Ah...it's been 4 years since I last updated this story. I normally never do a foreword, but considering the circumstances and the fact it's been so long since I've written anything at all, I feel like I should. If nothing else I have to apologize to any readers that are still around after all this time. I've had this chapter half written for years and finally had the inspiration to at least finish it after coming across it all this time later.
Golden Sun is 20 years old now, which is crazy to think about, and it's been 18 years since the release of The Lost Age. I'm not sure if there are even still readers that care about this category anymore, but the original Golden Sun games are still my favorite games of all time and I hope any other fans out there will still appreciate fan fiction for it.
This chapter has been a long time in the making, but I hope anyone who does happen to read it still enjoys!
Chapter 11: Reunion & Respite
It wasn't as bright as normal in the morning when Mia woke up. The only hint of daytime was a dull glow off to the side of where she was sitting. With a sleepy yawn, the Mercury adept sat up straighter, allowing her eyes to open and take in the dimly lit cave that she and Issac had used as shelter from the sandstorm the day before.
Mia squinted as sunlight coming from the entrance lit up the tunnel, her eyes not adjusting well to the contrast in light levels after being in the dark for so long. Feeling a slight movement next to her, Mia looked over at the still sleeping Isaac with his head resting against a small corner shaped section of the rocky wall.
As she watched the blonde boy rest, Mia felt a smile creep onto her face. The feelings from the night before were returning to her, and a familiar warmth crept into her chest. It wouldn't have taken much convincing for Mia to just sit there and enjoy the moment together with the boy she had fallen for, but her body ached from resting in the same uncomfortable sitting position against the wall all night.
Deciding to stretch her legs a bit and loosen up, Mia gently lifted up the robe she was sharing as a blanket with Isaac and carefully tucked it more securely around the Venus adept. As she did so, she looked over Isaac's sleeping face, once again noting just how handsome she found him to be.
Good morning, Mia thought sleepily, watching over Isaac with a caring gaze. She didn't want to say the words aloud, as it might have been enough to wake her companion from his sleep. He looks so peaceful for once, she noted, not wanting to disturb his rest.
Without really even noticing it, Mia felt herself giving in to one of her desires from the night before, slowly leaning in until her lips were mere millimeters from Issac's. Just before she could kiss the blonde boy, she stopped suddenly, realizing what she was about to do. Frozen in place, Mia felt Isaac's body heat against her lips, as if telling her to close the tiny gap between them. Isaac's warm breath further egged her on as all seemed silent, save for her heartbeat and the rhythmic sound of the Venus adept's breathing.
A blush rapidly crept across Mia's face as her head finally caught up to her actions. Quickly sitting back a respectable distance from the blonde boy, Mia tried to calm herself by taking deep breaths to clear the haze of emotion from her mind.
It was an innocent thought, a natural byproduct of Mia's affection for the blonde boy, however the meaning behind it was everything to her. To Mia the kiss was like a silent declaration of her love for Isaac, but it wasn't what she truly desired. What am I doing? She asked herself. I don't want to just steal a random kiss from him like this when he doesn't even know…
I want to give him a kiss that means something...that he can see and react to… Mia clutched at her chest briefly as her heart rate temporarily increased again at the thought of that happening. Closing her eyes with another deep breath, Mia allowed that feeling to pass as well.
She couldn't help smiling as she looked back at the focus of her affection, but shook her head slowly at the same time. I can't believe that almost just happened, Mia thought incredulously. I may as well stretch my legs a bit as I intended and calm myself down as well.
Using a hand to help herself stand up, Mia could feel how stiffened up her muscles had become from the long night. "Ooof!" she exclaimed softly as she got up, not expecting the difficulty of the simple action. Standing up fully, she could feel a tenseness in her neck and back as well as some of her leg muscles that were cramped up under the robe they had been using as a blanket.
Slowly stretching back and forth in place, Mia could feel the muscles begin to loosen back up a bit and all it took was a few steps to help her legs get back into form. This wasn't as easy as I expected! Mia noted, rolling her neck around a bit to try to alleviate some of the stiffness.
