Chapter 13 already.
(Char): Stop talking! Write the chapter!
But I have reviewers to respond to!
(Dew): All they want is the chapter; WRITE.
But...
(Char): Write or I get very mean. *begins to glow in an eerie crimson aura*
All right, I'll start writing. My review responses.
(Dew): *begins glowing an eerie turquoise aura* Fast.
Review Responses:
Midnight C: Hmm...Apparently you don't like Mia dying. I'll keep that in mind for future cliffhangers/death wishes.
0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k= : Evil...was...good?! You know, I might need some protection from other authors/muses if you're interested...
Void: What else, indeed?
Akachi: *smoking* ...ow.
Kevin C: Recovering? Who said they were even in the story? [(Dew): Get me in there!!]
Knightblazer 88: It's true. I think most of the cliffs in the section are in some way taught/inspired by those two. Everyone get that? Take out your rage on them! THEM! Leave me alone!! Oh, and as for the Tomegathericon... well, you know Jenna and Garet like to burn things, right?
Lumino: ^_^ I'm extremely happy that I managed to bring out emotion for you. That's one of the key aspirations for a writer, I think. Thanks for letting me know! ^_^
Great Saiyaman ...etc.: A little Windshipping, huh? I don't know if I can really write romance well, but I might try later on. *shrugs* You never know...
Ivan of Vault: Thank you!
Net Strife: Because cliffhangers are fun! (For me...)
Isaac says Booga/SweetSixteen5: You both thought up similar ways out (dividing the Water of Life), but that's really not an option. Can I split the Sol Blade to equip both Isaac and Felix? Can I use a Psynergy Crystal to restore both Sheba's and Ivan's PP? Nope. Just as I can't use one Water of Life to revive Mia and Jenna.
Disclaimer: Amazingly, I don't own Golden Sun. Wow. Get over it.
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The battle continued to rage. The grass was stained a terrible deep crimson, and the sounds of death and destruction echoed in everyone's mind.
Everyone except one.
The Champion and Defender of Venus, Hero of Vale and one of the eight Saviours of Weyard now was down on his knees, tears slowly tripping down his cheek for Mia, who lay dead in his arms.
Garet and the newly risen Jenna stood protectively over them, ensuring that Isaac could grieve and do what he need to do without interruption from the other soldiers.
"Can't you...do something?" Garet asked him.
"What am I supposed to do?" Isaac said to him, so silently they barely heard it over the roar of the battle.
"Can't you...Revive her or something?" Jenna asked meekly, knocking a sword away with her staff.
"I asked him that about you," Garet said. "He can't Revive unless he has enough djinn Set to him. And he only has Flint..."
"But Felix has Petra!" Jenna exclaimed.
"It's not enough," Isaac said, head bowed.
"At least...we can get her out of here," Garet said. "Give her a...proper burial or something...?"
"Go," Isaac said.
"What?" Jenna asked.
"Just go."
"We can't..."
"Leave me here. If I cannot be with Mia...then I will die with her here."
"You can't...you can't be serious!" Garet stumbled.
"Get the others and get out of here!" Isaac burst. "Save yourselves and get out of this... this hellhole! It isn't worth losing your life here. Just... just get out of here, and forget about me..." Garet promptly spun around and slapped Isaac with his free hand.
"Will you get a hold of yourself?!" he demanded. "We can't just leave you to die!"
"Can't you just try to bring her back?" Jenna asked.
"I can't use Revive, for the last time!" Isaac exclaimed.
"I'm not talking about Revive!" she said. "Don't you remember that puppet of you? The puppet that still had feelings to protect Mia, even when he didn't have a soul, when he was just a shadow of you?"
"What of it?"
"That puppet wasn't any part of you, but it still felt compelled to protect her. And if the fake you can protect Mia," Jenna said worriedly, "then the real you must be able to bring her back!"
"But...I..."
"Just do it!" Garet exclaimed. "What do you have to lose!?"
At that, Isaac finally realized that he had to try. He had made a promise to Mia to always be there for her, and the only was he could keep that was to try to bring her back.
