8BTFreek: I'm back from the grave! But seriously, let's get to the reviews.
REVIEW RESPONSES:
TemplarofNi: Uh, problem! Your Muses will have to leave, since Eshli isn't even here right now. Thanks for the review, anyway.
Allexandra: Sorry about things over there. Yeah, I like romance, which is why it wriggles its way into pretty much everything I do. And he's happy now, which is important.
Rain Child (1): Yeah, I use that phrase a lot. Don't ask why. And yes, Alhafra was different, but that's just because I really wanted to make it a den of evil.
Rain Child (2): Random is good! Well, the way I use it, which is accidental randomness. Yeah. And yes, I too could live without Conservato. I just wanted to finish the chapter quickly, and the main action depended on them not being in Lemuria for a long amount of time.
Mesoforte: Yeah. I'm of Saturos's opinion on the technique. Thanks for the compliment. I dunno, the pairing just fit, and who passes up opportunity? Good opportunity, that is.
KA: Well, your wondering will soon come to an end! We are going to get into a new chapter, starring the Four Friends.
Black-D: Thanks for the review.
END RESPONSES
8BTFreek: Well, that's the end of that. Now then, onto chapter 21 (Jeez, this is getting long! Longer than anything else I've written, that is.)
Rand: And Freek doesn't own Golden Sun or its concepts. Now then, we members of Muses' Union, Local Chapter 58113 need to talk with you about violations of subclauses 118, 119, and 120 of the contracts, as well as some concerns some of our members had about foreign outsourcing of our jobs? [points at TemplarofNi's muses]
8BTFreek: Gulp. Uh, they aren't supposed to be here. As for the contract thingies... Let me say in my defense: I didn't do it. Well, here's chapter 21 of Against My Friends.
{Chapter 21: Reason for Freezin'}
Felix stared at the giant blue tower. "And you're telling me that what we want is in there?" The others eyed the tower with suspicious gazes - except Hama, who nodded fervently.
"My visions have told me that this tower contains something vital to our success, yes." {I only wish it didn't hold discord and enmity.} She shrugged. "Let's go inside. That's the only way we'll get what we need." Taking a somewhat rare initiative, she marched into the frozen tower, almost instantly regretting it. "And can we get a fire?" she asked, looking around.
"Yes, o sister of mine," said Garet, producing a quick burst of flame that warmed them considerably. "Now then, let's get whatever we're here to get so we can get out quickly, hm?" The others nodded.
Hama took one step into the tower, the others following quickly behind her. She walked down the small hallway and into the next room, at which point she cursed rather loudly. "Damn it all to hell!" she shouted. A large wall of ice blocked her way. "What we need is behind there, but there's no way we can get it. Damn it!" Garet looked at her curiously.
"Uh, Hama, you seem to have forgotten that there is a Mars Adept here?" She turned and glared at him. He ignored her, placing his hands on the ice and concentrating. While he did manage to melt some of the ice off, it merely grew back, pushing his hands out.
"Brilliant, Mr. I'm-the-Mars-Adept-who-knows-everything," muttered Alex. He walked up to the ice wall and analyzed it. "Hm... Absorbs fire, can't be drilled through... yet clearly ice..." He paced the length of the room, which meant that everybody got out of his way. "Psynergetic ice," he said. "Ice created using Psynergy, designed to last for eternity - or at least until the proper spell is used against it. And since it's been cracked, I have to assume that it was some sort of explosion spell, probably very weak against most things." He turned to Hama. "What exactly is behind this wall?"
She shot him a glare before speaking. "If I knew, I would know how to get through. As it is, we're stuck. All I know is, we have to get around this wall." She sighed, then turned into the other room and took another look. It wasn't really a hallway, she discovered: Instead, it was an open room, with stairways leading to a flooded lower level, and icy walls that seemed to close in on you. {If only I could boil away the water,} she thought. "Garet, try boiling away this water. It's just sitting there - I doubt it's Psynergetic." He nodded, then began focusing his power to boil away the water.