Looking back over at Isaac once more to ensure he was still okay, Mia turned toward the exit back out to the desert and walked over toward it to assess the situation now that the night had passed. Though light gusts still blew into the tunnel like structure, they did not seem as strong as they had been previously, and Mia didn't hear the overbearing howling of the wind that had forced them there in the first place.
As she walked, it was clear the storm had subsided from all the sand blown into the tunnel lying inert on the ground. There was more and more sand the further she went, but nothing new was blowing inside. Upon reaching the entrance, Mia covered her eyes from the glare of the sun, being unused to the brightness after being out of direct sunlight for such a length of time.
Glancing around, the cerulean haired girl could see the usual winds of the desert, random gusts bowing sand in every which way, but no massive storm that had forced them to take shelter the day before.
I hope Ivan and Garet are okay out there somewhere, Mia thought, traces of worry for her friends building back up now that it would be possible to go outside and try to find them again. Her gaze swept over the surroundings near the cavern entrance as if Garet and Ivan would just randomly be there, but there was nothing but sand and rock. Mia shook her head and smiled slightly to herself at the thought. There's no way they'd just conveniently show up like that, she told herself.
With a last glance out at the desert, Mia turned and headed back to where she left Isaac. Her eyes adjusted to the darker section of the tunnel as she walked and found the blonde boy sitting up, greeting her with a smile as she returned.
"Good morning," Isaac said warmly as the Mercury adept came into his sight.
"...Good morning," Mia agreed, the words almost getting caught in her throat as her heartbeat increased slightly. Nerves seemed to be getting to her, which Mia found strange since she always considered herself to be comfortable around Isaac before.
"How was it out there?" Isaac inquired, guessing at the reason Mia had wandered off a bit.
Mia looked down at the blonde boy, who was folding up the robe they had used as a blanket, and shrugged. "Not much to see out there really," she replied. "There's still a lot of sand though," Mia added jokingly.
Isaac smiled and shook his head softly at the bad joke. "I can tell from here that the wind seems to have died down a bit at least," the blonde boy observed, getting to his feet and holding the folded robe out to Mia. "Thanks for this," Isaac added, nodding down at the robe as Mia took it from his hands.
"Of course," Mia replied with a warm smile as she began to gather what little they had with them in preparation to leave.
Isaac picked up his sword and buckled it to his belt, but seemed lost in thought as Mia joined him with her pack on and ready to go. "Wondering about Garet and Ivan?" Mia guessed, looking over at her companion to see if he would react.
Glancing out toward the exit of the tunnel they were in, Isaac replied with a simple, "Yeah."
Silence descended upon the pair as they remembered the circumstances that had split them up from the two boys the night before. You were saying they would surely be okay last night, Mia thought to herself with a glance over at Isaac, wondering if he was confident in that prediction.
"Well...we aren't going to find them in here," Isaac spoke up, breaking the silence that had accompanied his previous statement. With a nod, Mia agreed and the two adepts made their way over to the entrance of the cave system.
Glancing outside into the bright daylight, Mia shaded her eyes with her hand to look around. As expected, it was sand in every direction with no good indicators of where the other two members of their party had gone to. Fortunately Mia remembered following the smooth rock walls most of the way to the cave, letting her know which way they had actually come in from. "I'm assuming they continued onward someplace," Mia stated, letting her thoughts be known to Isaac as she looked off in the direction Garet and Ivan had presumably gone.
"You're probably right," Isaac replied, glancing in the same direction as the Mercury adept.
There was still a strong wind blowing past the pair as they stood in the entrance, messing up the hair of both, but not causing the same chaos as the massive sandstorm the day before. Stepping out into the desert once again, Mia staggered as a strong gust of wind hit her. Reaching out for support, she grabbed Isaac's shoulder to steady herself, while the blonde boy braced an arm against the rocky wall to get used to the force the wind had.
"That was a strong one!" Isaac exclaimed, speaking up to be clear over the wind.
Mia agreed as she steadied herself and dropped her hand from Isaac's shoulder. "This isn't anywhere near as bad as last night though," she replied, searching for anywhere up ahead that there might be cover for Garet and Ivan. "I can't imagine that Garet and Ivan could have gone far in that storm," Mia added, voicing her thoughts for Isaac.