Closing his eyes, Isaac began to focus all of his Psynergy, all of his power. He let it flow about him, and soon, the young warrior was glowing with the golden light of Venus.
"This is it..." Jenna whispered. It seemed as though the battle around them was slowing down. The soldiers were slowly being captivated by the warmth they felt emanating from Isaac.
"You can do it, Isaac," Garet said. "Saturos said he was going to defeat you by removing everything you held dear from you. Prove to him... prove that he can't!"
Isaac felt his power beginning to tap out, and he felt like he was beginning to reach the limits of his power, but he knew that wasn't enough.
He took Mia's lifeless hand, and tried to dig even deeper. He felt his power suddenly increase, and realized that his own healing powers weren't totally his own anymore. He could feel the power of Mercury flow into him, as if Mia's spirit was looming over him, giving him strength and begging him to bring her back to him.
"Mia..."
Finally, Isaac found the last deposit of power that lay deep within himself. He called on it to help him, and his power jumped again. He was glowing such a powerful shade, a mix of yellow and blue, but not quite a green. The light he let off blinded the soldiers, and they slowly began to draw back.
And Isaac slowly focussed all of his power into his palm, and turned it over onto Mia. It poured off of him like water and spilled over her body.
The moment the energy touched her, a huge explosion went off. The energy burst into and then from Mia, and it expanded into a huge dome that blew everyone but Isaac and Mia a large distance away.
And from off in the distance at the edge of the explosion, if anyone could stand to look into the brightness that came from it, they could have seen two figures, standing and in a long embrace.
********************
"What was that, sir?" called a Lunpean Lieutenant.
"I don't know, but I don't like it. Call the troops back! There'll always be another day to defeat the enemy," the Captain replied.
"Yes, sir!" he said. And to the troops, he called, "Retreat!!"
********************
"Thank you, Isaac."
He didn't reply, he just looked her in the eyes for a long, long time.
********************
"What was that?" Sheba worried, after being knocked back from the force of the revival. "I hope the others are okay...Oh, Ivan! Where are you Ivan?!"
"Are you wondering why you had such a soft landing?" Ivan mumbled.
"Huh? Ivan!"
"Can you get off of me, now?"
********************
Felix and Picard ran into Garet and Jenna along the westward side of the battlefield. The armies had parted, with the Lunpeans in full retreat, and the Kalay forces breathing quite deeply.
"What happened out there?" Picard asked.
"Well, Jenna died..." Garet began.
"She what?!" Felix demanded, turning intensely upon Garet. "You let her..."
Jenna sighed and rolled her eyes. Between Garet and Felix, this could take a while.
********************
"Where do you think the others are?" Mia asked Isaac, seeming to be perfectly healthy after Isaac's very exhaustive revival spell. Isaac wiped the sweat off of his brow and breathed heavily before answering.
"If I had to guess, I'd say they all ended up where we set up camp this morning," Isaac said.
"So that's...which direction?
"It's looks like West, from here," Isaac replied. A little smoke went off near them, and Isaac neared slowly to look at it.
"It's funny, though, how you won't be going anywhere ever again," laughed an all too familiar voice.
"Not again," Mia moaned.
"Saturos, I am getting really tired of this," Isaac said, voice rising and Sol Blade already in hand. Isaac turned to face him. Saturos snickered and raised the Bloodlust Katana.
"That's really too bad," he laughed at them. "Because your day isn't over by a long shot!"
"Here we go again," Isaac said.
He was exhausted from the battle and the revival spell, but Isaac knew he could end it all if he just stopped Saturos now. Mia didn't like that idea at all.
"Isaac, you can't beat him now!" she exclaimed. "You're exhausted, and I can't cure fatigue!"
"I'll be fine," he said, but Mia noticed be was even having trouble raising the Sol Blade. When he finally lifted it, it didn't give off it's normal comforting golden aura, but rather a dull brown. She bit her lip, so as not to reveal this to Saturos, but he noticed anyway.
"Don't be a fool, boy," Saturos grinned. "A fine match for me you'll be if you can barely wield that sword. This will be fun..."
"You sadistic..." Mia said through gritted teeth. "I'm not letting you fight alone, Isaac."