"Hama, could you send some lightning through this water? It'd make my job easier." She nodded, a little satisfaction creeping into her. She knew that Alex and Garet were almost enemies, and since Alex had the nerve to be unemotional about Sheba's death, she was going to make him suffer as much as she could without intentionally distancing him. She concentrated, sending lightning and plasma through the undisturbed water. Well, formerly undisturbed - the lightning and plasma, combined with Garet's Psynergy, caused the water to churn and bubble, until finally it boiled away. "Let's go," he said, marching down the stairs and through a door that had appeared.
The others followed him. Though it was uncomplicated, it was long, and monsters kept popping up from the ice (especially Ice Golems, although those were relatively easy to defeat, since Garet could blast through them without a second thought.) Alex grumbled every time Garet managed to defeat one of the things, muttering about his power over fire. "It'll be your downfall," he kept whispering to himself. "Just you wait, weakling."
{XXI}
Garet looked around the top of the tower. "What a lovely place," he muttered. "Too bad it has to be so damn COLD!" He shivered instinctively, the cold piercing his skin. He looked about. "Hey! There's a little... whatchamacalit... on top of that spire!" He walked over and grabbed it, looking at it. A large red ruby sat inside a silvery design, and it had strange runes crawling all over. "Say, Hama, what does this say?" She walked over to him.
"Let's see..." She cast Reveal, and the writing materialized. "Where there once was something, let it Burst into nothingness." She shrugged. "Probably an item to grant a certain Psynergy. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the key to the impassable ice block." He smiled.
"Well, let's go try it out, shall we? After all, the sooner we get through with this, the sooner I can see Mia." Hama shot a worried look backwards. Garet had so far refrained from mentioning Mia in Alex's presence, but now...
Alex was predictable. "Why? So that you can agree to be best man at our wedding?" Hama rolled her eyes. Alex was thick as mud sometimes. A snarl spread across Garet's face, and he clenched his fists. "Face it, you Martian Lump. She doesn't love you, she's mine, and that's all there is to it." A gloved fist caught Alex in the stomach. Despite her "unbiased" stance in this conflict, Hama couldn't help but smile. Alex was getting what he deserved, in her eyes. Right now, it happened to be a beating from Garet.
Felix walked over to her, standing by her side. "What'cha watching?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Garet's beating up Alex for insulting Mia's intelligence. Alex seems a bit possessive, so... yes. It's actually quite enjoyable. Want to watch?" He smiled at her, then nodded. Alex let out a sound that resembled an "oof", but it looked much more painful. "What was that?"
"Garet just got him in the lower back, the gut, and the jaw at the same time. I swear, the kid's gotten much faster in the past few days." He shrugged. "Maybe it's because he thinks if he gets things done faster, he'll see Mia sooner. But you know? By now, I kinda wish we weren't enemies. It'd be much, much easier. And we wouldn't have lost Sheba and your brother." He held her close. "Don't worry, dear, we'll get through this." She nodded, holding back the tears she'd wanted to cry since seeing Ivan disappear by leaping off of that damned lighthouse.
"Damn, son," came a voice behind them. The two turned around to see Garet standing there, holding Alex in a headlock and looking at them. An expression of wonder was on his face. "General, I now have the utmost respect for you. May I please keep knocking the shit out of this worthless piece of trash?" Felix shook his head.
"We still need him as a healer. I can't do jack squat, and - sorry to say this, dear - neither can Hama." She nodded. "And unless you gained those marvelous abilities, I don't think we can get by without our healer, and he can't get by with a broken nose, I think. Let him heal himself, and let's go down the stairs and back to the Ice Wall."
{XXI}
A shattering noise could be heard from inside the glass wall. "It's breaking apart," said Garet, focusing more energy into the Burst spell. The wall began shaking. Something rumbled on the other side. Suddenly, Garet was flung back by an explosion. A titanic cloud of dust rose, and ice shards went flying, some striking the party members, some missing them completely. After the dust had cleared, they could see a small room through a gap big enough for the Mother Wyvern to walk through - if it actually walked instead of flying, although it looked like its wingspan might fit through.
Garet walked into the room. Something glowed on a table behind the ice wall. He reached out to grab it. The result was a strangely moving hand as he hit what appeared to be an invisible barrier. {What is that thing?} he thought as he looked at the round, glowing, rough-hewn stone. {My hand just slid right away from it. I wonder if it's dangerous...} Curious, he stared at the stone.
