DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Golden Sun. I'm practically broke, FYI.

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I was walking to Kalay on my own. Isaac had offered to go with me, but I refused. I could perfectly handle my own. Besides, I didn't want him to figure out how I got the Azure Flame. I didn't know how he would react, but I was sure he wouldn't exactly be happy…

It was a nice day. Some part of my mind told me to hurry, but another said to just slow down. Which, of course, I did. I sighed. I hadn't been attacked by any monsters. Either that, or they just ignored me. Or I ignored them. I never really found out why. Still, I didn't have to go through any fights…so far…

"Flare Storm!"

I barely managed to get out of the way in time before the attack hurtled at me with a deadly force. I snarled and immediately whipped around, drawing my javelin. I just barely managed to see that my attacker was disguised by a heavy, black cloak which overshadowed his face…why was he wearing something like that in this heat?! It wasn't like he was anywhere near Imil, or anything!

"Who are you?!" I yelled, a bit angrily.

He didn't bother to answer. Then he lunged at me, sword drawn and ready to kill. I managed to deflect the blade a few times with my javelin, until I finally threw him back with the force. Unfortunately, he wasn't ready to go down yet, and I sensed him summoning Psynergy…

"Pyroclasm!!"

This was much stronger than anything I could've expected. The flames completely caught me off-guard, and the last thing I remembered was being slammed up against a tree, which was well over twenty feet away. Luckily, I reoriented myself in time to see him coming at me again and quickly got up, defending myself with the javelin. I tried to attack, but it didn't seem to really much faze him. Then he swung the sword at me again. I quickly blocked it with the javelin, shoving him back again. Again, I asked, "Who the hell are you?! Why are you trying to attack me?!"

Again, he didn't answer. Metal clashed against wood yet again, and yet again he went right back. Man, how stubborn can this guy be?! I quickly ducked another attack, finally managing to get a hit in by slamming him in the groin with the javelin. He backed off for a few seconds, then swung the sword up high. I instinctively whipped the javelin up in a defensive stance to prevent my head from getting sliced off…then I realized it was a feint. Barely a half-second after I lifted up the javelin, the blade dipped suddenly, coming up under the javelin to meet its weak point. The wood could stand it anymore. It snapped in half. Oh, gods…that jerk broke my javelin!! He'll pay for that!! I ducked out of the way in time before my arm was slashed off and tried an attack of my own…the one that had finished off Judgment. "OMEGA FLAME!!"

The white fire once again engulfed my opponent. I sighed in relief, looking at the remaining pieces of the javelin. Aw, man…how am I gonna fix this? …Will I have to get a new one? Jeez…I've had this for ages, and it's never come close to breaking. Does that mean that it was getting weaker…or that he…? Bah, I'll never be able to tell. Oh well, at least he's gone—

Suddenly, I was slammed into the tree for the second time, only this time I was at the foot of it. I could see a gleam of silver for a split second, then anticipated the cold metal driving into my body…but it didn't come. I blinked and saw that the sword was hovering barely a millimeter above my throat. I didn't dare breathe. Then, my opponent maneuvered the blade so that it was holding up the Azure Flame. Oh, gods, he better not touch that… He drew back. I quickly scrambled up, grabbing the pointed half of the javelin. "Where did you get that?" he asked in a low voice, the first words he'd spoken since he attacked me. The voice hauntingly reminded me of someone.

"I…uh…someone gave it to me."

"A merchant?"

"No, of course not. Why do you wanna know?"

"That,"—he pointed the sword at it again—"is a very dangerous object, created of pure Alchemy. Where exactly did you get it?"

"Uh…" I reluctantly decided to tell the truth. "I…I won it. At Sol's Contest, in Sol Sanctum."

"And your request was the Azure Flame? Only the past bearers know of it, and they're all dead."

I froze up a little when he mentioned its name. Only the past bearers know about it… "How do YOU know about it, then?!"

"I asked first." He eyed the javelin half, still at my side. "That won't do you much good, by the way."

I growled. "All right…I didn't ASK for it…they just gave it to me, as a bonus. Now, how did y—"

"What did you request?"

"Hey, I asked first, this time!"
"Answer the question." He stepped closer, the deadly blade ever nearer.

"Uh…I…I wanted my father…to be resurrected…"

"Then he was a bearer."

"Exactly." I subconsciously noticed that the crystal had changed from light blue to dark, burning red. "Uh…I'm pretty sure that…he destroyed it…"

"Then why do you have it?"

"I told you already, they gave it to me! They probably just put it back together—"

"It shattered into more than ten thousand pieces and all of those pieces vanished a second later. You can't tell me they just 'put it back together'."

I paused. "Wait…how do you know all this?"

"I was the one who destroyed it."

"Then…then you're…" I froze. Is this really happening? Is he really my…father? But…why would he try to kill me? Oh, wait, he probably saw that I had the Azure Flame and figured I was up to no good… "Who…who are you?"

"…My name is Saturos."

I hesitated, then laughed. "Yeah, right. Suuuure. Real funny. Now, be honest."

"You doubt me?" he said icily.

That's when I realized…he wasn't lying. Wait a minute, wait a minute…this can't make sense! Saturos is dead, right?! So, how did he come back?! He had to have been…oh, gods…this can't be true… I snarled and looked to the skies. "All right, Ruun, this isn't funny!! …Hello?!?!"

Only silence answered.

