Golden Sun: Last Heaven
Episode 03- Danger in the Darkness

It's certainly good to be home. For one thing, I never have to sleep on those rough inn beds that feel more like a bed of nails. Not to mention the food at home is infinitely better than what you would find in other towns. (Unless my brother's the one doing the cooking, then it's the other way around. Even if the town itself has changed, home is still home.

The only downside of coming home is that the excitement of traveling all around the world is all but gone. No longer can we meet new and interesting people or see different things, as we had so many times during our grand adventure. Oh well, I guess you can't always have everything that you want at once…

But then again, all the people that I care about are here. My family, my friends, even those acquaintances that I probably see once a week. Seeing the world is fun and all, but I guess living in your hometown can be just as nice.

Still, there's always a small part of me that wants to get away from it all…

"Where is your brother? It really is getting a bit late," Kara said as she looked outside of the window. "It's not like him to be so tardy, especially for dinner."
"I think he got my message," Jenna replied to her mother. "Piers is reliable enough when doing that sort of thing."
"You don't think something could have happened to him, do you?" Abraham said as he stood up. "Perhaps I should go and look for him."
Jenna rose from her seat. "No need for that, Dad. I'll go find him," she said as she grabbed a cloak and ran out the door.
"Oh, Jenna! Be careful!" Kara called after her. "I really hope that Felix is all right," she added, turning to her husband.
"He'll be fine," he replied in a confident tone. "He's big enough to look out for himself now. I'm sure he's on his way back right now."
What's taking Felix? Piers said that he was down at Kraden's, and that's not very far away from here. Besides, he goes there practically every day, so there's no way he would have trouble finding his way home from there.

Something doesn't feel right. I can't explain it, but I just know it.

