Twelve Lords of Venus A-Leaping

Chapter Three Of A Golden Sun Christmas Story

"I'm open to explanations," said Isaac. "Please?" His attitude could easily be understood, considering what he saw in the back of the cave. There were candles lit, glowing with a purple flame that nevertheless cast light as pale as the sun on the walls. Ivan and Sheba were kneeling on what looked like a blanket, as though they had been crawling around a moment earlier. Now they were frozen, staring at Isaac.

Ivan took a breath. "It's a game from Kalay called Twis-" he began, but Sheba cut him off.

"Ivan, just tell them," she said, looking apologetically at Isaac and Garet.

"Tell us what, exactly?" asked Garet, with the tone Isaac had learned meant he didn't really want an answer. Ivan knew it too, and stared in disbelief for a moment before letting out a single laugh.

"No, Garet, nothing like that," Ivan said, sighing. He crawled further aside, and in the light Isaac and Garet saw that it wasn't quite a blanket after all.

"It looks sort of like a map," said Garet. He angled his head to try to see the shape better. "Vale?"

"And what are those?" Isaac got down on his knees and looked closely at the tiny purple lights scattered across the map. They were like ghosts- transparent, but still there, and in the shapes of the villagers. In fact, Isaac saw one that looked like himself, kneeling and staring at the ground.

"This has something to do with the chaos out there, doesn't it?" accused Garet. Ivan and Sheba exchanged guilty looks.

"We may have-" Sheba began.

"-miscalculated," Ivan finished, with a worried grin. "I guess we should have considered the feedback-"

"-spread them out more-" continued Sheba.

"-though all told it's hardly a failure," said Ivan.

"Where's it going?" asked Picard for about the sixth time.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," replied Felix yet again.

"Want to go for seven?"

"We're almost at the Sanctum, Picard. It's a long way to roll."

"Just trying to keep alert," the Lemurian replied. The sun was on its way to setting and the snow had started falling again, with a biting cold wind thrown into the deal. And still the snowman was moving, purposefully and ruthlessly. That was how it seemed to Picard, though there was no reason why he should think so. Snow isn't considered one of the more emotional types of precipitation.

"Is it getting taller?"

"What's hardly a failure?" said Isaac, poking the shape of himself and watching it poke the ground.

"Call it a Christmas gift," said Sheba. "The courage to do what you really want to, say what you really mean. Jupiter is, after all, the element of the mind," said Sheba. "It's easy to influence someone to do what they want."

"Influence?" repeated Garet.

"Not so much influence. Speaking to their minds, encouraging them," said Ivan.

"I thought you had to be close for that," said Isaac, now searching for the tiny purple Mia.

"Ordinarily yes, but you know how much Djinn can boost our powers. And they're small enough to go unnoticed, especially when they're hiding. Even the leaves of a plant can work," said Ivan, who was over the discovery and shifting into bragging mode. It was a good plan, Garet had to admit.

"You're the ones who hung those mistletoe bunches everywhere!" he realised. "Last night you were trying to clear the snow away so that you could get back into the inn, but it couldn't have taken you that long-"

"Unless I was busy setting this up while everyone was asleep. Good work, Garet," said Ivan.

"Patronise me one more time and I'm going to do something unseasonal to you, Ivan."

"Leave him alone, Garet," Isaac said, standing up. "I do owe you a swift kick to the head, though." He started back towards the entrance to the cave.

"You're just going to leave them?" said Garet, not moving.

"Not my place to judge other people's gift choices," said Isaac, and kept walking. But somewhere inside his head he was back onto the Hallelujah thing, dancing as a plan came together.

"Taller?" repeated Felix.

"Yeah," said Picard, pulling his cloak closer around himself as the wind howled and slashed ice at them again. "Like the snow it's… walking on, I guess… is sticking to it. Making it bigger."

"Don't give it ideas, thanks," said Felix, grinning at Picard. They reached the sanctum plateau, just before the path to Mount Aleph began. The snowman slowed its pace, then stopped.

"You think the cold got to it?" suggested Picard.

