Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun.

A/N: A long one! (Well, at least for me).

The first thing I saw inside the cave was an engraving. I moved my sopping-wet hair away from my face and went to examine it. But before I could reach it, in came Garet.

"Great look," he joked, pointing to my soaked hair.

Grinning, I gestured to his flames of hair that usually stand up. Now they were limp and hanging all over his face.

Ivan followed, his hair straggling across his face. Mia walked through last, with her eyes closed.

"Ahh...that felt so good." she murmured, still not opening her eyes.

"Hey, what is this?" Ivan had discovered the stone. "It says, 'The dragons flame illuminates the path of truth in darkness.' I wonder what that means?"

I shrugged. "I think we use these logs as boats. One, two, three!"

We rolled across, running quickly. On the patch of land we reached was a single chest. I reached forward to open it, wondering what treasures hid inside.

When the chest sprouted legs and pincers...

Ivan closed his eyes and Gust flew forward angrily, whirlwinds fiercely following.

The mimic crooned in retaliation. "Sleep...sleep..."

Ivan slumped forward, unable to resist.

"Venus!" squeaked Flint.

I jumped. "I thought you were on set!" I accused.

"I was! But Venus does more damage. I put myself on standby when you were rolling." he answered smugly.

"Whatever, fine, Venus."

The mimic reeled back.

Sleet stomped forward. "Stupid kids, disturbing me from my rest...hmph..." he grumbled, as a thick sleet fell from the roof of the cave.

Garet raised his hands, and a ghostly Mars Djinni flicked forward, sending flames at the chest mimic.

The mimic dashed forward and bit Mia on the arm. I raised my axe, and it understood the threat. It hopped back.

I concentrated, and a portion of the ceiling crushed the mimic. It weakly pushed the stones away, in time to be frozen by Mias perfectly timed Mercury summon.

While it was still frozen, Garet chipped the ice off with his axe and severed a limb.

I'm set now! Hurray! squeaked Flint.

Ivan stirred, and opened his eyes. Seeing our situation, he jumped to his feet. The mimic was staying at a safe distance.

Ivan summoned Jupiter, tossing the mimic across the room.

Flint attacked. Mia healed herself. And Garet used Fever. The mimic collapsed, crying, "Forfeit." It extended a leg with some sort of ticket. I took it and put it in my pack.

"Well, that was interesting." Flint noted cheerfully. "Lemme see that ticket."
I dug it out of my bag and held it down for him to see. I figured it was easier to do as he said than to argue.

"My goodness!" Flint exclaimed. "Wow! Gracious goodness oh me oh my oh gosh!"

"What?" I asked irritably.

"That's a Tolbi game ticket! Oh, Tolbi is wonderful. I imagine it's grown a bit since I last saw it...it was just springing up, back then, that was a couple of hundred years ago. They're famous for their games. Oh, you are some lucky kids to have gotten this! You can't buy them, you know. You have to earn them!" Flint was so excited he started jumping up and down. "A genuine Tolbi game ticket! Wow!"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Let's just continue on."
We rolled back across and then across by the other log. I observed that Garet appeared to be feeling slightly sick.

We hopped across the water to the start of a maze of floating logs. We could reach three doors from here.

"Which one?" asked Ivan.

I shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

"Left," answered Garet simultaneously.

"Okay, left, then." I hopped over to the left one. My mind wasn't on the increasingly darker rooms we walked by. It was on Saturos and Menardi. Which lighthouse was next?

Even when Mia found a chest with a sword she gave to me, I hardly noticed.

Room after room, rolling across on logs, my mind was on Jenna. Felix. Kraden.

Then I was forced to think. We met a Jupiter Djinni.

"Who are you?" it asked suspiciously. "A bunch of Adepts? I bet you're the evil kind! You're out to...oh, I don't know! Take over the world, that's it! Well, I won't let you!" It launched itself at us.

I dodged its blow while Gust flew at it, scolding, "Good Jupiter Djinn don't attack, brave, kind, and noble Adepts!"

The Djinni winced, and not just at the blow. "Gust!" it snarled. "These Adepts could be evil!"

Flint!

"Wahoo!" Flint called, flinging himself wholeheartedly at the Djinn. "Zephyr, you ought to know better!"
Zephyr glared, and a bolt flew from the ceiling of the cave to strike Ivan. He didn't seem to mind too much, though.

Meanwhile, Mia had been preparing. "Sleet!" she shouted, and the Djinni trudged out, muttering about "disturbed peace" and "lighthouse" and "my own".

Fever flew at Zephyr, madly coughing. I think he was trying to talk, but all that could come out was coughs. I kept my distance, not wanting another episode like Imil.

While Zephyr was distracted, I called up Granite, noting that Ivan was using the time to apply herb paste on his burns.

