Golden Sun belongs to Nintendo and Camelot, not me. Support them if you like the series! I just write fanstuff. And if you feel like borrowing any of my original ideas, please, go right ahead.
As Garet tore through the next room after his quarry, he was dimly aware of several things. First, Matthew and Sveta were staring in awe on the sidelines. He didn't even spare them a glance; he simply knew they were there. Second, there was a large table in the way. Half a second later, there were two smaller tables in its place, lying amongst hundreds of tiny splinters. Third, he had forgotten to pick up his axe. Screw that, it was too late to turn back.
Felix might've had a chance to get away.
Garet barrelled through the second person-shaped hole in the room. His head darted around, searching through the kicked-up dust for his target. He heard a cough, and launched himself in that direction fist-first.
He came out of the dust cloud and saw a flash of black – Felix's outfit – a little bit to the right of a cracked indent in the wall – Felix's landing site – and a little to the left of where Garet's fist was heading. Felix stopped in his tracks and backpedalled several steps down the hallway they found themselves in as Garet embedded himself wrist-deep in the wall.
Drawing his weapon, Felix sat back in a defensive position. On any other day, Garet would've thought twice about facing an armed opponent barehanded. But to say it was an irregular day would be a tragic understatement. Garet ripped his fist out of the wall, consolidated his position, and watched Felix for signs of weakness.
"Garet, you idiot, think for a minute!" Felix shouted. "I've never seen that necklace before in my life, and even if I had, why would I give it to HER?"
Garet wasn't in the mood for logic. He roared and darted forward.
The Mars Adept let fly several swift jabs, but he no longer held the element of surprise. Felix simply danced around them, even keeping his sword out of the way so as to avoid unnecessary contact. Of course, Garet interpreted this as a cocky, arrogant gesture on the other man's part. It simply made him angrier.
He held a hand outward and let his fury bubble up within him. Bubbling like... like magma.
The floor grew red-hot and began to shake as Garet called forth a miniature volcano. He poured all of his energy into it, feeling the planet's crust split as he egged the boiling rock onward.
Suddenly, Felix hopped backward a step – just out of the way of the visibly hot stone floor – and slammed his sword, point-first, into the ground. All at once, Garet's connection to the flow of magma stopped, the sword cutting it as surely as if it had been a physical string. The psynergy he was pouring into it was sucked dry in an instant, leaving him a little off-balance.
He knew he had left himself open. But instead of moving to defend himself, he just attacked again. He dashed forward, aware but uncaring of the blisteringly-hot floor, and went for an all-in uppercut.
Felix was unprepared. At the last moment, he managed to jerk aside, but in reflex, he brought his blade outward to deflect. He landed awkwardly on his left ankle, throwing out his arms to steady himself, and in doing so made a light gash in Garet's forearm.
Garet felt all his strength leave him, snuffed out like a campfire in a sudden storm. He fell forward, landing on his hands and knees. The cut was bleeding only a little, but that didn't seem to matter. It was as though he had lost the will to fight. His connection to the inner workings of the world was severed. His eyes began to darken and all he wanted to do was sleep-
"No..." he muttered. "Not gonna... not gonna let you win..."
Felix sheathed his sword with haste. "I didn't mean to do that to you," he said, "but you need to stop. Seriously. We can talk about this, and you CANNOT defeat me in a one-on-one fight. I don't want to hurt you, but I will if that's what it takes to end this."
Garet brought himself up on one shaky leg. He locked eyes with Felix, baring his teeth and showing all of his hatred and wrath through his expression. What he now lacked in actual, physical fire he more than made up for with the fire in his gaze.
"Gonna have to... kill me then..." Garet growled.
"We can work this out."
"You killed my wife."
"I didn't kill your wife."
"You killed... MY WIFE!"
Garet pulled himself to his feet. He had no energy, he had no strength, but it didn't matter anymore. He let his anger take over. He couldn't stand, and yet he stood. He couldn't win, and yet...
"Garet, look at yourself. I accidentally cut you with this thing. Mia passed out after contact, through clothes, with the FLAT of it. Let's just-"
"NO!"
Garet lashed out, taking Felix by surprise. His right hook was barely blocked when Felix raised a hand to catch it. The punch was followed by a kick to the side of the knee, which Felix twisted to avoid.