Felix walked up to him. "What? Why are you staring at it?" Garet shrugged.
"It wasn't moving," he said, looking at it. "When I tried to take it, my hand just sort of slid off of it. I'm still wondering what it is." Felix shrugged, then extended a hand towards it.
Picking up the rock, he tossed it between his hands. "Well, whatever it is, it's certainly old. I know! Hama, would you be kind enough as to help us figure out what this is?" Hama walked into the room, followed closely by a wincing, frightened Alex. She took the rock in both hands and examined it.
"Well, I found runes... It bestows some kind of Psynergy, I guess, but I can't feel a thing. Reveal." The power flowed through her, showing the true nature of the rock. "To the bearer of the Earth's power, I grant the ability to Grind stones to dust." She gave the thing to Felix. "So far as I can tell, it's called the Grindstone. Or perhaps the Stone of Dust. You'd have to ask the Doomsayer for more information. After all, she is extremely knowledgable."
"No, I think that it'll be good enough to know that this is the Something Stone." He grabbed it, and it glowed. "Hm, maybe 'bearer of Earth's power means I'm the only one who can use it." He shrugged, then pocketed the stone. "Well, let's go," he said, striding out of the room. Alex walked close behind him, looking back several times, but Garet wasn't in the mood to pummel Alex into the ground. He was busy thinking about Mia.
{eoc}
8BTFreek: Does that clear up everything?
Rand: Yeah, it does. Okay, no contract violations. FF, get back to... uh... whatever you were doing.
Alex: Okay, Rand. Listen, I have a question. What the hell were they sent for?
8BTFreek: Uh, their employer sent them to... dispatch of Eshli, I guess. Would you like me to bring her back?
Fearsome Foursome and Red Mage: NO!!!
Gannon: Not until she's calmed down. I need a break.
RM: Besides, how can I properly disturb you when she's distracting me?
8BTFreek: Oh, that makes me feel so good. Well, review, my friends! It'll make me happy.
REVIEW RESPONSES:
TemplarofNi: Uh, problem! Your Muses will have to leave, since Eshli isn't even here right now. Thanks for the review, anyway.
Allexandra: Sorry about things over there. Yeah, I like romance, which is why it wriggles its way into pretty much everything I do. And he's happy now, which is important.
Rain Child (1): Yeah, I use that phrase a lot. Don't ask why. And yes, Alhafra was different, but that's just because I really wanted to make it a den of evil.
Rain Child (2): Random is good! Well, the way I use it, which is accidental randomness. Yeah. And yes, I too could live without Conservato. I just wanted to finish the chapter quickly, and the main action depended on them not being in Lemuria for a long amount of time.
Mesoforte: Yeah. I'm of Saturos's opinion on the technique. Thanks for the compliment. I dunno, the pairing just fit, and who passes up opportunity? Good opportunity, that is.
KA: Well, your wondering will soon come to an end! We are going to get into a new chapter, starring the Four Friends.
Black-D: Thanks for the review.
END RESPONSES
8BTFreek: Well, that's the end of that. Now then, onto chapter 21 (Jeez, this is getting long! Longer than anything else I've written, that is.)
Rand: And Freek doesn't own Golden Sun or its concepts. Now then, we members of Muses' Union, Local Chapter 58113 need to talk with you about violations of subclauses 118, 119, and 120 of the contracts, as well as some concerns some of our members had about foreign outsourcing of our jobs? [points at TemplarofNi's muses]
8BTFreek: Gulp. Uh, they aren't supposed to be here. As for the contract thingies... Let me say in my defense: I didn't do it. Well, here's chapter 21 of Against My Friends.
{Chapter 21: Reason for Freezin'}
Felix stared at the giant blue tower. "And you're telling me that what we want is in there?" The others eyed the tower with suspicious gazes - except Hama, who nodded fervently.
"My visions have told me that this tower contains something vital to our success, yes." {I only wish it didn't hold discord and enmity.} She shrugged. "Let's go inside. That's the only way we'll get what we need." Taking a somewhat rare initiative, she marched into the frozen tower, almost instantly regretting it. "And can we get a fire?" she asked, looking around.