Zephyr realized something. "There could be more evils that will attack me when I am vulnerable! I must leave this battle!" he started to flutter off, but I grabbed him.

"You're not going anywhere." I told him grimly, then let go.

Garet concentrated and attacked the Djinni with Mars. Zephyr cringed, but attacked with a Plasma in retaliation.

Oh, the pain. The pain. It ran through my body. I knew I must have looked horrible, with burns all over my body.

Ivan called up Breeze, and then, with the last few ounces of my strength, I summoned Ramses.

I collapsed, but I wasn't knocked out, just so weak. Mia knelt down and used Ply.

What a wonderful feeling. My energy flowed through my veins. I let out a sigh of satisfaction. "Thank you, thank you, Mia!" I exclaimed fervently.

Zephyr fluttered over to Ivan.

"You have beaten me. I can take no more." he declared. "I'm going on set, in case anybody comes up with bad intentions. That way, they can kill you first, and maybe I can escape. Don't tell anybody, but I Boost party agility with swift wind." Zephyr disappeared with a "hmph!".

"So, Ivan, how does it feel to have three Djinn?" I asked him curiously.

Ivan held his head in his hands. "Horrible."
Three Djinn! Oh, Isaac, you better get another of us soon! chattered Flint. So, Granite, who do you think'll be next?

I don't know. Echo? Or maybe...Vine?

Oh, yeah, now he would spice this place up! Flint exclaimed.

How do I turn you guys off? I complained mentally.

Flint laughed.

I wasn't kidding. I told him seriously. Don't you guys ever fall asleep?

I got an image of a nod from Granite. Of course we do! But with so much action, who needs sleep?

We continued on until we found a pedestal with an orb on it. I carefully took it.

"It looks like an eye," Garet commented.

"Like at Sol Sanctum!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah!" he agreed. "Like then. Hey, Isaac, undead at four o' clock!"

I spun around to face a ghost and a skeleton. "Too bad they're not living," I commented, "because I'm hungry."

Garet patted his stomach. "Don't remind me!"
"Yes, don't remind him!" joked Mia cheerfully. "Or we'll never get anywhere!"
Garet glared at her. "Hey!"

I hid a smile. "Looks like you've found a replacement insulter, huh, Garet?"

He switched his glare to me.

"Are we going to fight them or just let them make us into skeletons?" demanded Ivan. I realized he'd already attacked them a few times.

"Sorry," I apologized, calling Flint mentally. All four of us released our best attack Djinn. The skeleton fell into pieces, and the ghost disappeared into nothingness.

Garet stared. "Well, that was easy."

"We must be getting a lot stronger." Ivan observed. "Not only in weapons, but in Psynergy."

We continued to face a dragon. Not live, though it scared Mia for a second.

"This must be what the eye is for," I figured, jamming the gem in the empty socket. The dragon blew out flames from its mouth, lighting the room.

"This must be the dragon that was spoke of on the slate! 'The dragons flame illuminates the path of truth in darkness.'" Ivan quoted.

We all stared at him.

"I figured it was worth memorizing!" he exclaimed indignantly.

Garet rolled his eyes. "Whatever. But how does that help?"
"Look," I said, pointing. "See that shadow? You only see shadows in light. That's a shadow of a bridge! All we have to do is get over there and we can cross!"

"Brilliant!" exclaimed Mia. Then she paused. "But, uh...how do we get over there?"
"Well, I think we've been there before. Remember those stairs over there?" Ivan asked.

"But that was so far back!" Garet protested. I held up a hand.

"You forgot Retreat." I concentrated, and we were spun back to the entrance. The logs had returned to their original places.

"How'd that happen?" asked Garet in bewilderment.

I shrugged. "Beats me."

We continued past the maze, and found the invisible bridge. I gulped. "Uh, Ivan...why don't you go first."

He smiled. "Because it probably wouldn't hurt me if it didn't work?"

I nodded. "You're a Jupiter Adept, so you could solidify the air or something, right?"
"Right." He took a few steps. And a few more. Finally, he was across. "It's safe!" he called back.

"Okay," I answered. I carefully watched the shadow as I crossed, but not my feet. Step. Step. Up. Right. Up again.

Amazingly, I made it across. I never want to cross an invisible bridge again. Ever, I told myself as Garet and Mia crossed.

We entered the next room. There was another slate, and a chest. Ivan read the slate eagerly. "The secret of Ki shall be revealed to the followers of truth." he read.

"Whatever that's supposed to mean." Garet rolled his eyes.

I carefully approached the treasure chest. When I was satisfied that it wasn't a mimic, I opened it.

Inside was a glowing orb. I took it carefully, placing it in my pack. It looked fragile.

"I think that's what we were here for." I remarked. "Let's go."

We Retreated, and I hoped my hunch was right.