"We'll just have to keep our eyes out as we continue on," Isaac answered, reaching out and grabbing Mia's hand as he started moving forward. Noticing Mia's surprise at the sudden gesture, Isaac shrugged. "Just in case," he stated simply, giving her a look of reassurance before a slight tinge of pink appeared in his cheeks and he turned back toward the path forward.
I suppose it will help us not get separated, the logical side of Mia's head determined as it tried to shut out the other half. Accepting the gloved hand, Mia held onto it as she began to move forward with Isaac through the buffeting gusts of wind that were threatening to knock them off balance. Both adepts wrapped their noses and mouths in scarves to protect them from the sand that was still being blown around and continued on in silence.
As the pair slowly made progress through the sandy desert, Mia searched for any signs of Garet or Ivan, but not much was coming up. Isaac's hand was a reassuring constant while they kept moving, reminding Mia that at least she wasn't alone while searching for the others.
Approaching a small outcropping of rocks, Isaac and Mia stopped under an overhanging rock where the wind was blocked off and much more calm. Dropping his hand from Mia's for the first time since leaving the cave and tunnels, Isaac looked over at the cerulean haired girl and briefly uncovered his face. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but this might be a more difficult search than we were originally thinking," Isaac said, getting straight to the point.
Mia nodded in agreement, a serious look on her face as she contemplated the various possibilities of what happened to Garet and Ivan.
If they got farther than we thought they would, this search will be much more difficult, Mia mused. The further out we go, the more possibilities it opens up for what happened to Garet and Ivan. They could be further ahead, or we may have already passed where they took shelter and just missed it. I suppose they could have somehow made it all the way out of the desert because they couldn't find shelter too…
Mia frowned at that thought because it brought up another conclusion she didn't particularly want to consider.
I have to assume they survived at least, she chided herself, not wanting to think about the alternative.
Isaac must have been considering the same thing. "We'll find them. I know they're still out there somewhere," he added with a reassuring tone. Mia glanced over at the blonde boy, watching as his normally unkempt hair danced in the sandy wind.
"We will," Mia replied, squinting in the sunlight as she made an effort to scan their surroundings. It didn't reveal much. Shaking her head, the determined adept turned back to Isaac and they both nodded. Onward was the only answer, and they both knew it.
The sand whipping around in the wind was mesmerising once Mia had a chance to really see it from relative safety. This time it wasn't nearly as strong as the night before, but the gusts certainly still had the ability to carry sand all across the desert.
A small whirlwind passed by right at the edge of the adept's range of visibility, fading into the distance. "We should probably watch out for more of those monsters," Isaac commented, continuing to look out in the direction the tornado had disappeared.
"With only the two of us, encountering one is probably not ideal," Mia agreed. Wrapping her face in her scarf again, Mia shouldered her pack and glanced to the side, seeing Isaac was doing the same and preparing to continue on. Looking back towards where they came from, Mia couldn't make out any other whirlwinds that might threaten their safety and the two adepts stepped back out into the buffeting wind.
Utilizing rocky outcrops and small sections of the desert that provided relative shelter from the sand and gusts, Isaac and Mia continued to make their way onward from where they had spent the night. As they continued forward, the pair kept their eyes out for any hint of Ivan and Garet or potential shelter they may have utilized for the night.
Adjusting her scarf as it fluttered in the wind, Mia did her best to keep the invasive sand from irritating her nose and mouth, though there was only so much that could be done about her eyes.
It's calmer than yesterday at least, Mia told herself, trying to find the positives in the current situation. Every now and then, both Mia and Isaac would turn around to glance behind them in addition to the left and right to ensure none of the whirlwinds whipped up by the lizards in the desert were creeping up on them from behind.
Unable to effectively speak to communicate, whenever one of them spotted a whirlwind that looked like it might cross their path they would reach out to grab the other's arm and move in a different direction to avoid it. This method proved to be quite successful, regardless of whether it was actively working or just luck.
