It's something that I'll have to work out.
(Dew): What's that?
How I'm going to write my upcoming cliffhangers without dying a horrible, horrible death at the hands of the other readers/authors.
(Char): ^_^ And me!
...and you.
(Dew): ...Wait...did you just say...Cliffhangers?
No! I said nothing about the cliffhangers I'm about to write! ...I mean...uhh...
(Char): Think...carefully.
What if I just started to write?
(Dew): I might be happy.
I'll do that, then.
Review Responses:
Warrior of Luna and Sol: Who said that?
Midnight C: Yeah, the Wise One always has some stupid loophole or trick up his (sleeve?), doesn't he?
Crystal, Mist, Shade: MERCY, PLEASE!!
Net Strife: I don't really write based on length, more like, "Where is the best place to end with an evil cliff?"
Akachi: Flaming Mallets are BAD!
Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun. Actually, I technically don't own Dew and Char, either, so if somebody wants to sue me for them...
(Dew/Char): We'll hurt them quite badly.
...Oh, yeah.
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Chapter 9
Dodonpa's Secret
The Megiddo attack was the most powerful weapon special any of the Adepts had ever seen. This dark version was no exception. Dust and smoke rose from the sheer force of the attack, and Garet could swear he saw the Wise One smile, even though the only facial feature he had was an eye.
The Warrior Isaac stood, now staring defiantly into each of the circles as if challenging them to defy his power. They all looked at him, Mia now in tears.
"You killed him..." she cried. "He's dead again..." She burst into fury, pounding at the restriction that kept her in the circle. "Stop toying with us!!" she burst.
"I'm not toying with you," the Wise one glared at her. "I'm just showing you how weak your Isaac, complete with a soul, is. He tried to beat the other Isaac, and met a swift death. How could you expect him to stop a war, or even help stop a war for that matter, if he can't even protect himself from his own death?"
"Death is overrated," called a voice from inside the smoke. The Wise One's eye went so wide it appeared as if it was nothing more than a whole floating eye, instead of being mostly rock. It turned to face the smoke, and waited for it to clear.
And when it did clear, the Adepts all saw Isaac standing perfectly unharmed in the centre of the room.
"Isaac!" Mia cried. "You're alive!"
"What?!" the Wise One boomed. "How?!"
"You know, this is the second time I've cheated death in the last three days," Isaac laughed. "Don't make me do it a third time." Garet laughed, and soon, all the Adepts were laughing uncontrollably. The Wise One, however, didn't see the joke.
"How are you alive?!" he boomed.
"Let me put this simply," Isaac began. "The power of the Sol Blade, Megiddo, calls upon the power of its wielder to properly work."
"My version of you has plenty of power!" the Wise One cried.
"Maybe so, but that's not the power I'm talking about," Isaac smiled.
"I think I get it!" Garet exclaimed.
"Garet understands something before the so-called 'Wise One'?" Ivan mocked.
"Look outside, Ivan, it's raining fire," Sheba joined in, and they all laughed.
"What do you mean?!" The Wise One burst, all patience now forgotten.
"It's easy. The power he means," Garet said, "is the power of the Soul." Isaac nodded.
"Your flunky here has no soul. It's merely a puppet with my appearance that has some nice moves in battle. But it doesn't have heart or soul, which is what the Sol Blade relies on for its Megiddo attack," Isaac explained.
"It has power!" the Wise One exclaimed.
"It doesn't need power," Isaac said quietly. "What it needs is a soul. What it needs is a heart. It needs something to fight for and something to believe in. It needs something to share life with, to gain strength from and share strength with. It doesn't have what I do. People to believe in and trust, protect and love."
"Mia," Garet coughed, "Mia."
"Shut up, Garet," Felix said. Mia blushed, and Sheba giggled.
"Then prove the rest of what you are saying, Isaac of Vale," the Wise One said. "End this fight!"
"Done and done," Isaac said. He brandished the Meditation Rod again and turned to face the other Isaac. "Now," he said sideways to his fellow Adepts, "what's keeping you guys in those circles? You should have been knocked back from the blast of Megiddo, even though it did no damage to anything, but you're still contained there. So what's keeping you still?"
"We're being held back by something," Ivan explained. "I don't know what, though."
"It can't be a wall, or something, because I sent my staff through it," Mia said.
"So, maybe an elemental barrier of some sort?" Sheba proposed.
"If it is, then that would explain why we're all on a circle that represents our element, and why we can't leave, but Mia's weapon could," Ivan said.
"Do you think the Djinn can go through?" Garet asked.
