Disclaimer: I still do not own Golden Sun.
"Yes!" cheered Ivan, grabbing his prize out of the dragon's mouth.
I grinned. "What'd you get?"
"Oh,
you got something?" Mia's voice carried over from her perch
along the edge of the fountain. "What?"
"Yeah,
what'd you get, Ivan?" Garet asked, sitting on the opposite edge
of the pool.
"Another
rapier!" Ivan lovingly unsheathed the thin blade. "Who
wants it?"
"I'll take it!" Mia piped up. "That
is, if Isaac or Garet doesn't want it."
I shrugged.
"Doesn't matter. I've got a good enough sword."
Garet
gestured to her. "Go on then, try it out."
The healer
carefully stood up, straightened her skirt, and took the blade from
Ivan. She tested it, almost hitting Ivan with the thankfully sheathed
rapier. "No, it's too heavy!"
Ivan shrugged and tossed a coin in. "Garet or Isaac then. Yes!" The dragon head extended, this time bearing a bag of coins. "Twenty coins!"
"Give it to Garet," I called, dipping my hand into the pool.
Mia shrugged and walked around the fountain to hand it to the Mars Adept. He swung it around a few times once Mia was safely away. "Heavy? Mt. Aleph, Mia, this is light as a feather!"
The Adept giggled. "It feels too heavy to me! Trust me, my staff is really light."
Garet
rolled his eyes and belted on the rapier. "I guess I'll go and
sell my old sword. Who wants to go with me?"
I pulled my
hand out of the soothing pool. "I will."
"Me too," Mia agreed.
Ivan shrugged. "I might as well go, also."
The man at the counter gave us a whopping five thousand, two hundred and fifty coins for Garet's sword. After that, we purchased a new staff for Mia since the rapier didn't work out. She hefted the "angelic ankh" in the air, trying out its speed. "I like it." she decided, satisfied. We made a few other purchases and left the shop.
I took a deep breath when we were all seated around the fountain again. I knew the others wouldn't like what I had to say-I didn't even like what I was going to say-but it had to be said.
"Everyone-" I started.
"We need to continue with our mission. Saturos and Menardi could be at the top of the lighthouse right now. I had lots of fun resting, but it's time to get back to business." Garet laughed when he saw my expression.
"Am I really that predictable?" I asked, feeling hurt.
"Well, any idiot could tell that Jenna and the lighthouses are all you've been thinking about." Garet told me.
Mia
laughed. "Any idiot, huh? Not just you?"
Garet made a
face and splashed some water at her. She squealed and splashed water
at him, but he dodged it and so, unfortunately, it missed and hit
Ivan instead, poised to throw his next coin.
The Jupiter Adept glared at her. "I just lost that coin! I could have gotten up to twenty coins!" In revenge, he threw some water at Mia.
The healer laughed again and dodged it, making it hit the unfortunate victim-me.
"Hey!" I shouted angrily, blinking the stinging water out of my eyes. "You watch where you splash that!" I collected some water in my hand, and, laughing, tossed it at Ivan.
I had a bad aim. I missed, and hit Garet instead. He spat, trying to get the water off his face. And so, blinded, he tossed water at me. It hit Mia.
The splashing conflict turned into a full-fledged water war. People were staring, but we didn't care. I was laughing so hard I was almost crying.
But slowly the splashing died down, and as soon as I could manage it without laughing, I continued in a more serious tone, "We really do need to get on with our mission."
Garet nodded. "Yeah, I know. We might as well go now."
I
nodded, grabbed my pack, and we headed out of Tolbi toward Suhalla
Gate. It was a moderately short, uneventful walk to the gate where
Iodem was waiting. The dark-haired man looked stern as always. "I
have been waiting for you, Isaac! We should go to Babi Lighthouse
soon."
I smiled regretfully. Iodem had been told about our
rest, and we'd planned to meet him today. It was still morning,
though, so it wasn't like he had been waiting too long. "I'm
sorry for the delay, Iodem."
He nodded curtly. "At least you have come now. We must not tarry." The five of us crossed the bridge in silence. We followed the twisting road and I wondered when it would stop.
Then..."Monsters!" cried Mia, who was taking up the rear. I promptly turned to see two short, stocky, hideous goblin warriors. They were dressed in full armor, but I wished that they had helmets that would cover their ugly faces. Mia was already summoning down an ice storm.
I gently pushed Iodem back. "You keep out of the way. We're the warriors here, and I don't want you getting hurt." That said, I faced our opponents.
I heard the flapping of wings and a monstrously sized bat fluttered down next to them. I called up my faithful attack. Ragnarok!
That took care of the bat. Time for the warriors. "Unhand those brave and noble knights and their protected but surely chivalrous companion!" Gust cried.
"Goblin warriors? Goblin warriors? Back in the time of the Golden Age, you murdered my sister!" Scorch got quiet for a moment. "Flame..." But then she charged at the warrior. Fire seared all over him. The goblin took a massive gasp...and fell.
The other goblin rapidly made an herb paste and applied it on his wounds. Flint!
"Goblin warriors have been known to kill even the greatest of-"
"Smog, just be quiet for once, okay?" I snarled.
"I'm ready-hey, where'd the enemy go?" Flint asked, confused.
I
glanced at the fallen bodies of the warriors. "We beat them
already."
Flint slumped, which is hard to do with no
shoulders or backbone. "What? Oh well, I'll go back on set."
After another half-hour, we were near to the town of Suhalla. It appeared to be relatively small and unimpressive. I figured we'd only make a brief stop here before heading on.
"I cannot say I am looking forward joyfully to this desert," remarked Iodem.
"Desert?!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Desert?! Nobody ever
said anything about another desert!"
Garet,
meanwhile was backing up slowly. "No, no, no, no..." he
chanted.
Ivan looked like he was going to cry. Mia did cry. "No! Not...another...desert..."
Iodem seemed rather confused by these responses. "It is only a mere expanse of sand, although prone to sandstorms. Why are you warriors so upset? You must have faced a desert before."
I
raised my eyes to meet his unhappily. "That's just the problem.
It was horrible. And not just the desert conditions, but the
way the desert conditions made us act. I never want to see another
desert as long as I live!"
"I can't believe this!"
Garet burst out. "How come Babi never told us about the desert?"
I was so upset I didn't even bother to tell him it was Lord Babi.
"I cannot speak for Lord Babi," Iodem said stiffly, regarding Garet coldly. Apparently he still hadn't gotten over Garet's remark about flattery.
"It can't be!" Ivan cried. "No!"
"Not another one!" Mia sobbed.
Iodem
glared at my companions. "No matter how bad the conditions were
in the desert, I would expect true warriors to hide their emotions."
"Oh, yeah?" Garet challenged. "Have you ever been to
the Lamakan Desert?"
"Well,
no, but-"
"Then you've got no right to talk about it
that way. It was horrible! I hated every second we had to spend in
that forsaken pile of sand!" Garet was shouting by now. "So
just shut up!"
There was a long, shocked silence after this
statement. Finally, I said diplomatically, "Garet does have a
point, but he could have put it slightly more...elegantly.
Should we continue on to Suhalla?"
Iodem nodded curtly.
"Very well." He shot one more glare at Garet then walked
toward Suhalla.