"A snowman?" replied Felix. Nothing more needed to be said.

It turned around to face them. Felix stared at the mouthless face, wondering why he felt as though it was grinning mirthlessly at them. The fading light of the sun broke through the dark clouds, glinted strangely for a moment off an eye, and suddenly he understood.

"Those are Psynergy Stones!" exclaimed Felix. "It's gone sentient! In fact, with all that raw power…"

"It's like those nightmare monsters, isn't it? The ones that used to be animals?" asked Picard. "Balance Day strikes again. How long before blood is drawn, do you think?"

"Stop tempting fate, Picard." Then the snowman did something strange. Its stick arms reached up and pulled its head off. Then, holding on carefully, it leapt forward onto the beginning of the steep slope. The lower ball started rolling, getting bigger very quickly, while the arms kept its head safe and able to see as clearly as possible in the snowstorm that was growing.

"You just know that can't be good. Hey, it's heading for the plaza! If it hits the Psynergy Stone…" Felix looked to Picard, and found that he wasn't listening. The Lemurian was staring at the ground, apparently considering what to do.

"Ice Shear!" he called at last, and blades of ice stabbed up from the ground. With all his considerable strength, Picard struck one of these with his palm, and it snapped off cleanly. He did it again, caught the second, and threw it in front of Felix. "We'll never catch up any other way."

"I'm still working on what this way is," said Felix, confused, but Picard moved instead of telling him. He leapt onto the massive shard and pushed off the ground with one foot. The smooth ice slid easily on the snow, and Picard started moving quickly, if uncontrollably, after the rolling creature.

Shaking his head, Felix stepped onto his own shard and pushed off, already bracing for the inevitable impact.

"Anything happen while we were away?" asked Garet, approaching Jenna and Mia.

"Things have started to calm down a bit," Mia said, waving an arm at the very slightly subdued party. No one was attacking anyone any more, at least, and Dora had stopped dancing on the table. Isaac was mostly silent as he got some more food and sat with the others.

Da da da dada da dah… Yeah, that's good. And then that, yes… said his subconscious, critically.

Am I hallucinating? You actually like it?

Sure I do. You just have to get the timing right. Make it spontaneous and you'll manage it.

Just waiting for her to say one thing now, and it'll be perfect.

"Oh, brilliant plan!" shouted Felix, flying over a ridge, ricocheting off a tree and continuing on, spinning as he went. "Yes, let's remove what traction we still have, just in case there's a chance that we were going to live to see the dawn!"

"If you would just keep your eye on where you were going," said Picard, going airborne as he shot over a drift, "you wouldn't have these problems."

"If I would stop listening to you, I wouldn't have any problems!" said Felix, scraping against a large rock.

"I'm the best friend you've ever had, Felix. I keep you from listening to yourself. There it is!" Picard bent over, getting into a crouch on the ice board to pick up speed as they caught up with the snowman. One of its arms was now using snow from the body, which was getting to be huge, to make the head bigger as well.

"What, exactly, do we do now that we've caught up with it?" asked Felix, crouching like Picard but with an added death grip on the edges and a look of suppressed terror in his eyes.

"I do solutions, not plans," Picard shot back. "I think we try to stop it."

"Oh good, perhaps we should try to dazzle it in a match of wits? Develop a logical and moral argument as to why it shouldn't crush any of the villagAAAAAAH!" Felix had struck a small, deeply set rock head on, causing his board to work along the same principles as a catapult and launch him forward at the speed of fear just before it shattered.

"I suppose tackling it isn't a bad idea," Picard admitted, watching bemusedly.

And now Isaac was waiting. He didn't speak much as the sun went down, even as some of the villagers started lighting Sol Wreathes. Four of them, an Adept of each element, would take hold of one of the shining rings and charge it with Psynergy. An emerald would flare with Venus power, the Mars sought out the ruby, Jupiter was held in an amethyst, and the Mercury gem was a sapphire. Then gold sparks would begin to appear inside the spiralled metal, floating outward into an aura like the very sun.