"I don't know," Ivan admitted. "Hey, Zephyr!" he called. The djinni appeared on his shoulder. Just as Zephyr was appearing, the fight resumed between the two Isaacs, and both were exactly equal in strength this time, both parrying blow for blow.
"What's up, Ivan?" Zephyr asked.
"Do you think you can go Set yourself to Isaac for a few moments?" Ivan asked.
"Ok," Zephyr said. He zoomed off to Set, but as soon as he hit the circle's edge, he stopped. "That's funny...I can't go any farther."
"That's just what I needed to know. You can Set to me again," Ivan said. And with that, Zephyr re-Set himself. "The Djinn can't get through either. In order to go through, we'd need a djinn of a different element already Set to us." Garet crossed his arms, deep in thought.
"There's gotta be something we can do..." he muttered.
"Flint!" Mia called. The Venus Djinn appeared on her shoulder and the other Adepts looked at her.
"You have Flint?" Jenna asked.
"Well, who else was he supposed to set himself to?" Mia asked.
"Good point," Felix said. "Now hurry up, Flint, and give Isaac a hand!"
"I'm going, I'm going," Flint said impatiently. He hopped over to Isaac and with a call of, "Are you ready, Isaac?", Set himself.
Isaac felt the power boost and knew he had the strength now to soundly defeat his other self, instead of just toying with him.
"Let me show you another power, Wise One," Isaac called up to him. "Maybe when we're all done, I might have taught you something."
"We shall see," it said.
"Let me show you how the soul can intervene in things like this. My friendship with these people and djinn are formed through the soul, and from this power I get the power to defeat whatever abomination you choose to send my way," Isaac said.
"Here, here!" Ivan said, raising an invisible mug to him.
Isaac readied the Meditation Rod, and charged at his counterpart, swinging the staff laterally and managing to knock the other Isaac's sword out of position. With an opening, Isaac cried , "Call Flint!", and the djinni's golden power flew through Isaac's staff. It bashed the other Isaac to the ground, stunned from the sudden onslaught of power. Isaac noticed the opportunity and raised his hands in the air. "I summon Venus!" Flint's power magnified the might of the Venus Adept, and the ethereal spirit of Venus appeared and blasted the other Isaac, the false Defender of Venus with the might of the earth. When the attack subsided, all that remained of the other Isaac was the Sol Blade, laying on the floor, no glow emanating from it any longer, and a familiar liquid on the ground in a jar.
"What's that?" Garet asked, pointing at the jar.
"Is that...?" Ivan asked. The liquid was gold in colour, and shone with a spark of life, as though it was alive itself.
"That's...Water of Life," Mia gasped, recognizing the familiar healing item. On all of their journey, they had only come across the rare item once. When used, Water of Life restores life to one person, bringing them back from death, even beyond the powers of the Venus Revive Psynergy. Ivan had used it on Sheba atop the Mars Lighthouse when she fell to the Doom Dragon. Isaac picked it up and put it in his bag. He turned to face the Wise One.
"So that other me was just a powerful puppet brought to life with a Water of Life. And since I defeated it, the Water of Life returns for me to use. Funny how things work out, isn't it?" The Wise One didn't acknowledge his statement. Isaac turned to look at the Sol Blade.
"Take it, Isaac," Felix said. "Reclaim what was yours." Isaac walked over to it and picked it up. It immediately shone a brilliant gold, and the warmth of Gaia's Champion emanated from it again.
"Very well," the Wise One fumed. "Even I can see when I have been wrong. Go with your friends, Isaac of Vale. Go, and may you be successful in halting Dodonpa and putting an end to this war you so foolishly started." And with that, and another brilliant flash of light, the Adepts found themselves falling unconscious again.
********************
Garet groaned. "You know, he's gotta learn a better way to do move us somewhere than that," he moaned, once he and the others regained consciousness. They had returned to the room where the Mimics had ambushed them. The gate was still down, however, so they couldn't leave. Isaac was about to reply when he felt a sudden weight hitting him from behind.
"You like torturing me like this, don't you?" Mia inquired, smiling and holding onto him from behind. He turned to look her in the eye.
"I honestly don't like the idea of me dying any more than you do," he said. "But if it makes you feel any better, I don't intend on leaving you any time soon." Garet and Jenna looked at each other.
"Awwwwwwwwwww..."
********************
After a very long discussion period in which everyone displayed great happiness many times over at having Isaac back, the group eventually remembered why they were in this dark, boring room.
"Dodonpa," Ivan said.
"Dodonpa," Isaac nodded. "It's time to end this."