Fortunately, the pair managed to keep their bearings and continue forward in the right direction by keeping in sight the large wall of rock that had been a constant on the right side of the desert during the crossing thus far.
A shadow appeared up ahead of Mia and Isaac denoting the presence of yet another sandy whirlwind. Both adepts averted their path once again, starting to angle away from it, but Mia stopped as Isaac tugged on her sleeve twice to get her attention. Still unable to speak, Mia looked over as Isaac pointed towards the shadow they were attempting to avoid and noticed that it hadn't yet faded out into the distance, but instead appeared to be slightly closer than before.
Will we have to backtrack to avoid this one? Mia wondered, looking around quickly at their options for escaping the path of the encroaching shadow. Isaac seemed to be squinting his eyes in the direction of shadow however, and his unflinching gaze caught Mia's attention as well, causing her to look again.
For a whirlwind there's not that much sand… Mia mused as she shared a glance with Isaac who had also noticed the same problem. If it's not one of those lizards then it has to be something else...something like...
Isaac turned his back to the wind to avoid as much sand as possible and leaned in close to Mia's ear to speak. "I don't think that's a lizard," he stated simply, summing up the initial observation the pair shared upon closer inspection.
Mia backed off to nod her agreement before turning the same way Isaac had to avoid the wind and whispering back. "Could that be one of them?" she asked, finishing her thought from just moments ago.
Both adepts glanced back at the figure that was definitely coming their way, and then nodded at each other. "Let's find out," Isaac voiced for the two of them, and with a nod from Mia they adjusted their scarves once again and started to make their way towards the approaching figure.
We haven't seen any other creatures than the lizards and whirlwinds so it's probably worth the risk to find out, Mia surmised as she looked out into the distance, hope rising that they would be reunited with Ivan and Garet.
Continuing onward, it was clear that the approaching figure was human after all, and while it was technically possible it could be some other traveler, Mia couldn't imagine anyone else was as reckless as they were about trying to cross the desert.
As the two sides got closer, Isaac and Mia could make out the distinctive red hair of Garet and picked up the pace, hurrying towards one of the friends they had been looking for. As the two sides reached each other Garet came up and put a hand on the shoulder of Mia and Isaac, clearly indicating he was happy to see them. Mia smiled as she imagined the goofy grin Garet was undoubtedly hiding with his mouth covered against the sand.
Not wanting to talk out in the open with the sand still swirling about, Garet simply said, "This way," before motioning for Isaac and Mia to follow as he turned back towards where he came from.
Mia felt a sense of relief wash over her and was able to relax considerably, letting go of the tenseness she had been feeling not knowing where Garet or Ivan were. Despite having no confirmation of Ivan's presence, Mia figured it was likely that Garet was with him or at least knew where he would be.
Garet ended up leading them to another cave entrance similar to the one Isaac and Mia had taken shelter in for the night and ducked inside, embracing the sweet relief from the sand and wind.
As Mia followed behind, she loosened her scarf and took a breath of cool, fresh air from inside. Garet led them a bit further inside where there was more room to move around and where the tents and camping supplies he and Ivan had been carrying were all set up.
Ivan peaked out of the tent where he had been organizing some supplies at the sound of approaching footsteps and smiled as he saw Garet with Isaac and Mia in tow. "Boy are we glad to see you," Garet finally said as he turned back to face the two adepts he pulled from the winds.
"Same here," Mia said as Garet first gave Isaac a big hug before moving on to Mia.
"He won't admit it, but Garet was seriously worried about you two," Ivan stated, shrugging at the scene in front of him.
Isaac laughed and looked around as Garet fired back at Ivan saying, "Don't give me that. You were just as worried as I was!"
"It looks like you two were living the high life," Isaac joked and he and Mia stepped forward into the camp and sat down next to Ivan.
That got a laugh out of the two boys and the joking reunion masked the relief all four felt at seeing their friends safe and sound again.
Garet decided not to take Isaac's comment lying down though. "You know...If you two wanted to be alone that badly there were better ways to do it," Garet said, putting his arm around his best friend and locking him in to try to prevent retaliation.