This left him with no way to avoid Garet's second punch, a straight jab to the shoulder.
Felix was thrown several feet by the force of the blow.
"Mom, what the hell's going on?"
Matthew walked quickly to intercept his mother as she hurried in Garet's wake. Jenna just shook her head dismissively.
"Your uncle's in trouble because Garet's being an idiot. I'm going to go break up the fight, and if your father knows what's good for him, he'll be on Felix's side too. Not that I really care at this point."
She kept walking. Matthew slowed to a stop, his arms outstretched in askance. There were simply too many questions; which one to ask first?
"N-not that you care? Wait, I thought you and Dad had... didn't you make up?"
"Yeah. That turned out to be a mistake, I guess," Jenna spat. "Hurry up, Isaac, I can hear them fighting up ahead!"
Matthew's head snapped back to his father, just entering the room. Sveta stood off to the side, her face an awkward mix of worry and fear, with just a hint of pretending-not-to-be-involved. Isaac, on the other hand, was very, very involved. He looked tired and defeated. He very nearly looked his age.
"Mom, just... just stop for a sec-"
"Matthew, I'd love to stop and talk, just to make up for lost time. I really would." Jenna said. Her expression softened for just a moment as their eyes met. "But that... that woman in there somehow managed to convince Garet that Felix... well, if I don't go now, I might not have a brother for much longer."
"Then can I at least know why my family's breaking up again?" Matthew cried. "You didn't even tell me why it happened in the first place! I was thirteen, and it literally took me a year to realize that it was more than just a big, long camping trip! I'm your son. I'm almost old enough to start a family of my own. And I deserve to know."
Isaac stepped forward. "Jenna... you go break up the fight. I'll talk with Matthew about what happened."
"What, you aren't coming?" she snapped. "Your best friend and your brother-in-law – whom, I might add, was thought to be missing for decades – are fighting to the death over what has to be a mis-"
She was interrupted by another loud crash. The walls reverberated. Jenna looked in the direction of the source, then back to Isaac.
"Go," Isaac said wearily. "Try to keep both of them alive. Garet's your friend, too."
Jenna narrowed her eyes. "I know my priorities," she hissed.
She turned and stormed out of the room, and as soon as she was out of sight, Isaac clasped Matthew on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Matthew," the forty-seven-year-old muttered. "I'm very, very sorry. All this is my fault, and if I had just been a little wiser..."
"Dad, just tell me what happened."
"Right, right. Of course. You deserve to know. The timing couldn't be worse, but..."
ooo
"Aaargh!"
Felix rolled as he landed, trying and failing to ride his momentum back to a standing position. He had put his arm out to catch himself, and it crumpled uselessly upon contact with the floor. Felix had an instant to wonder why before he felt the pain shoot through him like a jolt of electricity.
When he finally stopped rolling, he got his bearings, carefully picked himself up on his uninjured arm, and inspected the damage with the few moments he had. His shoulder was fine, oddly enough; he had rolled with the punch, despite being unable to completely dodge it. His forearm, however, was going to need some serious attention.
He had broken limbs before, sometimes badly. He had enough experience with that kind of pain to know that his arm wasn't actually in terrible shape. But it was absolutely out of commission for the time being. Worse, it was his sword arm that had taken the hit; he could use his left hand, but not to nearly the same effect.
A thought occurred to him.
Why the hell had a simple fall broken his arm? He'd been through WAY worse before, and he wasn't exactly getting any older.
Garet's next battlecry snapped Felix out of his reverie. He awkwardly drew his sword with his left hand and brought it into a defensive stance, shifting the rest of his body to protect his wounded limb. Reasoning with Garet wasn't going to work – he'd have to be incapacitated. And Felix knew that would be much, much harder to do with his off-hand without causing Garet serious injury.
Garet charged forward for what felt to Felix like the thousandth time. With his sword in his hand, Felix shifted slightly to the side and brought the blade out at a threatening angle, hoping to intimidate Garet. It didn't work, naturally; the red-haired man had set aside anything resembling a self-preservation instinct at this point. But Felix had expected this.
