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.


She had meant to go home like she said she would. Really. Honestly.

But on the way, Maddie happened to notice a familiar face sneaking along in pursuit of a shadowy figure. Karis, daughter of Ivan, was on the hunt? This could be history in the making! Certainly not something that an enthusiast like Madeline of Bilibin could pass up for a little bit of sleep and safety! And she certainly couldn't ruin it by letting Karis know she was following.

She did her best to watch her own back to make sure she hadn't ironically started a stealth conga line.

When they arrived at the airship, Maddie hid in a bush and watched Karis' confrontation. She saw the whole thing, heard Lady McCoy's assertions, and... suppressed a gasp of terror when Karis was stabbed.

For a minute, she was frozen, unable to make a decision. She knew she could run out, grab Karis, and maybe bring her back to Rief... but with McCoy and Mia watching, she wouldn't accomplish anything short of getting herself killed. Likewise, she could run out and try to convince Mia to do something, but without any assurance that she was redeemable, it would be suicide.

Luckily, Mia moved immediately. Maddie couldn't see well enough from her hiding spot to see if Karis had actually been healed, but she trusted the Angel of Imil well enough to believe that if she said someone would live, then they would live. And as an added bonus, the fact that Mia went to work on Karis against her companion's wishes might have meant that she was not yet beyond redemption.

A chilling thought occurred to her as she watched Mia bring Karis into the airship, however. If Lady McCoy was as evil as everyone kept saying she was, and if she was working for this evil organization that had originally brainwashed Mia, when... well, she might not take kindly to being thrown aside. In fact, if she was as crafty as she seemed, she might already be plotting revenge. And Mia was going on a trip with her, alone but for two sleeping prisoners.

Maddie had promised Rief that he would get a chance to save his mother. If she died en route to Tuaparang, or shortly thereafter, he'd never have the opportunity. She knew what it was like to lose a parent – both parents, in fact – and if she could avert that tragedy for another, especially one as important to her as Rief, then she would do it in a second.

As she stepped out from behind her hiding spot, Maddie spared a thought for her parents. If her information was accurate, they had both been killed, albeit indirectly, by the same woman who had just plunged a knife into Karis' back. Maddie loved her parents very much, and while her beloved stories had taught her long ago of the folly of revenge, she still felt it couldn't hurt to hurry along their killer's karmic retribution.

Ironically, Maddie realized that she might not technically be an orphan yet. Her biological mother might still be out there. But the woman who had raised her with the help of her biological father was still nearer and dearer than the old bat who ran away after her birth, so Maddie could not have cared less. It was time to move on, anyway. Start a new family. Maybe with Rief, if she could convince him. Which she knew she could.

As she hurried toward an uncertain fate, she planned a plan as quickly as she was able.


And so she stood before them, a 17-year-old commoner with a terrified-but-enthusiastic expression on her face, staring down one woman who had just tried to murder someone in cold blood, and another who could literally freeze her with a thought.

The fact that Maddie could still stand with her knees so turned to jelly really said something about her willpower.

Lady McCoy looked at Mia. Mia looked at Lady McCoy.

"Who's this brat?" Lady McCoy asked.

Mia shrugged.

"Uh, hi!" the girl asked. "I, uh, I mean... M-my Lady, I humbly request that you-"

Mia snapped her fingers, a smug smile gracing her features. "Aha! I know you! You're the girl who's got a thing for my son. Uh, Maggie, right?"

"M-Maddie."

"Right." Mia turned to Lady McCoy. "Yeah, she's harmless."

Lady McCoy shrugged.

Maddie cleared her throat, blushing furiously under the gaze of the opposition. It felt like she was standing naked in front of a massive crowd, not just trying to gain the approval of two women. They were watching her, scrutinizing her, judging her. Any misstep could-

No. Don't think that way. What would the Warriors of Vale do? Aside from being kidnapped and mind-controlled of course-

No. Don't think that way either.

"My Lady," Maddie began again, with some imagined confidence, "I humbly request that you allow me to join the two of you on your excursion."

The two older women stared at her blankly.

Lady McCoy raised an eyebrow. "And why should we do that?"

Maddie's confidence level fell several notches. She pushed the growing fear back and carried on. "Uh, because... because I'm useful to you. And because I just saw something I wasn't supposed to see."

Lady McCoy sighed and walked down the airship ramp. Mia put a hand on her shoulder before she finished exiting.

"You aren't allowed to kill this one either," she said. "She's sweet on my son, and trust me, that boy seriously needs to get laid."

Maddie agreed but made no indication thereof.

Visibly suppressing a shudder at Mia's comment, Lady McCoy stepped onto the grass. She gave Maddie a grudging once-over, and then sighed loudly.