Isaac wormed his way out of Garet's arm lock and gave the fire adept a playful punch as Mia felt a blush creeping into her face while looking anywhere except where Isaac was sitting next to her. Garet didn't notice and was too busy defending himself from Isaac while laughing, but Ivan glanced over at Mia's embarrassed demeanor before smiling and shaking his head slightly at the joke.
Isaac sighed and shook his head as well before changing the subject. "Well anyway, we're still glad we found you at least," he said. "We figured you had to be ahead of us, either outside the desert entirely or another place like here," Isaac added, indicating the cave around them.
"We weren't sure what to do after getting separated," Ivan replied, prompting the rest of the party to turn towards him. "I assumed that with you getting lost someplace behind us you would either come searching for us up ahead or try to make it out of the desert to meet up with us."
Garet nodded. "Either way you had to pass by the general vicinity of where we were, so Ivan and I have been taking turns searching the area around this cave to try to catch you guys passing by."
"That makes sense," Mia interjected. "We probably would have kept going in that same direction to either find you or the end of the desert, so I'm glad it worked out."
Ivan shrugged. "We got lucky to meet up again so quickly probably," he said. "Our plan was to be on the lookout for both of you for two days before trying to get out of the desert ourselves and meet up with you there."
"We figured if we didn't catch you in two days, you probably already would have passed us and would try to wait for us in a better environment," Garet explained. "The one thing I don't get is why you looked like you were running away when I did find you though," Garet added with a frown.
"Ah...that…" Isaac trailed off.
Mia giggled. "Well Isaac did mistake you for one of those tornado lizard monsters at first," she said.
"What?!" Garet exclaimed as Ivan burst into laughter and Isaac looked slightly embarrassed.
"Hey, we both started moving away from him," Isaac said to Mia, trying to drag her into it as well. Mia just shrugged and feigned innocence, failing to hide the smile giving away the charade.
"He does kind of look like one though," Ivan said, poking Garet as he couldn't help taking the opportunity to make fun of him. Garet replied by conjuring up a flame in his hand and holding it over towards Ivan.
It was an empty threat and everyone knew it, but Isaac handled the situation by explaining that there was only one of him so all he could see was a blurry shadow in the distance.
"Fair enough," Garet said with a "humph!" and crossed his arms while still looking sideways at Ivan.
Mia glanced around at her companions with a smile. It's nice that we're able to joke like this no matter what situation we find ourselves in. We've all truly become good friends. With everyone settling down, silence descended among the group, each person lost in their own thoughts. The sound of the wind was the only thing accompanying them.
"It's still pretty rough out there huh?" Ivan asked eventually.
"Yeah…" the rest of the group nodded to confirm.
"We're going to need to decide how to proceed forward eventually," Ivan added. "I'm not sure about these winds slowing down anytime soon and we certainly don't want to get caught in a sandstorm like yesterday."
Isaac looked pensive and Garet furrowed his brow as they considered what to do next. Shortly after, Isaac spoke. "I see two options for us," Isaac said with Ivan nodding and confirming he was on the same page. "First we can try to wait out the worst of the wind and move on when it's easier to navigate," Isaac explained. "That makes the risk of being in the desert much less than it would be otherwise and would help avoid a situation where we potentially get split up again."
Isaac sighed. "I'm not sure how realistic that is though. We all heard the warnings before entering the desert and these winds might not let up at all," he said.
"Not to mention that every day we delay, we lose time to Saturos and Menardi," Garet pointed out.
"True," Isaac replied. "Which is why pressing on is something we probably need to do. Going back out there is not ideal, but I'm not sure we have a choice."
Mia considered the options as well. "What if we try waiting it out a day to see if it gets any better?" she offered. "We could probably use the rest as well. Trekking through this desert is exhausting so half a day of rest might go a long way...and shouldn't significantly impact our attempt to catch up to Alex and the others."
"That's….not a bad idea," Ivan voiced in support of Mia's plan.
Garet nodded as well. "We didn't sleep all that well since we were worried about the two of you, but I imagine you had it worse with no tent or anything for the night."