"Yes, o sister of mine," said Garet, producing a quick burst of flame that warmed them considerably. "Now then, let's get whatever we're here to get so we can get out quickly, hm?" The others nodded.
Hama took one step into the tower, the others following quickly behind her. She walked down the small hallway and into the next room, at which point she cursed rather loudly. "Damn it all to hell!" she shouted. A large wall of ice blocked her way. "What we need is behind there, but there's no way we can get it. Damn it!" Garet looked at her curiously.
"Uh, Hama, you seem to have forgotten that there is a Mars Adept here?" She turned and glared at him. He ignored her, placing his hands on the ice and concentrating. While he did manage to melt some of the ice off, it merely grew back, pushing his hands out.
"Brilliant, Mr. I'm-the-Mars-Adept-who-knows-everything," muttered Alex. He walked up to the ice wall and analyzed it. "Hm... Absorbs fire, can't be drilled through... yet clearly ice..." He paced the length of the room, which meant that everybody got out of his way. "Psynergetic ice," he said. "Ice created using Psynergy, designed to last for eternity - or at least until the proper spell is used against it. And since it's been cracked, I have to assume that it was some sort of explosion spell, probably very weak against most things." He turned to Hama. "What exactly is behind this wall?"
She shot him a glare before speaking. "If I knew, I would know how to get through. As it is, we're stuck. All I know is, we have to get around this wall." She sighed, then turned into the other room and took another look. It wasn't really a hallway, she discovered: Instead, it was an open room, with stairways leading to a flooded lower level, and icy walls that seemed to close in on you. {If only I could boil away the water,} she thought. "Garet, try boiling away this water. It's just sitting there - I doubt it's Psynergetic." He nodded, then began focusing his power to boil away the water.
"Hama, could you send some lightning through this water? It'd make my job easier." She nodded, a little satisfaction creeping into her. She knew that Alex and Garet were almost enemies, and since Alex had the nerve to be unemotional about Sheba's death, she was going to make him suffer as much as she could without intentionally distancing him. She concentrated, sending lightning and plasma through the undisturbed water. Well, formerly undisturbed - the lightning and plasma, combined with Garet's Psynergy, caused the water to churn and bubble, until finally it boiled away. "Let's go," he said, marching down the stairs and through a door that had appeared.
The others followed him. Though it was uncomplicated, it was long, and monsters kept popping up from the ice (especially Ice Golems, although those were relatively easy to defeat, since Garet could blast through them without a second thought.) Alex grumbled every time Garet managed to defeat one of the things, muttering about his power over fire. "It'll be your downfall," he kept whispering to himself. "Just you wait, weakling."
{XXI}
Garet looked around the top of the tower. "What a lovely place," he muttered. "Too bad it has to be so damn COLD!" He shivered instinctively, the cold piercing his skin. He looked about. "Hey! There's a little... whatchamacalit... on top of that spire!" He walked over and grabbed it, looking at it. A large red ruby sat inside a silvery design, and it had strange runes crawling all over. "Say, Hama, what does this say?" She walked over to him.
"Let's see..." She cast Reveal, and the writing materialized. "Where there once was something, let it Burst into nothingness." She shrugged. "Probably an item to grant a certain Psynergy. I wouldn't be surprised if this is the key to the impassable ice block." He smiled.
"Well, let's go try it out, shall we? After all, the sooner we get through with this, the sooner I can see Mia." Hama shot a worried look backwards. Garet had so far refrained from mentioning Mia in Alex's presence, but now...
Alex was predictable. "Why? So that you can agree to be best man at our wedding?" Hama rolled her eyes. Alex was thick as mud sometimes. A snarl spread across Garet's face, and he clenched his fists. "Face it, you Martian Lump. She doesn't love you, she's mine, and that's all there is to it." A gloved fist caught Alex in the stomach. Despite her "unbiased" stance in this conflict, Hama couldn't help but smile. Alex was getting what he deserved, in her eyes. Right now, it happened to be a beating from Garet.
Felix walked over to her, standing by her side. "What'cha watching?" he asked nonchalantly.