"So why in the gods' names, dear girl, would you ever, EVER be useful to me? Answer well, because you are now coming with us one way or another, and your next words will decide whether it is as an associate or a captive."

Something in her voice set Maddie alight. Something about that harsh disapproval, that condescending tone...

"Because I can save you from your mistake," Maddie fired back. "Can we perhaps discuss this alone? No... prying ears?"

Lady McCoy raised an eyebrow again. She glanced back at Mia, who nodded.

"No murdering!" she called out. She pointed at her own eyes, then with the same fingers, pointed back at McCoy. I'm watching you, those fingers said.

Maddie gestured toward the darkness and led the way.


Ivan had pulled himself together enough to sit with his back to the wall when Sveta and Matthew walked in.

He smiled weakly and waved, trying to be a little friendly to them despite the fact that he really, really just wanted to be alone with his thoughts and his worries.

"Where is Caudgel?" Sveta asked. "Did you beat her? You appear to still be breathing, which means you did not lose... right?"

Ivan shook his head. "She won, alright. She beat me pretty handily, but... I guess she placed survival and escape over finishing me off. Not that I mind, frankly. How's everybody else?"

Matthew walked over and offered Ivan a hand up, which the older man gratefully accepted. Matthew had inherited his father's height, which meant that Ivan only came up to about his shoulder-level, but what he lacked in tallness he generally made up for in an indescribable presence, a sense that he was greater than his build would indicate. Right at this point, though... he just seemed short.

"Well," Matthew said, "I don't know about Garet and Felix, but at least the palace has stopped shaking. That might be a good thing. As for Mom and Dad, I think they might actually get back together, mostly thanks to Sveta." He rubbed his wrist idly for some reason that Ivan couldn't figure.

"Did she tell you anything, Ivan? Anything that seemed off, or... heartbreaking? Emotionally affective?" Sveta asked. "Because it was most likely a lie."

Ivan shrugged. "She didn't tell my anything outright, but... she, uh, laid out some facts, and... I guess she got me to accept that there's a possibility that..." He trailed off. He didn't want to say it.

Sveta nodded empathetically. "May I?" she asked, extending a hand toward Ivan's temple.

It felt strange to be on the receiving end of a request for mind-reading permission. He paused to consider the implications, made sure his thoughts were in order, and then gave a curt nod.

Sveta closed her eyes and began to pulse slowly with psynergy. Ivan felt some faint waves going out of himself and into her, and her eyelashes flickered slightly as she absorbed the information. At once, she scowled slightly.

"I see," she said simply after she pulled away.

Matthew looked at her in askance. She didn't respond immediately, but held her hand to her chin in thought for several seconds.

"Ivan believes there is a chance Karis may not actually be his daughter," she said. "Caudgel certainly seems to love the 'adultery panic' angle, does she not? Though I admit, that story, if true, would explain several things."

"Sveta, please-" Matthew began, looking frustrated and slightly alarmed.

But Sveta just carried on. "It would explain, for example, how you can be such a good person while she remains a heartless, bloodthirsty monster."

Ivan's heart sank for a moment when she admitted that his fears might be true. But when the full meaning in her message sunk in, he didn't quite know how to react. He was used to hearing insults toward himself or his family, but they were usually never spoken.

"Did you just call Karis a bloodthirsty monster?" he asked.

"A heartless one, yes. How else could-"

"Sveta, STOP-" Matthew shouted.

"How else could she have tortured me in that cell, Matthew?" Sveta roared. "Tell me! Give me ONE good reason! I thought she was my friend, but she kept activating those traps, again and again, until I was literally drowning in my own blood!"

Ivan didn't know what to think.

On the one hand, he didn't know Sveta very well. He wanted to be optimistic about her and say that if Matthew liked her, she must be alright, but so far, all of their previous interactions had taken place when she was near death or otherwise unable to act as she normally would. The Sveta that Ivan was speaking to, this hyperactive pity-hog, didn't seem like the kind of person one would rely on for honest information.

But... her sudden change in personality scratched at the back of his mind. She seemed helpful and happy, if a little annoyed for some reason, when she first walked in. The moment Karis came up, Sveta became cold and unforgiving. He had seen animals act that way when faced with something they associated with trauma. If Karis had actually put Sveta in the state they had found her in, for gods-knew-what reason...

Drowning in blood. Sveta had been torn apart slowly, bit by bit, at her most basic level by the psynergy traps. She would have been bleeding internally, including within her own lungs, which might actually have deprived her of oxygen eventually. And she would have felt every single tear along her skin, every split in her veins, every crack in her bones. How could Karis have missed that?