I felt like I could just scream. This was all wrong…now, I would've preferred that Garet was my real dad!! No, wait, it had to be coincidence…someone else could've done something weird with a Psynergy spell and accidentally brought him back to life, and my real dad would still be around Kalay! That had to be it!!

That's when I suddenly remembered something…the white streak. After I had killed the Thunder Lizard, it had turned a darker blue than I had ever seen before. And now it was happening again. Is this some sort of cruel trick?! This can't possibly be true…!!

~

[A/N: I'm switching to Isaac's POV really quick, mostly since he hasn't been mentioned much in da story yet…]

It was getting to be late evening. Just barely a half-hour before, I saw Kierra storm into Vale, looking like she was ready to rip something into pieces. I considered asking her what was wrong, why she wasn't still in Kalay, then I decided against it. Of course I'd heard of her defeating the Thunder Lizard without any help; back in the Venus Lighthouse, years ago, it took nearly all of us to kill just one, and even then it wasn't an easy task. I didn't want to make her any madder than she already was. It didn't seem very wise.

Still, I hung around the house for a while, trying to remain inconspicuous. It was obvious that Matt and Garet were somewhere else, because I could hear fighting from inside…

"How could you let him do something like that to you?!" yelled Kierra angrily. The voice seemed slightly broken, but full of rage. But why…?

"Kierra, it wasn't like that!" came Jenna's desperate reply. "Please, just hear me out—"

"What's left to hear?! I know enough already, and now because of some stupid mistake, I just resurrected someone who should've stayed dead, whoever he was!!"

"What? Kierra, what are you talking about—"

"Just…just shut up, for a second!! This can't be right!" I could easily hear that Kierra was starting to panic, or something…but telling her mother to shut up? I was just as confused as Jenna.

"Kierra…just tell me what's wrong."

"No! I…I can't! They…Garet…and the others…oh, I'm such an idiot!"

"Kierra, please, just calm down!"

At that, Kierra stormed out of the house. Luckily, she didn't notice me, but I decided to follow, anyway. Something was definitely wrong.

~

Stupid! I yelled at myself in my head. Stupid, stupid, stupid!! Once Garet, or Isaac, or anybody finds out what I've done, they'll have my skin, I know it!! …But I can't just keep it a secret from them forever, can I?? Oh, this is so frustrating!!

I sat down at the foot of a tree some ways away from the general direction of where people lived…and, for one of the very few times in my life, I cried. Things weren't turning out the way I'd hoped them to.

It seemed like I'd been crying for a long time when I noticed someone standing in front of me. It was Isaac. The last person I wanted to run into. I quickly regained my composure, standing up and staring him defiantly in the eye. "What do you want?" I snapped.

"Kierra…" His voice was soft. "What's wrong?"

"…Nothing."

"Yes, there is. I could hear you fighting with your mother. Please, just tell me what's wrong."

I bit my lip. There was something about him that made me want to tell the truth. So I did. I told him about my "adventure" in Sol Sanctum, including the request I made, and the Azure Flame. But I didn't tell him about the results, though, except for the fight. I still didn't tell him who it was. He nodded. "So…I take it that you've met your father?"

I was expecting the question. I looked away. "Yes."

"Today?"

"Yes…"

"…Who is it?"

I was expecting that one, too. But how could I answer him? All in all, it would ultimately reveal the fact that I had accidentally resurrected public enemy #1. "He…he didn't tell me his name."

There was a pause. "Kierra…"

"What?"

He paused again. "Listen… When I first saw you, I could've sworn you were…an incarnation of Saturos, or something."

My eyes snapped up to meet his. That, most certainly, wasn't expected. I remained silent and he continued. "I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but…now I know. You have Jenna's beauty and his skill."

"And his curse," I muttered, brushing back the still-pale-blue lock of hair that had fallen in front of my face. I'd been proud of it before, but now I wanted nothing more than to cut the stupid thing off.

"Like it or not, it can't be changed. …Besides, Ruun would've turned down your request if she thought it would be a bad idea."

"Looks like she thought wrong, then."

"Would you just keep an open mind?"

"How can I? Not after he…" I faltered. The thought was too sick. "I know that my mother would never love a man such as him. Never."

"And despite that, she did."

I wasn't taken by complete surprise, but I still wasn't expecting him to answer like that. "How would you know, anyway? How would you know he didn't just want her for his fantasies?"

"I don't. But I do know that she loved him, whether or not he loved her back. At any rate, it doesn't matter now. He's alive."

Then, I became fearful. "Are you…are you angry with me?"

"No, of course not. We don't know if it's anybody's fault, or if he's come back with the intention of harm."

"Harm?! He tried to kill me!!"

"Because he had the same idea who you were as you did him."

"But, still—"

"He stopped as soon as he saw the Azure Flame, didn't he? He wasn't stupid enough to kill the bearer, plus with what he knows now, you should be plenty safe, so long as the other villagers don't find out."

"Yeah, but…" I suddenly realized something. "What about mom?!"

"I have a feeling she'll be safe, too."

I fell silent, trying to think. "…I still don't trust him, though."

"You have reason not to. But don't take it out on your mother, all right?"

"…Right."

"You okay now?" I paused, and nodded. "Good. Go back home…please, try to make amends with your mother."

"You promise not to tell?"

"I won't breathe a word of this to anyone. I promise."

"Thanks." I smiled, gave him a quick hug, and ran off in the direction of the house. Although…I couldn't help but shake off the feeling someone else had been listening to our conversation.