As the sword came down, Garet dodged around, throwing a predictably-aimed punch with his remaining momentum. With the sword's strike and the hallway's width limiting his options, and his rage clouding his judgment, Garet aimed for Felix's face, his fist following what he didn't realize was an obvious route of attack. Felix ducked just a few inches, stepping forward underneath Garet's arm, and followed his initial strike through with a slap against Garet's leg with the side of the blade.
Felix's practiced eye saw Garet stagger just a hair and slow just a fraction before they turned to face each other again.
Garet blinked slowly. He looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.
His fists clenched, and he gritted his teeth. He was trying to psyche himself up.
"Killed... my... you killed her..." Garet roared. "Gotta... gotta get revenge for her!"
"I thought there might've been a chance for a bit, yeah," Felix admitted, "but when that necklace came out as 'proof,' I knew it was impossible. I've never seen that thing before in my life. I killed for the Empyror in my... less enlightened days, yes. But I didn't kill your wife, and I don't know who did."
If Garet even heard anything, he gave no indication. He was raving mad, practically foaming at the mouth.
Geez, I should really just finish him off. I'd be doing the world a favor.
But... no, he wouldn't, Felix realized. That would be doing the High Empyror a favor. Garet was a little lost for now, yeah, but he was a teammate, and a friend, and-
And he's just going to keep coming back after me. What an idiot. Who's next, then, after me? Is he going to go after Sheba for failing to see it coming? Maybe Isaac for just not being there to stop it? Maybe it's worth just doing this little favor for His Highness-
NO.
Felix shook his head. No, not again. He wasn't going to let himself fall back into that pattern of madness and false triumph. Killing Garet would be beyond simple, but it would be the wrong thing to do, despite what The Empyror would have had him believe. The High Empyror wanted each and every Warrior of Vale dead, and he had done his best to guide Felix's mind in the same direction. But it would be WRONG.
Wrong? It would be far from wrong. You could be saving countless lives. How much longer before Garet starts unleashing Djinn on me? How long before he calls down a Meteor and kills everyone in it?
...Maybe... But if Felix could finish the fight fast enough-
You have no idea how long it'll be.
But-
He should be unconscious already. Garet has some serious determination. What makes you think he'll EVER fall? This could all be for nought, and by the time you realize it, he'll have already-
"Felix!"
He snapped his head around for one crucial instant. He saw a flash of red hair coming down the hallway for just an instant before he felt a fist collide with the back of his skull.
"So... Matthew... You know that when I was your age, I was actually seeing Mia, not your mother, right?"
Matthew nodded. He was somewhat aware of that fact, not that he had ever given it any thought. It was years before he was born. He and Rief might have casually joked about it at one point, given that they might have been brothers in another world, but it was in the past. Wasn't it?
"Well, we broke it off... both of us knew that there was nothing to our relationship. Mia and I had a kind of mutual attraction, but while she's probably my closest friend aside from Garet, we just aren't romantically compatible." Isaac paused. "Not in a way I feel like talking with my son about, at least.
"Anyway, we started dating after Venus Lighthouse. Then we stopped before Jupiter. Then the Golden Sun happened, we all helped rebuild, Jenna went to help with Vault, and I started dating Mia again after she left. Then we broke up before she returned. That's how short-lived our relationships were. It just never seemed important enough to tell Jenna about-"
"Hey, but you DID tell Mom!" Matthew interrupted. "Of course she knows. I know, and you haven't exactly tried to hide it-"
"I'm getting there," Isaac continued. "See... one day, Mia wrote to me saying that she was worried her husband was cheating. He'd go away on sailing trips for months on end and return empty-handed. She felt like her entire life was falling apart. So as a friendly gesture, I invited her to stay with your mother and I for a little while. This was four years ago.
"Jenna and Mia... well, they had never really had a chance to make friends. After Jupiter Lighthouse, which is when we all met up, we pretty much made a beeline for Mars Lighthouse. Felix's group and mine sort of kept to ourselves. We were all one team, in concept, but we never really made that leap. I don't think I've ever said more than a handful of words to Sheba, myself, for example.
"So Jenna and Mia got to talking. It didn't take long for them to get on the topic of relationships, and... well, Mia decided that it would be a good idea to connect as wife and ex-girlfriend. Jenna got as mad as ever, and stormed out, and then..."