Isaac hadn't said anything because he didn't want to miss his chance. Mia, despite living in Imil and being a Mercury Adept, wasn't one for cold, and was occasionally shivering. Knowing that he was making his plan that much harder, Isaac moved closer, trying to act as a windbreak for her.

"I hope that chili's gonna be ready soon," said Garet. "Powers of Mercury indeed- it's flipping inhospitable, that's what it is." For a moment, as words flashed in his mind, Isaac wondered if the Venus Spirit was helping him.

"Stop complaining, Garet," he said, feeling like he was reading a script.

"I don't blame him," said Mia, and Isaac's heart leapt with hope and fear. "It is really cold in this valley." Knowing it was now or never, Isaac stood up and began to sing.

"It's true the world can be cold

Sorrow will seek those whose hearts are alone

But for those who have love

It all falls away

Even when push comes to shove

Your soul will dance through each day…"

Mia was staring at him with what Isaac prayed at a fundamental level was awe, or amazement, or something like that. Garet was silencing the people around them. Inside the cave, Ivan and Sheba looked at each other and said "Didn't expect that." Outside, Isaac went on.

"Peace is on the wings of a dove

But no wings have ever caught

The beauty of love

Always when you're far apart

Your world has begun to unroll

Love is that music in your heart

And the boldness in your soul…"

Jenna, who had wandered off to yell at the chili-makers a bit -to warm up, if nothing else- entered the plaza again and heard a familiar voice filling the air. A voice she had joked many times she never wanted to hear singing.

Isaac was now standing on the table, singing in a voice that was not like anything quite so much as night wind and starlight. Jenna found herself thinking this and shook her head. Very carefully, because every moment that passed more villagers stopped what they were doing and listened to the song, she checked to make sure he was definitely singing to Mia. She was sitting there, captivated so closely that she didn't seem to notice anyone else around her.

Now assured, Jenna got in a little closer so that she could make out the words.

"There's no such thing as a romantic fool

They're the only ones who have it right

When the heart shows the way

You know you must follow

As its song guides you all through the night…"

"Picard!" shouted Felix, holding onto parts of the snowman with the same zeal that he had on the ice board. "We don't have much time! Think of something!"

"Oh, very well," he said. "This is going to be messy. Ice Slide!" Blades of ice materialised from Psynergy and slashed their way through the massive snowman. Other than passing through and leaving slight scars, the attack had no effect except convincing the thing to turn around and cause some mayhem.

The thing stopped rolling, dropped its head onto its body, and picked Felix off it like seaweed. It flung him aside and as it looked at Picard its Psynergy Stone eyes flared red with malevolence.

"Oh, you want to dance with me, do ya?" said Picard, abrasively. He reached for his great sword and realised that he never carried it on him inside the village. "Fine. We'll do this the soft way. Deluge!" A flood of water exploded from Picard's hands, striking the snowman straight on and rushing around it. The Psynergy Stones flashed, and suddenly it was encased in a thick cloud of frosty fog. When it cleared, the thing was armored in massive plates of ice.

"Smooth," said Felix, struggling to his feet. "Get to the other villagers, I'll keep it busy." He staggered a bit and Picard shook his head despairingly.

"Felix, if you try to sacrifice yourself one more bloody time I'll kill you myself. I can handle 'frosty' here for a while; you go get help."

"Okay, okay! I'm going. Don't die." Felix had to run a depressingly short distance through the snowy night to reach the plaza, now that they had chased the monster so far back down the valley of Vale. When he did, he was rather surprised by what he saw. The villagers had mostly formed a ring, in which he could see two figures. One, with blue hair and a thick white cloak, could only have been Mia. The other, when he got close enough, was Isaac. Singing, of all things. It almost seemed ridiculous to Felix after the ordeal he was going through, but then he heard the words.

"Peace is on the wings of a dove

But what wings have ever brought

The blessing of love

For those who are so far apart

Your words are in the other's heart

I should have known it from the start

Love isn't fire, it is art

A harmony in two bright parts

That dream of only one…"

There was silence among the villagers as those last few lines were sung and faded into the dark. Picard ran up beside Felix. "I thought you were getting help!"

