Like someone like me would own Golden Sun... anyway...
Uh... read I guess. I'm kinda sleepy so don't kill me if this part sucks. ^-^ ********************************************************************************************
Videll woke up to the sound of her friends talking outside. She frowned as she rose from her bed. Something didn't sound right... Lifting the flap of her tent, she glanced at her friends and saw what was wrong - no Ivan.
Mia was the first to notice her. "Hi, Videll," she greeted. "You seen Ivan?"
"I was about to ask you that," she replied. She seemed calm, but inside she was panicking. He was usually the first of them up. Thoughts jumbled inside of her head as her sleepy brain tried to make sense of the situation. "Did you check his tent?"
Isaac nodded. "He's not there. The bed's been slept in, though." At hearing this, Videll went to examine the tent for herself.
"Maybe he just went for a walk," suggested Mia. "It doesn't seem like something he would do, but..."
Videll shook her head as she emerged from the tent. "His Zodiac Wand is still in there," she told them quietly. "He wouldn't go anywhere alone without it."
"I still say he went for a walk," declared Garet stubbornly. "He probably just forgot the wand."
"Garet, you know he wouldn't forget-" Videll cut off in mid sentence, her eyes wide. "Oh, no. No, no, no."
"What is it?" asked Isaac, looking panicked himself. "What is it???"
Videll sank onto a stone, the cold surface raising goosebumps on her legs. "Felix and Alex must still be trying to light the lighthouses."
"I doubt it... we don't even know if Felix survived the fall. But what would that have to do with Ivan?" Garet asked.
"Jupiter Lighthouse is the last lighthouse they can light," she continued, sounding as if every word pained her. Seeing that her friends still didn't understand, she decided to get right to the point. "You need a Jupiter Adept to get into Jupiter lighthouse. Take Ivan away, and you can't follow them up there."
"But we have you!" Garet protested. "We can still get in!"
Videll was silent, sitting with her head in her hands. "They don't know about Videll," Mia said, dread in her face. "They must have taken Ivan."
"But how would they get Ivan out of his tent without a fight?" Isaac pondered. Videll knew, but she wasn't ready to tell them about last night...
"I heard him get out of his tent at night," she lied. "He couldn't sleep - I saw it in his mind." It was close to the truth. She had just left out the fact that she was there with him.
"He must have gone for a walk, and they grabbed him," Garet concluded. "But how can we find him?" he moaned. "They could be anywhere between here and Jupiter Lighthouse - they might not even be headed toward it yet - they could have left him somewhere out in the woods-"
Videll? Videll, can you hear me? Videll's eyes shot wide open. The others fell silent when they saw the eerie shade of purple her eyes were glowing.
Videll concentrated her thoughts on Ivan and sent a message into her mind. *Ivan? Ivan, is that you?! Where are you? Did they hurt you? What-*
Calm down. Ivan's mental voice sounded calm and controlled, but Videll knew him too well. She could tell he was scared to death. They have me with them. They're headed toward Jupiter Lighthouse, I think. I overheard them talking about it. We've been walking a while now - we might be a quarter of the way there. I can't tell for sure, because - they have me blindfolded.
For a split second, Videll could feel tight bandages cutting into her wrists and ankles, feel rough cloth over her eyes and mouth - and bruises all over her body. She shivered, on the verge of tears. *They have hurt you! Ivan, you - what are they going to do with you once they get inside the lighthouse?!*
Ivan's reply was shaky. I- I don't know. A hint of desperation showed in his voice. Videll, what if- Suddenly pain blossomed in her side, and she felt her connection with Ivan fade.
*Ivan? Ivan?! IVAN!!!* Suddenly she was pulled back to reality. Slowly, she became aware of her friends, shaking her and calling her name. She brushed them away shakily. The pain in her side was gone, and she knew now that it must have been Ivan's.
"They have him," she said, all hope gone from her voice. "They're headed toward the lighthouse. They're hurting him..."
"We have to find them!" Isaac said, showing how determined he truly was. Videll could see the others thought the task near impossible, but they suggested plans anyway. The four Adepts didn't know how they could save their friend, but they knew they had to.
Videll: You're so mean! If it weren't for you, they wouldn't have Ivan! (anime waterfall tears)
If it weren't for me, Videll, you wouldn't exist.
Videll: Oh. Good point.
*Ahem* On with the fic!
Ivan stumbled along in the dark, guided only by the rough shoves of whoever was walking behind him. His side still hurt where Alex had kicked him, and he could not contain a cry of pain as rough hands met his tender skin.
"Quiet, you!" came a cold voice behind him, and the next thing he knew he was in the dirt, the rocks on the forest floor cutting into his face and hands. The sound of laughter rang all around him, and he wished he could disappear, be back with his friends and on his way to Lalivero once more.
Slowly he picked himself up from the ground. He stood still, trying to block out the taunting voices of his captors.
"You know your friends can't save you now," said a soft, menacing voice behind him. He took that to be Felix. "They don't even know where we are, much less where we're taking you."
Ivan caught himself before he grinned. He'd had enough pain for a while. He was glad he was successful in communicating with Videll, but the hopes of a rescue still seemed dismal... He pushed that thought out of his head. His friends had never failed him before. They would find him.
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Poor Ivan! He's getting beat up quite a bit in this story! ^^
Oh yeah - when you see around something, it's Ivan talking mentally, and * is Videll.