"It's almost pitch-black here," Jenna said as she walked down the path that led to Kraden's house. "I can't even see in front of me now."
Suddenly, a red light zoomed out of her body and assumed the form of a Mars Djinni. The Djinni jumped up and down for a few moments, and suddenly a bright circular aura surrounded it, lighting up the whole area around its friend.
"Awesome! Thanks a lot, Shine," Jenna said with a smile. "Now, let's go look for my brother."
The Djinni nodded and began to follow Jenna as she walked, creating an ample light source for her so she wouldn't get lost. After a few more minutes of walking, she found an open area that with a few logs scattered around. Trees weren't as thick in this area, so she sat down and stared off into the night sky.
"I don't get it, where is he?" Jenna wondered out loud as she watched the stars twinkling up above. "It's almost like he disappeared into thin air…"
Just then, Shine began to tug at her robe with its tiny paws, trying to get her attention. "Huh? What's the matter, Shine?" she asked.
The Djinni pointed towards the ground in another direction. "What is it? I don't see anything there," Jenna said, standing up.
Shine moved forward a bit, and its light revealed a body on the path. Jenna was greatly surprised at first, but her surprise turned to horror when she realized who it was. "Oh goodness, Felix!" she cried as she ran over to her fallen brother's vessel.
"Felix! Felix, wake up!" Jenna cried frantically as she propped his head onto her legs. There were cuts and bruises all over him, and his limbs lay weak at his side. "Felix, you've got to wake up! You've just got to…" she said as tears began welling up in her brown eyes.
"Je…Jenna…" Felix said weakly as he began to stir.
"Felix!" Jenna cried, a wave of relief washing over her. "Felix, you're okay!"
Felix smiled at her. "Not really," he said. "I don't think I'll be able to chase down the guy who got me in my current condition."
"What guy?" Jenna asked as her eyes widened. She propped his body onto a nearby rock so he could sit up. "You mean someone attacked you?"
Felix nodded. "Man, he was strong…" he said.
Jenna was getting angry very quickly now. "Where is he? I'll hunt down the bastard and trample him until he apologizes!"
"Don't be a fool," Felix said with a serious tone. "He would kill you if you tried."
"What do you mean? You think I can't take him on?" Jenna said.
"I couldn't lay one finger on him, much less take him on," Felix said, rubbing his left arm. There was a wide cut that had opened up on it, and blood was slowly running out from the wound. "You think you'd be able to do any better?"
Jenna was about to reply to that, but she thought better of it. "So… what do we do? We can't just let him get away with this."
"We've got better things to worry about right now," Felix said. "For one, he was headed to Kraden's when he got me. I think he's going after the strange tablet that Piers found today."
Jenna thought back to earlier in the day, when she had seen Garet and Piers carrying that tablet towards Kraden's house. "You think Kraden might be in any danger?" she asked worriedly.
The two were interrupted when they heard a rustling noise from a nearby bush. "Who's there?" Jenna said cautiously as she pointed her hand at the bush, ready to attack if needed.
"Relax, Jenna, it's just me," the voice of Garet said as he stumbled out of the bush. His hair was messed up, and there were a few bruises on him, but other than that he seemed to be in one piece.
"Garet!" Jenna exclaimed. "Geez, don't scare me like that next time!"
"Good to see you," Felix said, relieved. "I'm glad you're okay. I lost sight of you after that other figure pulled you into the forest."
"Yeah, that other person knocked me out while we were fighting," Garet said. "Whoever it was, they were amazingly strong and fast."
"You didn't have any luck with them either, huh?" Felix asked. "Those two aren't ordinary people, that's for sure."
"Wait, back up a moment here," Jenna said. "What exactly happened to you two?"
"Long story short, these two robed punks ambushed us and kicked our asses," Garet said. "Don't know where they've gone to now, though."
"They went to Kraden's," Felix said again. "I think they're after the tablet."
Garet's eyes widened. "Damn it! We have to go back there, or else who knows what could happen! Ivan and Piers can't beat those two, not without weapons anyway!"
"I'll go," Jenna said decisively. "You two are too worn out from battle to be of much use, anyway. Can you stay here and watch my brother, Garet?"
As much as he hated to, Garet had to agree with Jenna. He was still a bit drowsy from being knocked out, and he didn't have the Levatine with him at the moment. "Fine, I'll stay," he said. "But Jenna… be careful, okay?"
"Don't go, Jenna," Felix said, reaching up and holding her arm. "You're no match for the two of them. At least call Isaac or Sheba and Mia for help."
"There's no time. Chances are the two of them have already reached Kraden's place," Jenna said. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," she added reassuringly.
"Okay… if you insist," Felix agreed reluctantly. "But take this with you," he said, reaching into his robe pocket and pulling out a Smoke Bomb. "You never know when it'll come in handy."
"Thanks," Jenna said, accepting his gift. "I'm off, take care!" she called as she began down the path to Kraden's, with her Djinni Shine close behind her.
"You think she'll be okay by herself?" Garet asked as he sat down beside Felix.
Felix shook his head. "She's definitely going to need some help." He closed his eyes for a moment and mumbled something under his breath. Suddenly, two bright lights emerged and assumed the form of two Venus Djinn. "Echo, go find Isaac and direct him to Kraden's house," he directed one of them. "Iron, you do the same for Sheba and Mia."
The two Djinn nodded obediently and rushed off down the path to town.
"It's going to take time for them to get here, time that we don't have," Garet said as he stood up again. "I'm going after her."
"Are you crazy? You can't even help yourself in a fight right now, much less help Jenna," Felix said. "You'd only be a liability to her in your current state."
"Maybe…" Garet said. "But I have to at least try and help her. I can't sit here idly when I know that a friend is in danger."
Felix sighed. "Fine then, go. Good luck, you're going to need it."
"You going to be okay here by yourself?" Garet asked. "You're still bleeding."
"I've been through worse. A little cut like this won't stop me," Felix replied.
"Okay then. Hang tight, we'll be back in a jiffy," Garet said as he turned and began to walk down the path. "Don't go dying on me now, huh?" he added as an afterthought.
Felix rolled his eyes. "I won't. Now go, there isn't much time to lose."
"Will do," Garet replied. "See you later!" And with that, he broke into a dash down the path, following the steps that Jenna had taken mere minutes ago.