"I didn't want to interrupt," said Felix, smiling as he watched them. Reality slapped him upside the head. "Besides, I thought you said you could hold it!"

"I didn't say where," said Picard. "And every time I try to soak it, it freezes the blast in midair. And I think it's about to interrupt for you." The snowman lurched to the edge of the cliff. Isaac, done singing, stepped toward Mia. She moved to him, and a whistling sound pierced the air. Isaac looked down at his shoulder. There was a carrot stuck in him, and blood was trickling down his chest.

He looked up and saw the monstrous snowman, now without a nose -which had been undersized for the behemoth anyway. It opened a slash in its head and let out a cold, predatory roar, then clawed up a pile of snow and hurled it into the crowd.

"Take cover!" shouted Isaac. "Everyone into the…" A look Picard didn't quite understand crossed Isaac's face for a moment. "Into the cliff caves," he finished. He reached up and wrenched the root from his shoulder. Reflexively, Mia made a few motions with her hands and cast Ply on the bloody wound, which sealed quickly.

"Got something against love, huh, punk?" said Picard, the wrath of a mariner high in him again. "Let's go." And he ran at the thing. It slapped him aside and leapt, crashing down into the plaza.

Wind howled around Isaac, and slicing snow. He had either just done the most wonderful or stupidest thing in his life to date. He wasn't sure what would happen next with Mia, or anything else. He wasn't sure of anything, except that a frozen monster had just attacked his friends, and it had to be stopped.

It was always easy when things were clear.

Ivan and Sheba had emerged, there were Garet and Jenna, Picard and Felix were on their way, and a moment later Mia was back beside him -Good place to be, thought his subconscious. The villagers were heading in to safety; they weren't experienced enough to be much more than targets out here.

"Here it comes," said Sheba unnecessarily, as she usually did when she was scared. The massive thing couldn't have been stealthy unless it lay down and pretended to be a hill. It hurled another tiny blizzard at them, and the Adepts scattered to avoid it.

"What do we do?" asked Jenna, rolling up from the ground in a crouch.

"We'll need some time. You guys hold it," said Isaac to Felix, beckoning to the others and dashing to the side, a plan forming.

"So what do we do?" repeated Jenna.

"Pow Pow Picard, just like Jupiter Lighthouse," said Felix. Jenna grinned and Sheba raised her staff. Picard dashed toward the monster and around it tauntingly.

"Unleash Fog!" called Picard, striking the frozen monster with one of his Mercury Djinn and wrapping it in thick cloud. Inside, the snowman looked around, trying to see its annoying attacker. A shape darted past. The thing pounced forward, out of the fog, and found itself staring a Mars Adept in the face.

Jenna raised a hand. "Dragon Crunch!" The snowman roared as the flaming Psynergy struck it, burning away part of its ice armor and face. As it stumbled back, Picard -who had had time to Set his Djinni again- rushed up and struck again with Fog.

Sheba was ready for the next part, her attack, and barely heard the words from behind her. If she had, she would have wondered why someone would say: "May I be forgiven. Unleash Flint!" No time for that, the monster was right where she wanted it.

"Storm Ray!" Lightning fell upon the snowman, superheating the ice and cracking it, as well as releasing a cloud of steam. This time, however, it kept its concentration, and saw the small girl who had just dared to strike at it.

With an inhuman cry -which would really only be normal for it- the snowman reached out with a branch arm and slashed. Sheba fell, and it moved closer, slashing again.

"Oh no, Sheba!" cried Felix. "Picard, Jenna, keep it busy!" He rushed over to the place where Sheba had fallen and called up Cure Psynergy.

"You do have a plan, right?" said Garet to Isaac. The Venus Adept grinned like a madman, and held up in his right hand a Sol Wreath.

"Are you serious?" asked Ivan, who wanted to get out there and help.

A manic grin still on his face, Isaac held up in his left hand a fragment of the Psynergy Stone that he had just cut off.