"If we can find him," Jenna corrected him. "It took us forever just to get here." A cold voice sounded from behind them.
"And it will take a lot longer than that for you to ever leave." The group whirled on the sound.
"Dodonpa!" Garet exclaimed.
"That's King Dodonpa, you insolent boy," he said. "What do we have here? Seven pathetic fools who have entered my secret lair. Do you know what that means?"
"We win?" Felix asked grimly. Dodonpa smiled as he pulled out a sword.
"It means you die now, Adept," he said menacingly. Jenna scoffed.
"You against all of us? I highly doubt it."
"No, no, you don't understand. Allow me to show you the secret behind Transmute Psynergy," he cackled. "It's a rather impressive Mars ability."
"Mars Psynergy?!" Garet burst.
"Great, not only is he an Adept, but Mars, too! He's ruining our element!" Jenna said, in a mock complaint.
"Observe," Dodonpa said. "Just as I can take an ordinary treasure chest Mimic and grant him powers beyond your comprehension," ('So that's it,' Ivan thought), "I can also take this ordinary sword, and change it into a weapon beyond even your power."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Mia said.
"Then believe it!" Dodonpa cried, unleashing his Mars Psynergy into the weapon. "Transmute...! Bloodlust Katana!" The sword he held was bathed in a dark crimson light, and when it had subsided, it revealed a long, thin katana. The sword looked extraordinarily light. The hilt was a dark black, and the metal of the blade seemed to flicker, as though a fire burned within it.
"So what?!" Garet exploded. "So you can do some fancy magic tricks. It doesn't make you a better swordsman!" Dodonpa laughed.
"Who said the sword was for me?"
"What are you getting at, Dodonpa?" Isaac asked, drawing the Sol Blade. Its light again bathed the Adepts in a golden glow.
"You fool..." Dodonpa began. "This is where the battle ends." He laughed. "When mastered properly, unlike those two bumbling wanna-bes," he said, gesturing at Jenna and Garet, who promptly began fuming, "the Mars element can be pushed far enough to include the powers of rebirth. Like the mighty Pheonix, the well trained Mars Adept can call back spirits from the grave and endow them with powers the likes of which they never knew before!"
"So that's your plan?" Isaac said, almost smiling. "Recall something that has already fallen, give him or her a fancy sword and then run away, hoping we'll lose? I would hope the mighty 'King Dodonpa'," he continued, placing careful emphasis on those words, "could at least think of a better plan."
"We'll see, Isaac!" Dodonpa screamed. And with that, he threw the sword in the air, and it hovered as Dodonpa began chanting the words of the Rebirth spell. The spell was cast before the Adepts could do anything to stop it. Dodonpa was careful to not reveal the name of the spirit he was recalling, hoping to keep the advantage of surprise. Finally, he stopped chanting and smiled at the Adepts.
"Was that it?" Garet asked Isaac. Before he could answer, Dodonpa addressed them.
"It's all over for you," he laughed, putting up a smokescreen. By the time it had dissipated, Dodonpa was nowhere to be seen. However, a large smokescreen was slowly dissipating nearby, revealing something the Adepts had never counted on seeing again. A dark voice came from inside the smoke.
"I am the shadow..."
"No way!" Garet exclaimed.
"...the keeper of light..."
"It can't be!" Sheba gasped.
"Ye who hold the Sun's power..."
"What's the plan, Isaac?" Mia asked.
"...relinquish it now!"
Isaac's eyes narrowed.. "We show him why he lost last time."
Dullahan had no intention of losing again. Bloodlust Katana in hand, and the energy for Formina Sage gathering in the other, the Adepts could do nothing but draw their weapons and prepare for the battle of their lives.
Again.
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(Dew): 0.0
Like the cameo?
(Char): You......he......they......DULLAHAN?!
Looks like it.
(Dew): Of anyone to bring in, WHY DULLAHAN?!
Seemed like a good idea at the time.
(Char): But that's....it's....how can you...GAAHH!!
Looks like my muses don't like Dullahan.
(Dew): Who does?!
Anyone who's defeated him.
(Dew): 0.0...that's how many people, exactly?
Probably around three.
(Dew): I thought so.
To the rest of you, please review, and try not to kill me too badly for bringing Dullahan back, OK? I mean, it's not like he can hurt you too badly, right? I mean, he can only attack three times a turn, Curse you, KO a person in one shot with one of his death techniques, syphon HP from many characters at the same time, summon Charon and set all Djinn for your active characters to Recovery. Not to mention he recovers 200HP a turn. That's not too bad, right?
(Char): Oh, I want to hurt you just for saying that...