"Just hold on for a second," Ivan said in a soothing voice. It was an unfair trick to calm her down, especially considering that in doing so he was treating her more like a beast than as a human. But she wasn't thinking rationally, and it was the most effective way to get what he needed. "I understand that you've been through a lot, but this is... might be... well, we're talking about the girl I raised from infancy as my own. You're making some strong accusations, and if you wouldn't mind, I need a bit more evidence."

"Evidence!" Sveta spat. "You found me bleeding and dying on the floor, next to an empty and unlocked cell!"

Ivan shook his head. He raised a hand up toward her head, the same way as she had just a minute before. He held it in midair without touching her head, waiting for her permission.

She stared at it for several long seconds, eyes widening. "No. No, no, no..." she said. "I will not relive that. Not for a memory, not so you can prove to yourself that I might be speaking the truth!"

"Sveta, please, it's just a-"

"NO!" she cried, covering her head with her hands defensively and batting away Ivan's arm. "I am not doing it, I will not go back there..."

She began to hyperventilate. Ivan stared helplessly, gingerly bringing his hand back. He wasn't going to force the issue. Matthew drew Sveta in to a caring embrace, rubbing her back and caressing her hair. It calmed her a little, but she had already gone from terrified to sobbing, and her whole body shook as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Shhh..." Matthew said. "Shhh, shh shh shh... It's alright. You're safe now. I'm here, and I'm never letting anything like that happen to you again. Okay?"

She said something, then, but Ivan didn't hear because her voice was muffled by Matthew's jacket.

"Yes, I know it was dark, I know it was lonely," he whispered. "But you aren't there. You're here, and I'm here with you. You don't have to be lonely anymore."

Ivan shuffled awkwardly. He was tempted to find an excuse to leave – maybe to go find Isaac and Jenna, for example – but what he wanted more than anything was to find the truth. To do that, he had to read Sveta's mind, since she wasn't willing to explain the situation. Ivan would not hurt the girl to get the information he needed, but he certainly was not going to give up this easily.

Luckily, Matthew saved him the trouble.

"Sveta, you don't have to do it if you don't want," he said once her breathing had calmed to a normal pace. "But if you let Ivan read you, then we can both help you. I don't know what happened either, and Ivan can let me in on the memory too. Right, Ivan? I seem to remember Dad saying that you could transfer the messages from Mind Read by clasping hands, or something similar."

Ivan nodded. He hadn't tried it with something as complex as a whole memory, just smaller surface thoughts, but he was confident that it was possible to expand the concept.

"See? You only have to do it once, and if you do, then that'll mean I can see what happened too. That way, I can understand what you're going through a little better." Matthew hugged Sveta more tightly. "But again, if you don't want to, you can sit out. It's alright."

Sveta remained still, breathing silently for several agonizing seconds.

"...I am sorry for hurting your arm," she finally said, "and for threatening you."

Matthew nodded. "It's alright. It's tough, I know. I didn't realize it at the time. So will you help me to understand a little better?"

Sveta wordlessly released herself from Matthew's embrace. She looked in his eyes, wholly trusting, before taking his hand and leading him over to Ivan.

"Please tell me when you are ready," she said.

Ivan smiled in sincere gratitude. With his right hand he grasped Matthew's left, and with his own left hand he touched Sveta's forehead lightly.

"Everyone comfortable?" he asked.

Matthew closed his eyes. Sveta pursed her lips, but nodded.

"Then let's begin."


["'Let us begin,' he says," Sveta thought. "Easy for him to say."]

A nebulous black cloud whirled into existence. It began to solidify into a vague shape of iron bars, with some hints of ominous lighting and dreary stone. But all at once, the picture dissolved. The black void pushed itself back and away, a plain white field replacing it. Sveta pictured herself standing alone in it, accompanied by a taller beastman, two vaguely anthropomorphic figures wearing crowns, and a familiar blonde-haired human...

["...I apologize," Sveta thought. "I just... it takes willpower to face it, rather than just falling back into escapism..."]

The field, and those within it, faded slowly and peacefully, replaced once more by a void full of fog. Once again, the iron bars appeared first. The stone beneath Sveta came second. As that image sharpened, the rest of the prison was neglected, until the memory of the cell was complete and fully-formed. An identical cell flashed into existence next to it, followed by a stone wall topped with a nail and a keyring.

The memory froze.

Then, all at once, a menacing figure appeared in the next cell over.

While Sveta was bound, the next figure was standing unimpeded. It was clearly female, topped with a green ponytail. The figure's clothes were a blur of white with bits of purple, and her posture was both imposing and vaguely condescending. But the most noticeable parts were the hands, tipped with sharp, freshly bloody claws, and the face, mouth agape with razor-sharp teeth and eyes dripping with predatory hatred-

Then the figure vanished.