Isaac hesitated for a moment, clearly wavering between duty and the reasonable approach Mia proposed, but eventually smiled and agreed. "Yes. Let's do that."
"I'm going to catch up on sleep then," Garet said, realizing the plan of action was decided and that he hadn't slept for a while after being on second shift with only himself and Ivan to cover a watch the night before.
After Garet left, Mia turned to Ivan and asked, "Did you two split a watch last night?"
Ivan confirmed it with a quick reply and nod of his head. "What about you and Isaac?" he replied.
Mia looked to Isaac briefly before answering. "We...fell asleep at some point," she admitted.
Ivan shrugged. "With the way things were, we debated how necessary it was to actually perform a watch as well, but ended up doing it after all. It was probably fine not to though," the blonde boy said.
"You should go rest as well then," Isaac interjected. "We'll wake you up for dinner, and I'll take an early watch tonight as well to help out," he added.
"Same with me," Mia interjected before Ivan could reply. "If you were up for half the night, you must be tired too!" she exclaimed.
Ivan smiled at the thoughtfulness of his two friends. "Very well, very well. If you insist, I'll go take a quick nap then," he said before ducking inside the tent he shared with Garet.
Isaac watched him go before turning back to Mia. "You can rest too if you want," Isaac said. "I know the sleep we got last night probably didn't count for much," he added.
Mia shook her head with a smile on her face. "That's kind of you, but there's no need. Sleeping against the wall was a bit odd, but I didn't feel all that uncomfortable," she told Isaac truthfully.
I had a warm shoulder to lean on after all… Mia thought, remembering the content feeling of being with a familiar person when uncertainty was all that lay ahead. Isaac just smiled and accepted the answer, perhaps having an inkling of understanding due to shared circumstances and feelings that came about because of them.
"Well, I guess it's us two figuring out some dinner then," Isaac stated, giving Mia a smile, though he didn't immediately go looking through their packs for food just yet, opting instead to look out toward the entrance to the cave they were in with a more somber expression.
His demeanor didn't get past Mia though. She observed for a brief moment before speaking up. "You have something on your mind, don't you?" Mia asked directly.
Isaac looked over at Mia and gave her a smile, knowing she had seen through him as usual. Mia didn't push any further and instead waited for Isaac to reply.
"You remember the conversation we had after the Lamakan Desert?" Isaac brought up.
"Mmm…" Mia mumbled briefly in thought. "About the changing environment?" she asked, thinking back to a campfire just outside the hottest desert on the continent.
"Yeah…." Isaac answered. The blonde boy glanced towards the entrance of the cave once more before indicating everything outside with his hand. "Doesn't all of this feel similar to you?"
Mia listened to the sounds of the wind and sand echoing from outside the cave. "It...does sort of remind me of that," she said. "I suppose the elements are once again out of control…"
Isaac looked back at Mia before continuing. "It certainly seems that way," he stated. Silence fell between the pair for a moment as both contemplated the implications of these phenomena.
"That said…" Isaac spoke up. "I find myself wondering about the elements involved," he finished. Isaac hesitated for a moment but then explained. "The Lamakan Desert was brutally hot. That's obviously related to the element of fire right?" he asked.
Mia nodded. "That makes sense I think," she replied.
Isaac paused to consider for a moment. "And now we are seeing these winds in the Suhalla Desert…" he added.
Mia nodded again, starting to see where Isaac was going with this. "The sandstorm as well…" she commented, predicting what Isaac would touch on next.
"Exactly," Isaac confirmed. "The wind is obviously the main source of disturbance here, but sand could be attributed to the earth element as well."
Mia frowned. "People used to cross these deserts right?" she said, thinking about the border towns and cities that had a history of trade across the region.
"As far as I know, they did…" Isaac replied, knowing that he wasn't exactly an expert on the subject. The poor condition of Ivan's hometown made a perfect example of the issues presently facing cities that relied on trade as a means of existing.
"If parts of the continent keep getting cut off from each other like this, it's going to be a major problem for a lot of people I think," Isaac said, getting to the root of his concern.