"As appreciated as the tho..."
"Remember what happened the last two times you said that?" Mia glared at him. Isaac promptly stopped talking, looked at her and smirked.
"At least I'm consistant..."
Saturos took the liberty of making the first move, and charged at Isaac with the Bloodlust Katana at the ready. Isaac managed to perform the block, but he wavered under the strength of Saturos and fell to his knees.
"You can't defeat me, you insolent punk," Saturos spat at him, literally. Isaac wiped the offending liquid from his face. "I am stronger than you can ever hope to be."
"We'll see," Isaac said. "One great battle was already fought here today, and one more shall be concluded as well."
"Yes, you're quite correct. But it will not be ended in the way you want it to be. Prepare to die!" Saturos charged the Bloodlust Katana again, and it howled with dark energy, and unleashed its torrent of powerful plasmatic energy like it had in the prison system. Thankfully, just before the attack got underway, Mia managed to knock the sword upward with her staff, and the energy shot up harmlessly towards the heavens.
Which, Mia realized, made for a very effective signal.
********************
"Look!" Jenna said, trying to break up the fight between Garet and Felix, which had been going strong for the past twenty minutes or so.
"Is that...?" Garet wondered.
"That's the same attack Isaac was hit with when he fought..." Picard trailed.
"Saturos!!" Felix said, dashing off in the direction of the signal.
"Never a moment's rest," Garet muttered.
********************
"What are we going to do now, Ivan?" Sheba wondered.
"I suppose we'll have to look for the others," Ivan said. "I hope they're all right. That explosion attack was amazingly powerful."
"It didn't feel like an attack, though,' Sheba recalled.
"You know, in some strange way, it reminded me of Isaac," he said.
"Really?" Sheba said. "I could have sworn I felt a little bit of Mia's power in there..." Ivan groaned, and Sheba's eyes widened.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ivan asked.
"I don't know, let me find out." Sheba cast a quick Mind Read. "Yep, exactly the same thing." Suddenly a large plasmatic beam shot up from the ground.
"Are you thinking the same thing I'm thinking about that?" Ivan asked.
"I don't think I even need to Mind Read to say yes, this time," she replied, not looking at him.
"Let's go, then," Ivan said. "You'd think we could catch a break once, wouldn't you?"
********************
Saturos was feeling quite cocky. He was in a very good mood. After all, the only warrior who could ever stand a chance to defeat him was now too weak to defend himself, and the girl was no more than a minor threat, albeit a potentially dangerous one with Mercury Psynergy.
He had the best weapon, his enemy isolated and weak, and soon he would have his enemy's travelling companions dead, also. What a good day!
'So why do these other adepts have to show up and ruin it?' he wondered, as the other six showed up one by one to aid their falling leader. And then he looked up and realized that the now receding light of the Bloodlust Katana's attack served as a perfect signal. The Mercury girl made a fool of him! She'd have to pay for that...
But not now. Better to set another trap and wait.
And Saturos focussed his energy and disappeared in a flash of smoke, leaving the other Adepts to lick their wounds.
********************
Isaac looked up to see Saturos leap away from him, and disappear in a flash of smoke. And slowly looking behind him, he saw his friends coming.
Garet walked up to him slowly, and helped his to his feet.
"You know, when I said you should try to Revive Mia, I didn't mean to blast us in all directions, too."
"It worked didn't it?" Isaac smiled, looking over at his friends and Mia, all looking quite happy and most certainly alive.
"Yeah, but I've got twigs and dirt in places I didn't even know I had..." he replied.
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(Dew): AH!
What?
(Char): AH!
What IS it with you two?!
(Char): It's.... it's...!
(Dew): It's not a cliffhanger!
So I'm a gracious, nice person!
(Dew/Char): ...
...?
(Dew/Char): A-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!
...I get no respect.
(Dew/Char): *nodding*
OK, to the rest of you, I was nice enough to NOT cliffhang this time (and if you thought this was a cliffhanger, don't read the next chapters), so can you please be nice enough to review? Please? Come on, there's sugar in it for you! (I apologize to all authors in advance for what their muses may do with this.)