Who could these mysterious attackers have been? Nobody that I know is strong enough to fight my brother one-on-one and win. It must be another new enemy, one that we haven't encountered yet. Does that strange tablet have anything to do with it?

So many questions. But I think I'll be getting my answers soon enough…

Isaac yawned as he sat down onto his bed. "So sleepy…" he groaned as he rubbed his eyes. "But for some reason I just can't fall totally asleep."
In his mind, the one thing that he remembered was that strange guy that he had run into on his way home. Cloaked in black, with a black hood, almost like the Grim Reaper. The one feature that stood out about that guy was the way his eyes glowed in the blanket of the night.
"How did that guy know my name?" Isaac thought out loud as he lay down on his bed. "It just doesn't make any sense."
He lost his train of thought as he heard a light tapping sound coming from his window. "What the hell?" he thought as he climbed out of bed and went to see what was causing the commotion.
When he opened the curtains that covered his window, Isaac saw that a Venus Djinni was outside, struggling to maintain its balance while it knocked on the window. Isaac quickly opened the window and let the Djinni into his room. "Hey there, little guy. Why aren't you with Felix?" he asked as the Djinni literally fell into the window.
The Djinni Echo got back on its feet and began to jump around, waving its arms as it did so. It also began to squeal incoherently, as if trying to tell Isaac something. "Whoa, hold on there," Isaac said as he held back a fit of laughter. While Echo wasn't making any sense at the moment, he was certainly very entertaining to watch. "What are you trying to tell me?"
Echo looked around the room for something to help it get its message across. Then, it ran up onto Isaac's desk, which had a few sheets of paper and a quill pen that he used for writing notes or letters. He grabbed the pen and scribbled down the words "Follow me" on the top sheet of paper.
"Follow you? But where?" Isaac asked, confused.
Echo appeared to getting annoyed now. He started jumping up and down again, but this time with more force and energy than before. "Okay, okay, I'll follow you," Isaac said, desperately wanting to calm the Djinni down before his parents noticed. "Just let me get some more appropriate clothes on first."
As Isaac changed, Echo continued to look around his room. It wasn't much, just a few things scattered here and there. On one side was Isaac's dresser, where he kept all his clothes. Then there was the desk and the bed, and on a wall above the bed was a portrait of him, Garet, Ivan, and Mia that an artist had drawn for them a while back. And finally, there was a neat rack where all of his old battle equipment was placed, as a memory of his great adventure.
Echo walked over to the rack and inspected it closely. After a while, he jumped onto the rack and pulled off the sword that was placed at the highest spot. The sword crashed to the ground, along with the Djinni.
Isaac rushed over as he heard the crash. "Hey, don't be messing with that stuff. You could get hurt," he said as he picked Echo off the ground and checked him over for injury.
Echo pointed down to the sword on the floor. He squealed something to Isaac and kept on pointing towards it. "Huh? You want me to take it with me?" Isaac asked.
The Venus Djinni nodded.
"Why would I need a weapon? Exactly where are we going?" Isaac said, now more confused than ever.
Then, Echo thought of a way to get his message across quickly. His body glowed with a golden aura for a second, and then it turned into a golden light that flew into Isaac's body. The integration was complete.
Isaac closed his eyes for a second as Echo opened his thoughts to him. "Jenna's in trouble, and so are Kraden and the others!" he thought as he looked through the Djinni's thoughts. "The enemy is… a pair of cloaked figures?"
The one thing that came to his mind right then was the boy that he had encountered earlier in the night. "It's him. It's got to be him," he thought out loud. "Better hurry to Kraden's, there isn't a moment to spare!"
Isaac reached down and picked up the Gaia Blade from the floor. "Perhaps I'll be needing this after all," he thought to himself. "I didn't want to do this… but this time it looks like I don't have much of a choice."
With that, Isaac headed to his open window and jumped out. After a nifty roll to avoid shattering any bones upon landing, he was off to Kraden's, racing under the cover of the black night.