Isaac trailed off, looking forlorn. But then his eyes snapped into focus.
"Then what?" Matthew asked. "What happened?"
"Hold that thought. Matthew, you fought Chalis, right?" Isaac grabbed Matthew by the shoulders. "Then you've been affected by her delusion perfume. Tell me what it was like."
Matthew thought for a moment. He didn't really remember it all that well. His fight with Blados and Chalis was a bit of a blur.
"I can't really say," he said. "I forget most of it. Which seems kind of weird, considering how important the fight was. But... I remember a spray of air in my face, and then it became sort of difficult to think straight."
Sveta cleared her throat. "It did not last long," she said. "I helped clear the delusion from Matthew's mind. He did try to remove my goggles for some reason before I had the chance to, though."
"Remove your goggles? Why would I have done that?" Matthew asked. "I don't remember anything of the sort. I remember trying to be extra-impressive, for the lack of a better word, but-"
While Eoleo, Amiti and Himi had the wolf tied up in combat, Tyrell and Karis were doing their best to hold Blados back. That left Matthew and Sveta to deal with Chalis while Rief stood back to help anyone that needed it.
Sveta kicked, more swift than powerful, to attract Chalis's attention. The general lazily extended a claw to knock Sveta's strike aside before turning toward Matthew. Sveta spun and landed nimbly on her feet just in time to see Chalis emit a pink spray from her wrist. It enveloped Matthew's head and he collapsed instantly.
"Help!" Sveta cried. "Matthew is down!"
Rief whirled and unleashed a punishing barrage of ice that forced Chalis back several steps. He ran a few steps forward, and then stopped.
"He isn't hurt!" Rief answered. "His head's just off, is all. I'll hold her back, see what you can do for him in the meantime!"
Sveta nodded. She rushed to her fallen friend.
"Matthew?" she asked. "Are you alright? Can you move?"
Matthew smiled happily, a child on the eve of his birthday. He brought a hand up into the air and stared at it philosophically. He turned it over to look at the other side and was just as impressed.
"Alright, then," Sveta mumbled. "I am just going to- HEY!"
Matthew's hand grasped her by the ear and pulled her closer.
"L-let me go! Those are sensitive..."
Matthew's other hand came up and fumbled against her face. His fingers smudged the lenses on her Umbra Goggles before she swatted his hand aside.
"Matthew! Pay attention!" she protested. She pulled his other hand off of her ear.
That hand immediately went back to the goggles, which he actually managed to push up onto her forehead.
Sveta's vision swam as it adjusted to the change in ambient light. She shut her eyes in reflex, and the next instant a hand was on her neck pulling her closer toward the ground.
She threw her hands out to catch herself and snapped her eyes open. All she saw was a sea of blue.
It took her several seconds to realize that she was looking into Matthew's eyes. She was right next to his face. She could smell his breath clearly, human and familiar but vaguely minty, and his eyes were very, very blue...
"Matthew...?" she whispered. "Is... is there something you are trying to tell me?"
She heard a faint giggle. She dared not breathe.
"...Glittery..." said a faint voice from somewhere below her. She didn't recognize it.
The hand on her neck continued to rub, ever so gently, and she almost let herself just fall into the embrace, but there was a battle going on, and-
"ACK!" she cried, as he seized her other ear.
She slapped him in the face, gathered herself up and fired the strongest Boon she could at Matthew. Then she pulled him to his feet and turned back to the fight without waiting to make sure he could stand on his own.
She put her goggles back on, doing her best to keep a stony expression.
No one saw anything.
Sveta giggled in spite of the tension. "Glittery! That is what you said! I had no idea what you meant at the time, but..."
Matthew blushed. Isaac sighed.
"The delusion perfume interferes with memory. That's why you don't remember what happened. And that's why it took so long for us to get the complete picture about what actually transpired that night four years ago," he said. "Right before we left, Jenna and I agreed to put the past behind us because our stories didn't match. What I remember is that Mia and I had a quiet discussion that ended in friendly hand-holding. What Jenna remembers is... shall we say, much more than hand-holding.