["Sorry."]

A simple, green-haired mannequin took its place.

Then it vanished again, and a green-haired mannequin appeared on the floor, chained to the wall.

The memory shifted its frame to center on the keyring.

And without warning, the mannequin glowed brightly, and a horrifying wind roared through each cell. It screamed for souls, it thirsted for blood-

The cells shattered violently, replaced at once by a dark void, filled with a feeling of comforting warmth, and the texture of a denim jacket.

The jacket disappeared, and in its place was a rhythmic thump-thump, thump-thump. A heartbeat.

["My heart still pounds. I can hear it. It means I am still alive."]

["I am still alive, and I am not dying."]

["None of this is real."]

["Okay."]

["I can do this."]

["...Alright."]

The wind returned. A hideous purple glow filled the air.

And then, PAIN-PAIN-PAIN-PAIN

[Ivan rocked back, only keeping the Mind Read active through sheer willpower. It took a moment for him to realize that not all the pain was in his head; his hand was being crushed in Matthew's grip.]

The pain stopped, the glow vanished, but the world was fuzzy. The cells slowly began to reform into existence. The keyring still hung from its perch, and the memory still focused on it.

"Please, no more!" Sveta begged. "Let us find another way."

The mannequin shook its head.

Glow. Horrible, horrible wind. Purple. PAINPAINPAIN

The dreamscape broke apart into several large pieces. They tried desperately to reform themselves as bits of the memory continued to play, but each time they came back together the pain shattered them once more. The pain persisted between scenes, and gradually changed from a searing shock to a stabbing ache to a horrifying ripping, and then the smell of blood was everywhere, and oh gods, there was no air, just water, and there was no escape...

The scene fell apart and stayed shattered for a few seconds.

["...It is not over."]

There was nothing visible at first.

Then, Sveta's cell began to knit itself back together. The other cell never reformed, nor did the stone wall or keyring. Her manacles were no longer present either.

But now Sveta was not alone.

The mannequin stood before her, a mockery of a human being. The shape was real, and one could see where all the parts should go. It moved like a human. But it had no soul. And where its soul should have been was a solid core of fear.

Sveta tried to crawl away, but the cell grew and grew and grew. The corner, and the safety it afforded, was so very, very far away. And Sveta was ever so small compared to the mannequin.

Wordlessly, the horror turned on its heel and walked out of the cell.

Sveta could not escape through the now-open door. She would never be able to cross the distance before she bled out.

Everything was blood.

...

...

["...That is all."]

...


Ivan let his hand drop and collapsed to his knees. He heard Matthew's footsteps, heard his cries of anguish and empathy, but they did not really impact his mind. He had more important things to think about.

Some parts of that memory could be explained. The keyring... Karis had been trying to knock it loose to free herself. She used Whirlwind to do it, which set off the traps. Sveta had begged her to stop, but Ivan realized that while Karis would not have known nearly the same pain, she might have felt a little twinge and mistook it for the same thing. That would explain the continuation. Hopefully.

By the time Karis set herself free, Sveta would have been completely out of her mind with fear, which would explain why she tried to escape... and why she used such a grotesque avatar for his daughter. The girl. Whatever.

...But there had to have been more. Why didn't Karis help Sveta escape? Why did she just leave the door open, with the beastwoman clearly unable to reach it on her own?

These were questions only Karis could answer. And though Ivan realized that most of the animosity he felt came from the memories he had just read, he couldn't help but feel incredibly, deeply disappointed in the woman he called his daughter.


AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Ehhhh... Sveta's section kind of got away from me. Otherwise there'd be more to this chapter. Sorry. But hey, at least I made the self-imposed deadline!

Let's see how long we can keep this going. Next chapter should be up Sept.15th in the evening, or Sept.16th in the wee hours of the morning.

Sorry for the repetition of stuff you guys already know, by the way. I just need to mention what stuff gets restated, so that I can call attention to the stuff that people still don't actually know. There's probably a simpler way to do it but I haven't thought enough about it yet. =P

Short review responses:

barefootbean: Well, "third generation" could mean many things. It DOES happen to take place around 50ish years after the Golden Sun, and it DOES contain the first instance of theoretical offspring from a human/beastman couple, and it DOES center mostly around original characters inspired by canon personae... but geez, that could mean anything, right?

Lumino: I think I went a little overboard with Sveta's meanness in the last chapter, but hopefully I did a good job of justifying it here. Sadly (luckily?) it's difficult to convey real, physical pain through written word, and I worry that I may not have spent enough time using sense imagery to get what she was feeling across, but I did my best with what I had.