What's this? There's definitely something going on here. I just hope that I'm not too late to help Kraden and the others.

Better keep my guard up, my brother's assailants must have been something special if they could beat up him and Garet without breaking a sweat. But I'll beat them, one way or another. I just know it.

Strange… if I feel so confident, then why do I also feel so scared?

Isaac dashed through the forest, racing past tree after tree as they zoomed past him almost as if they were moving. He had never actually gone down this route to Kraden's house before, but Echo was telling him that it was shorter than the path.
"Where are Felix and Garet?" Isaac said in a thought-message to his 'borrowed' Djinni. "Are they all right?"
Echo answered in the affirmative. "Do you think we should check up on them before going off?" Isaac asked.
Echo answered in the negative this time. "They'll be fine, huh? Are you sure you don't want to go back with Felix now? I'm sure I can find my way from here," Isaac offered.
Another golden light shone around Isaac's body, then it shot out and assumed the form of Echo again. The Djinni squealed a bit as it came back out of Isaac's body, trying to convey another message.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine," Isaac reassured as he placed his hand on the Djinni's head, gently rubbing its fur. "Just go back and make sure Felix is all right."
Echo nodded. Then it turned and ran through the forest in another direction, following his master's faint Psynergy traces.
"Better hurry up a bit," Isaac thought to himself as he took off for Kraden's again. "I'm getting a bad feeling about this."
A few minutes later, Isaac finally found himself at the edge of the forest. "Wow, that was pretty fast," he thought. "Felix must do a lot of exploring around here."
His thoughts were interrupted as he picked up a trace of sudden Psynergy from nearby. "Something's going down over there, I just hope that I can make it in time!" Isaac ran through the last sets of trees and onto the pathway beyond. After about twenty more seconds of running, he found himself in front of Kraden's house.
"What the…? Where is everyone?" he said as he looked around. A battle had definitely taken place here, as the doors and outside walls were painted with burns and holes. Parcels of leftover Psynergy were scattered on the ground, almost like fireflies on a dark night.
"Damn it! I'm too late!" Isaac said angrily as he slammed his fist into one of the battle-scarred walls. "Guys… I'm sorry…"
"I…Isaac…" a nearby voice called out.
Isaac turned around. Behind him was Garet, whose beaten body lay on the blood-stained grass around him. "Isaac… you're here…" he groaned as his friend rushed over to help him.
"Garet!" Isaac cried. "Garet, what happened to you?"
"They took her…" Garet said feebly. "And the tablet…"
"Took who?" Isaac said, confused. "And what tablet are you talking about?"
"Jenna… They took Jenna…" Garet answered.
Isaac's eyes widened as he felt rage overwhelming his emotions. "That bastard… he's not going to get away with this," he said as his body trembled with anger.
"Go get them…" Garet said. "They left on foot about ten minutes ago, they wouldn't have been able to go too far."
Now Isaac was torn between his two options. Either he could go after the two assailants and leave Garet, or he could let them get away and help his best friend. "Damn it! What do I do?" he yelled as he pounded his fist into the grass. Sparkles of Psynergy were now flying out of his body at random, as he was slowly losing control of his power.
"Isaac!" someone called out from behind him. "Is that you, Isaac?"
Isaac turned around. "Mia! What are you doing here?" he asked when he saw who it was."
"Felix sent Iron to my house, he said that there was trouble at Kraden's," Mia explained. "Sheba's looking after him right now."
Then she looked over Isaac's shoulder and saw Garet. "Oh my goodness! What happened to him?" she cried.
"It's a long story," Isaac said. "Listen, Mia. Can you do me a favor?"
"Sure, what do you need?" Mia asked, a bit confused.
"Watch Garet for me, I'm going after the people who did this," Isaac said, picking up the Gaia Blade again.
"But… didn't you say that you wouldn't…" Mia began.
"I don't think I have a choice this time," Isaac replied. "Besides, they took Jenna with them. I have to rescue her, or else who knows what they'll do to her."
"Get going, there's not much time…" Garet said. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
Isaac nodded. "Take it easy, and get well soon. Thanks for your help, Mia. I'll see you later." With that, he ran around the back of the house and began running down the path leading out of the town.
"Isaac, wait! You didn't…" Mia started again. He didn't hear her though, he was already too far gone.