That thought scared Mia for a minute as she imagined each town they had passed through on the way here slipping more and more towards the state Kalay was in when the group of adepts came upon it. "That's…." Mia cut herself off, not sure how to voice the emotions she was feeling while considering the possibility.
"Yeah…" Isaac couldn't help but to agree, understanding what was on Mia's mind.
The two adepts once again sat in silence, trying to process their experiences with the two deserts and people they had met along the way.
"Fire...Wind...Earth..." Mia mumbled, just loud enough for Isaac to hear her. She listed off the three elements present in the two vastly different deserts that were inhospitable for completely separate reasons.
What about Water though? Mia found herself wondering.
Isaac must have had the same thought because he addressed the lack of water when he spoke up. "Only the Mercury Lighthouse was lit, and yet these three elements are the ones causing issues…" the blonde boy mused.
"Are you saying the elements are….out of balance?" Mia voiced in a wavering tone.
Isaac's brow furrowed and he looked even more serious as Mia reached the same possibility he himself was considering. "It's possible…" he stated vaguely, but decided to hastily follow up before Mia replied. "That line of thinking brings us back to the Lighthouses though…" Isaac added, leaving the rest of his conclusion unsaid.
"But if that's the case…" Mia started to say before cutting herself off as well. If that's the case then the imbalance is because the Mercury Beacon is lit...and the other's aren't, Mia finished in her head.
"So if one beacon is lit….the others…." Mia broke eye contact with Isaac and looked off toward the wall of the cave. Is it already too late? She asked herself. With the first beacon lit, did a chain of events get set in motion that isn't possible to stop?
That was a sobering thought, doubly so because the lighthouse that was lit was the one Mia's own Mercury Clan was sworn to protect. The cerulean haired girl brought her gaze back to Isaac who was sitting in silent contemplation, but seemed not at all surprised by the line of thinking Mia had gone down.
"There were Mercury events too though," Isaac said, noticing Mia's troubled look. "It's not like those three elements were the only ones...but all the Mercury elements were because of monsters; not like the two deserts…" Isaac explained.
That got Mia's mind thinking. "The Kraken?" she questioned, looking for Isaac's confirmation.
Isaac nodded, affirming that was one of the answers he had arrived at.
"The mines as well…" Mia mused, thinking back to the water spewing monsters that had awoken and flooded the town of Altin before being dealt with.
"Kolima Forest too," Isaac pointed out since Mia has not been with them for the original trek through the area. "There was a lot of flooding in the forest, and the entire forest was dying off before we healed the tree in the center."
Mia nodded. "I remember that part with the water from the Lighthouse…"
Isaac shrugged. "Those events all share some similarities with the deserts and are related to the water element, but they were still related to monsters as well," he said.
Mia was pensive as she considered the encounters thus far. "Well...it's true all the Mercury events were related to monsters," she admitted. "There was that Manticore in the Lamakan Desert though...and all these tornado lizards whipping up whirlwinds here," Mia pointed out. "If we think about it as the environmental disturbances being caused by monsters, then perhaps they aren't actually that different."
"If that's the way it works then our current predicament is worse than I thought," Isaac stated suddenly.
Mia looked over at Isaac with a puzzled expression, wondering what he meant.
"The statues in Altin...the Manticore in the desert...the Kraken on the sea…...and now this wind from those lizards here…" Isaac started to explain. "With the wind as bad as it is and with that sandstorm yesterday, I can't see those lizards we encountered before having the power to make the environment this harsh across the whole desert."
Mia paled as she realized what Isaac was implying. If these lizards aren't enough to cause the winds and sandstorms…
"You're saying there's another one out there aren't you? A larger one…" Mia surmised.
Isaac nodded and Mia gulped reflexively out of nervousness. "If that's the case then it certainly seems likely…" Isaac confirmed.
Mia thought back to their previous encounters with the Manticore and then the Kraken. In both cases we were unable to avoid injuries as well… That was a thought that worried Mia, especially with how the Kraken encounter ultimately played out.
"So there's potentially something very big out there causing these winds," Mia stated, getting used to that possibility. Frustrated, she eyed her weapons laying on the ground near one of the tents and raised her voice slightly asking, "Are these monsters just going to keep getting stronger and stronger?"