"He's serious," Garet reported. "Grab on." The other three Adepts reached out and each placed a hand on the ring, which was as smooth and cold as ice in this weather. The crystals charged with power, and Isaac stuck the fragment into the middle without ceremony. It flared threateningly.

"Dynamite Ice!" called Picard, blasting the snowman with frozen shrapnel.

"Unleash Shine!" Jenna's Mars Djinni blasted the snowman, but it finally caught on and simply started packing fresh snow onto itself. Jenna was about to make another strike, but she was caught in the leg by an ice ball and fell back, unable to stand.

"Picard, get out of there!" warned Mia. Reluctant and uncertain, he did, and a strange golden star flew past him as he backed away. Hurled with all the force Isaac could muster, it struck a point where Shine had fractured the frozen armor and stuck in the snow of the creature's body.

The snow monster looked down at the bright thing, confused.

It glowed brighter, sending forth rays of light.

It then exploded in the strangest way most of them had seen yet, which was saying something. Every part of the Wreath burst away from every other part, leaving only a golden point of light. This grew, flaring outward like a nova, then winked back to infinitesimal size and beyond.

The frozen monster was gone. Two tiny crystals lay on the wet grass. Picard walked over and picked them up. He realised he remembered them. A snowman, pausing in midair and then rocketing back toward the Djinn who had fired it.

"Sorry," he muttered, and pocketed them.

Jenna paused at Garet's front door. A moment later it flew open as she expected, and he leapt out, arms raised exultantly toward the blue sky.

"IT'S CHRISTMAS DAY!" he announced to the world. Something appeared to cross his mind, and hesitantly Garet turned around. Jenna stood there, untouched by the door but covered by the snow it had kicked up.

"Merry Christmas?" he suggested. Jenna raised a hand and it glowed with Psynergy. Garet ran.

Smiling as they ran past, Beam blazing, Isaac let the curtain cover the window and turned around, pulling his dressing gown closer and sipping the hot drink he held. Mia walked in from another room, looking tired but satisfied.

"How's Sheba?" asked Isaac, softly.

"All patched up. She'll probably be awake in another hour or so," Mia replied.

"Healers," said Isaac, and put his arm around her.

"We're amazing, aren't we?"

"Very much so. Not many people would stay up all night seeing to the injured after a long cold day and a near-disaster."

"It wasn't all that cold," said Mia, smiling at him. Isaac blushed a bit. "But still, with Ivan and Sheba you really couldn't be held responsible." Isaac thought about this, and remembered how they had come running during those few moments when he couldn't recall where Mia was. If she had gone to get them…

"You knew all along," he said, in a sort of amused accusing voice.

"Well, everyone knows now," said Mia. "Even without them in there, I understand it was pretty clear what had been happening. You should have seen the chaos. They barely even noticed when the Mimic found its… way… back to the entrance."

"What?" asked Isaac, confused.

Mia looked at him, and it was her turn to be accusatory. "You chased it in there!" Isaac said nothing. "You knew too. And Ivan is too smart to touch someone's mind if they know what's going on. You were never influenced." There was some more silence, except for Garet and Jenna's distant laughter.

"So, are you heading back to Imil soon?" asked Isaac. There, he had said it.

"Yeah. Probably after New Year's." Isaac was stunned. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. "Of course," Mia went on, stepping closer, "wherever I go, no matter what…" She kissed him on the cheek. "I'll always be back." Isaac smiled, and tears appeared in his eyes. "Oh, stop it."

He drew Mia close and kissed her. "Merry Christmas."

[Notes] First, before I forget again, a response to poetry_freak: you make a good point, but I was writing Isaac/Mia Garet/Jenna type stuff before I ever saw an FF.net GS fic. And I can't remove your review. No, not because it's immoral, because you signed it. Next, I say again that all reviews are welcome, especially to my old fics, and anyone who's waiting with growing annoyance (you know who you are), I will be getting back to the other stuff (Tolbi) soon.

As a quick credit, Isaac's song is excerpted from "Phoenixwings" by Will Gough. That is, as far I know, it, so Merry Christmas to everyone, and a Happy New Year. Gaudete!