What a fun way for a girl to spend the night… Taken hostage by a pair of strange Adepts and being thrown into a delivery wagon. It's almost like the whole Saturos and Menardi thing all over again, except I wasn't tied up when I was following them.

There's more to these two than meets the eye, though. I don't know why, they just seem like they're not telling me the true purpose of their actions.

"How much farther do we have to go?" the boy said impatiently. Sweat was beginning to gather on his long black hair. "It seems like we've been moving for hours."
"It shouldn't be too long now," the girl that was walking beside him said. "How big could this town possibly be?"
"Hey! I know you're listening to me!" a voice called out from the inside of the wagon that was being pulled by a horse.
"Great, she's getting restless again," the boy mumbled. "Pulling a whining wagon back home certainly wasn't part of the plan."
"When my friends catch up to you, you'll be sorry!" the voice called out.
"Didn't we already deal with your weak little friends?" the boy answered. "They're no match for us, it's pointless to even fight them."
"I'll go talk to her," his female companion offered. "Maybe I can calm her down a bit."
"As long as you don't weigh down the wagon," the boy replied. "I've got enough to tow as it is right now."
The girl flipped open the curtain on the front of the wagon and hopped in. "Hey, how are you holding up in here?" she asked.
"Tell me why you've kidnapped me," Jenna replied angrily. "And then explain why you and your friend beat up my brother and my friend."
The girl didn't really know how to answer. "It's… a long story," she said. "But you have to believe me, we had no intention of hurting anyone in this town."
"Oh really?" Jenna said scornfully. "So I suppose your friend was forced to beat Garet into a bloody pulp like he did back there?"
"Hey, he attacked us first," the boy said from outside. Apparently, he had been listening in on the whole conversation. "We didn't start anything, he did."
"Van, you're not helping," the girl said. "Look, what happened back there was only because we had no other choice. We had to take the tablet no matter what, and your friend wasn't really in a reasoning mood at the time."
"That still doesn't excuse what you did," Jenna said. In her mind, she was still deeply worried about Garet. She didn't have a chance to see how he was before the boy had grabbed her and tied her up. After that, it wasn't long before she was put into the wagon along with the strange tablet and carted away.
"Look, what happened back there… was because I lost control for a moment," the boy leading the horse said. "I was only trying to knock him out, I didn't mean to hurt him like that."
"Really? And why is that? You seemed to know what you were doing perfectly well," Jenna said scornfully.
"You don't understand the whole situation," the girl said. "Our form of magic is different compared to yours. Sometimes… we can lose control of it. That's why we need to take this tablet."
"Oh…" Jenna said, trying to take in all that she was saying. "Why is it so important to you anyway?"
"It's an ancient artifact from our village," the girl replied. "How it ended up in your town, we don't know. But we have to bring it back no matter what the cost. It might be the key to saving our hometown."
"An artifact from your village? Where is your village?" Jenna asked.
The girl paused for a second. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that," she answered after a while. "Let's just say that we have… policies about the secrecy of our village."
"I see… kind of like Lemuria," Jenna mused.
The boy up front scoffed. "Believe me, our village is nothing like that hellhole Lemuria," he said.
"What do you mean? Lemuria seems like a nice enough place to me," Jenna said.
"Why don't you ask that Lemurian that lives in your town? I'm sure he'll tell you what you need to know," the boy said angrily.
"You could speak in a kinder tone to her, Van," his friend said as she cast him a look. "I apologize for his rudeness," she said as she turned to Jenna. "It's just that he gets a little… sensitive when it comes to that topic."
Jenna thought it best not to pry any further, so she let it go. "You still haven't told me why you kidnapped me," she said, remembering where she was.