Isaac shrugged helplessly even though he could tell it was a rhetorical question.
"You almost died last time you know!" Mia exclaimed, clearly worked up a bit, but still trying to keep her voice down in consideration of Ivan and Garet. "I don't want anyone to get injured, but it worries me that if things keep going like this someone will eventually get hurt beyond the point healing can fix," she vented, feeling helpless about the situation as well.
"I know," Isaac replied. "It's a problem, and other than continuing to get stronger I don't know what to do about it," Isaac stated.
Mia let out a sigh and tried to let go of the tension building up in her body as it would do no good and only make things more stressful.
"It's actually something I had been thinking about before this as well," Isaac added.
"You mean getting stronger?" Mia asked.
Isaac nodded in response. "Saturos was severely weakened by the lit beacon when we fought him on top of the Mercury Lighthouse. Sure we had just met you so we couldn't coordinate as well, and Garet was also experiencing negative effects from the beacon, but there were four of us and we still barely beat him in his weakened state." Isaac paused for a breath. "If we were to fight him now, especially with the addition of Alex or Menardi, who would win?"
Mia frowned, recognizing the truth behind Isaac's words. There really wasn't any way to know what would happen if the two sides actually did meet, but the outlook Mia envisioned wasn't a positive one.
"We need to get stronger," Isaac asserted with confidence. That quick glimpse of the Isaac that was sure of himself and sure of his actions did not last long however. "We need to get stronger...but we also need to catch up to the other group before they can keep lighting more beacons." Isaac shook his head. "It takes time to get stronger, but time is the one thing we don't have. Between the monsters getting stronger and the need to prevent more lighthouses being lit..."
Mia lifted her hand and placed it on Isaac's shoulder in a show of support. "We may not have a lot of extra time, but we'll all do the best we can with what we have and keep moving forward."
"I've always tried to manage time the best I can," Isaac explained. "I know we can't always keep pushing on endlessly and that we need some downtime to stay in good condition, but time isn't on our side either, and I really don't have any idea what I'm doing when trying to manage both," Isaac confided to the Mercury adept next to him. "It seems like an impossible task," he said.
Mia tried to give Isaac a comforting smile and squeezed his shoulder gently in reassurance. "None of us know what we're doing really," Mia stated. "I'm just figuring it out as I go along, and I suspect the same is true of those two," she said, indicating the tent where Garet and Ivan were at.
"I don't think anyone expects you to have all the answers or to be perfect all the time," Mia added. "We're all human. We make mistakes. I think that you're right about needing to get stronger. I'm worried about what the future holds as well and I don't want anyone to get hurt, but we must still hurry to stop the beacons from being lit, and have to continue to move forward as best we can."
Mia was able to give Isaac a truly genuine smile this time. "You try to take too much responsibility on your own, and I think that's hard on you." She dropped her hand from Isaac's shoulder, but made sure he was looking over before saying, "We're all in this together. Your worries are my worries too."
Isaac closed his eyes briefly and let out a small sigh as he said, "You're right." The blonde boy smiled as he looked over at Mia. "We all need to just do our best together...and that will have to be enough," Isaac decided.
It was rare to see Isaac in a moment of weakness, but Mia felt grateful to have the opportunity to be there for him when he needed the support.
"I was worried about delaying ourselves further in the desert today seeing how we're running out of time before coming upon the Venus Lighthouse, but I feel a lot better about it now," Isaac admitted with a smile.
Feeling that the conversation was coming to an end, Mia started to pull out everything they needed to prepare a meal for the day as Isaac finished his thoughts and joined her.
"I'm sure a small delay like this won't make or break us catching up in time to save the lighthouse," Mia answered.
Isaac laughed. "Hopefully not or we'll be kicking ourselves later," he replied.
Mia laughed along with him, choosing to find humor in a situation that seemed entirely out of their control.
Isaac turned his back to Mia as he was rummaging through one of the packs for more food to cook. "Oh...and Mia…" he started saying.
"Hmm?" came her reply.
"Thank you," Isaac said.
"I'm not sure what I would do without you."