"Either way, Jenna threw me out of the house and has held a grudge against Mia ever since. We set out just a few days ago under the agreement that we would let bygones be bygones, and that actually went brilliantly... until we met Caudgel, who brought up that night's events, claiming to know what actually happened. Apparently Chalis has the ability to manipulate emotions, but only emotions that already exist, and she used her perfume to bring out the feelings Mia and I had for each other. So... there's that."
Matthew raised an eyebrow.
"So Mom's mad at you because the bad guys made you cheat on her?"
"No, she's mad because I still had feelings for Mia! I... argh, I explained it all wrong. It sounded much more convincing when Caudgel said it..."
"Because Caudgel is an expert at speechcraft."
Sveta broke the silence again, hesitantly stepping forward. The faintest trace of a smile still graced her lips, but whether it was left over from reminiscing or from confidence, Matthew did not know.
"When we visited her, before we knew she was hostile, she managed to turn what should have been a peace negotiation into a surrender for Morgal. She actually had me volunteering to be hanged in exchange for my peoples' freedom, when the war between our nations is actually going as good as it could possibly be for the beastmen." She gestured to the cabinet that she and Matthew had been perusing before being interrupted. "By Bilibin's accounts, we have not lost a single soldier. I know not how that is possible, but it is certainly a desirable outcome, is it not?"
Isaac raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"Caudgel is a liar, Sir Isaac. She uses hints of truth to help manipulate her audience before playing on their insecurities for the finishing blow. If she really knew enough about you to use that night's events against you, is it really that much of a stretch to believe that she may have fabricated Chalis's involvement altogether?"
Matthew beamed. Isaac just blinked in confusion.
"But... but neither of us remembered, and it just... all the pieces fell together. Jenna and I both suspected that I..."
"Well, perhaps I went a little too far," Sveta admitted, "but you cannot take Caudgel's word at face value. She most likely had something to do with how Garet is acting as well, did she not? And Jenna certainly knew that he was misguided."
Isaac glanced away apprehensively. "But... but I still love Mia, don't I? And I can't, not if-"
"I love Matthew," Sveta interrupted. "And I also love Tyrell. I also love Rief, and Amiti, and Eoleo, and Himi, but I love Matthew far more than any of the others. How do you feel about Jenna?"
Isaac was speechless.
"She is your favorite, is she not?" Sveta reached out, placed her hands on Isaac's temples, and glowed with psynergy for a second or two. "Yes, she is. Just as Matthew is my favorite. I love all the others as friends, and you love Mia as a friend. You just let your fears get the better of you. Right?"
"I... I..." Isaac ran a hand through his hair. "Huh."
"Right. So go and tell Jenna, and if you cannot convince her, then bring her back here and I will see what I can do. At the very least you can stop Felix and Garet from murdering each other."
Isaac's mouth worked uselessly for several seconds.
Then he cleared his throat and straightened his posture. "Erm, thanks," he muttered before setting off after Jenna.
Sveta folded her hands neatly and smugly in front of her. Matthew stared at her in astonishment.
"How the hell'd you do that?" he asked.
"You are welcome," she answered. "And before you ask, no, I did not actually read his mind. But I did not need to. Any man who goes to that much effort to regain his wife's trust deserves to believe he is worthy of it, at the very least!"
Matthew ran a hand through his hair in much the same way that his father had, eliciting another giggle from Sveta. He allowed himself a light smirk, in spite of the fact that a minute before he thought his family would be broken up once again.
"I'm sorry you had to see that," Matthew said, "but I hope you're right. I hope it's all just a trick, and I hope Mom can be brought around as well. Just... one thing."
"Hmm?"
"When you were listing our friends... okay, two things, actually. First, you don't ACTUALLY love them, right?"
Sveta burst out laughing. "Oh, please! As friends, certainly. But... oh, my, can you imagine? Tyrell or Amiti or Rief... and Eoleo is twice my age! No, Matthew, it was a figure of speech-"
"Second... why didn't you mention Karis?"
Sveta stopped laughing immediately. A chill went down Matthew's spine at the abrupt change in her mood.
Her eyes narrowed, her ears flattened, and her fangs even seemed to be more visible as she spoke.
"Because Karis is a monster, Matthew," she said. "She is a monster and nothing else. I will speak no more of her."