"You're the backup plan in case any more of your friends come looking for trouble," the boy said. "They're not going to attack us with you here."
"Please don't take this the wrong way," his friend said. "We're just going to hold you until we leave town, and then we'll let you go. All we want is to be able to leave peacefully, without any more fighting."
"If that's the case, then did you really have to tie the ropes so tight?" Jenna asked as she squirmed uncomfortably. "It's really starting to hurt right now."
"That was only so you wouldn't escape," the boy replied. "You can untie her now, I think we're almost there."
The girl nodded and began to untie Jenna. "Sorry for the inconvenience. If you knew why we were doing this then you would understand."
Jenna looked at her for a second. "Strange… It seems like these two aren't really that bad after all," she thought to herself. "Could it be that I've misjudged them?"
"There," the girl said as she finished untying the last of the cords that bound Jenna. "Okay, you're free to go."
Jenna opened the back curtain and stepped outside. Her limbs were aching from being tied up for so long, but it was certainly better than riding in that bumpy wagon. "By the way, you haven't told me what your names are," she said.
"I'm Saffron, it's nice to meet you," the purple-haired girl replied with a kind smile. "And that's Van," she added, pointing to the boy leading the horse. "He acts tough, but he's really a good guy."
"I'm Jenna," Jenna said. "Nice to meet you, too."
Van hopped off of the horse that he was riding. "Look, Jenna, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. Give your friend this and he'll be as good as new in no time," he said, pulling out a sealed flask from the inside of the wagon and tossing it to Jenna.
"Uh, thanks," Jenna said as she caught it. "What does it do exactly?"
"It heals battle wounds," Van said. "We've got plenty extra in our village, so don't worry about it.
"Oh, well thanks for the help then," Jenna said.
"Don't mention it," Van said. "Come on, we should be going now," he said as he went back to his horse.
"Goodbye," Saffron said. "Maybe we'll meet again someday."
"Hey! Stop right there!" a voice called loudly from behind them.
Everyone turned to see who it was. It was Isaac. "Isaac!" Jenna called back when she saw who it was.
Isaac stopped running once he had reached the wagon. "Jenna! Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?" he said with concern as he put her hands on her shoulders.
"I'm fine," she replied with a slight blush. "Just a bit sore, though."
Van had come back around to the back again. "Are you another one of her friends?" he asked. "Honestly, where do you all come crawling out of?"
Isaac turned to face him. "You! I've got a score to settle with you," he said angrily. "You're going to pay for what you did!"
"Yeah, I'm sure that I am," Van replied. "We're not looking for trouble, we're just trying to leave town. So if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way now."
Isaac drew his sword and pointed it at Van's throat. "What's wrong? Didn't you say that we were going to meet again in the near future when we met earlier?" he asked, his voice still filled with rage. "This is what you wanted, wasn't it?"
Van stopped and turned around once more. "I don't know what you're talking about. I've never seen you before," he said calmly.
"Don't play dumb with me," Isaac said, with his sword still pointed directly at Van's neck. "Black cloak, about that size and build, with those fiery brown eyes. Who else could it be?"
Saffron gasped. "Van, you don't think it could have been…" she began.
Van was frozen on the spot too, with a look of disbelief on his face. "It couldn't be, but then again, who else would it be?"
Isaac and Jenna were now standing with very confused looks on their faces. "Um, what's going on?" Jenna asked.
"Another of our people is in this town at this very moment," Saffron said worriedly "And this person may not have the same peaceful intentions as myself and Van."
"Looking for me?" someone said from behind them.
Without turning around, Van already knew who it was. "It's him, all right. Leon."

To Be Continued…