"Garet's beating up Alex for insulting Mia's intelligence. Alex seems a bit possessive, so... yes. It's actually quite enjoyable. Want to watch?" He smiled at her, then nodded. Alex let out a sound that resembled an "oof", but it looked much more painful. "What was that?"
"Garet just got him in the lower back, the gut, and the jaw at the same time. I swear, the kid's gotten much faster in the past few days." He shrugged. "Maybe it's because he thinks if he gets things done faster, he'll see Mia sooner. But you know? By now, I kinda wish we weren't enemies. It'd be much, much easier. And we wouldn't have lost Sheba and your brother." He held her close. "Don't worry, dear, we'll get through this." She nodded, holding back the tears she'd wanted to cry since seeing Ivan disappear by leaping off of that damned lighthouse.
"Damn, son," came a voice behind them. The two turned around to see Garet standing there, holding Alex in a headlock and looking at them. An expression of wonder was on his face. "General, I now have the utmost respect for you. May I please keep knocking the shit out of this worthless piece of trash?" Felix shook his head.
"We still need him as a healer. I can't do jack squat, and - sorry to say this, dear - neither can Hama." She nodded. "And unless you gained those marvelous abilities, I don't think we can get by without our healer, and he can't get by with a broken nose, I think. Let him heal himself, and let's go down the stairs and back to the Ice Wall."
{XXI}
A shattering noise could be heard from inside the glass wall. "It's breaking apart," said Garet, focusing more energy into the Burst spell. The wall began shaking. Something rumbled on the other side. Suddenly, Garet was flung back by an explosion. A titanic cloud of dust rose, and ice shards went flying, some striking the party members, some missing them completely. After the dust had cleared, they could see a small room through a gap big enough for the Mother Wyvern to walk through - if it actually walked instead of flying, although it looked like its wingspan might fit through.
Garet walked into the room. Something glowed on a table behind the ice wall. He reached out to grab it. The result was a strangely moving hand as he hit what appeared to be an invisible barrier. {What is that thing?} he thought as he looked at the round, glowing, rough-hewn stone. {My hand just slid right away from it. I wonder if it's dangerous...} Curious, he stared at the stone.
Felix walked up to him. "What? Why are you staring at it?" Garet shrugged.
"It wasn't moving," he said, looking at it. "When I tried to take it, my hand just sort of slid off of it. I'm still wondering what it is." Felix shrugged, then extended a hand towards it.
Picking up the rock, he tossed it between his hands. "Well, whatever it is, it's certainly old. I know! Hama, would you be kind enough as to help us figure out what this is?" Hama walked into the room, followed closely by a wincing, frightened Alex. She took the rock in both hands and examined it.
"Well, I found runes... It bestows some kind of Psynergy, I guess, but I can't feel a thing. Reveal." The power flowed through her, showing the true nature of the rock. "To the bearer of the Earth's power, I grant the ability to Grind stones to dust." She gave the thing to Felix. "So far as I can tell, it's called the Grindstone. Or perhaps the Stone of Dust. You'd have to ask the Doomsayer for more information. After all, she is extremely knowledgable."
"No, I think that it'll be good enough to know that this is the Something Stone." He grabbed it, and it glowed. "Hm, maybe 'bearer of Earth's power means I'm the only one who can use it." He shrugged, then pocketed the stone. "Well, let's go," he said, striding out of the room. Alex walked close behind him, looking back several times, but Garet wasn't in the mood to pummel Alex into the ground. He was busy thinking about Mia.
{eoc}
8BTFreek: Does that clear up everything?
Rand: Yeah, it does. Okay, no contract violations. FF, get back to... uh... whatever you were doing.
Alex: Okay, Rand. Listen, I have a question. What the hell were they sent for?
8BTFreek: Uh, their employer sent them to... dispatch of Eshli, I guess. Would you like me to bring her back?
Fearsome Foursome and Red Mage: NO!!!
Gannon: Not until she's calmed down. I need a break.
RM: Besides, how can I properly disturb you when she's distracting me?
8BTFreek: Oh, that makes me feel so good. Well, review, my friends! It'll make me happy.