad, something's definetly up."

Isaac looked up the path, making sure that Jenna was out of earshot. "Garet, this is going to sound strange, but did those strangers seem...familiar to you in any way?"

Garet snorted. "Yeah, like I hang out with people like them on a regular basis."

"I'm serious Garet." Like Isaac before him, he cast a look up the path, making sure that Jenna was out of earshot. He came to the same conclusion that it was safe to talk.

"To tell you the truth I did," he said softly. "Those two strangers, they did seem familiar. No idea why though."

Isaac nodded, glad that he wasn't the only one who had these kind of misgivings. "Me too. It's strange, but they reminded me of the storm three years ago."

Garet's face darkened. "Do you think we should tell Jenna?"

"No, we don't want her thinking we're paranoid."

Garet sighed. "I guess you're right. But what do we do in the meantime?"

"Probably best to do nothing for now." Isaac started continuing up the path to Kraden's, with Garet following "Still, they did mention something about Kraden. Perhaps he can help shed light on this."

A/N

Ok, that's that chapter done (obviously). I know it seems like an odd place to cut off, but I felt that it had dragged on too long. Given the length of the next chapter, one may understand.