So this is it! The completion to my very first piece of fanfic.
(Dew): *wearing a party hat* About time, too.
(Char): *uncorking a bottle of champagne* No kidding. I thought this would never end.
...You're too kind.
(Char): I know. I mean, we haven't really beaten you for how many chapters?
(Dew): Well, I know we got him for the cliffhanger at the end of the second battle.
...I remember that.
(Char): Poor Mia. Poor Isaac, actually.
Oh, will you get over it?!
(Char): A girl needs time to grieve!
You haven't lost anything.
(Char): ...
(Dew): We lost our sanity! Why else would we still be here?
Great. Not only am I stuck with two muses, but rather two psychotic muses.
(Dew): And you couldn't get along without us! ^_^
You'd be surprised.
Review Responses:
Midnight C: Torture using water, eh? A very interesting idea... don't you hate it when I get ideas? It usually means there's a cliff coming up...
Knightblazer 88: Glad you thought the fight scene was good, because I particularly thought it was weak. I suppose even geniuses like me can be wrong on occasion! [(Dew): *stifling laughter*]
EchoKazul: No!! Not the CA!! PLEASE!
Net Strife: I was always intending to add a final chapter! No need to worry! I would never end on a cliffhanger, leaving you all in utter and total suspens...hmm...actually...
CMAK: CHIBIS!! NOOOOO!!!
Ookami MX: I think EVERYBODY knows a muse or two that would love to beat the daylights out of me...
MercuryAdept: It's updated!
Lumino: Well, it's the end of the story, so I guess his break is here.
Ivan of Vault: Good luck with that, huh?
SweetSixteen5: Cliffhangers? Gotta love 'em...
0==|=R=a=g=n=a=r=o=k=: Yeah, it's pretty much over. I thought about making it longer, but that would involve eventually getting to a third major battle, and I thought people would get annoyed with that.
Dragoon Knight: Next chapter has come!
Disclaimer: For the last time, I don't own Golden Sun. (Huh. Last time. It sounds so...final...)
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Chapter 16
Endgame
"Mommy, what's that?" asked a little girl outside Altin. She pointed up at the mountain, at a streak of Golden light that was shooting over it towards the city.
"I don't...know...honey, come inside, it might not be safe..." her mother fretted.
"But it looks so...pretty...it feels safe," she said. Her mother stared at it.
"I get the same feeling..."
********************
"Mia..." The word echoed in his mind. How could he forget about her and the others so easily? Dullahan was still down there, beating on them, he didn't even know if they were still able to fight back. After all, when he was pulled away, he was the only one standing. What could Dullahan have done to them in such a small amount of time?
Isaac raced down the mountainside. He reached a spot just above a mine shaft entrance, leaped down, and because of the force of his speed, left a small crater in the ground. Apparently the power rush he was on from the Megiddo Rush hadn't worn off. He was still charged with power, and it showed. He felt like he had just unleashed a combination summon using at least twenty djinn of each element, and yet that didn't even begin to describe it. Isaac raced into the shaft, his own aura lighting his way. He could only pray he wasn't too late.
********************
"Formina Sage!"
"Guuuhh...." Ivan cried, being downed with the one shot. Sheba slowly crawled over to him, hoping he was still alive. She could see his cape rise and fall with his breath, but it seemed very shallow and he didn't seem to be able to move.
"Iv-an..." Sheba groaned. "Please be okay..." Ivan started to stir.
"I couldn't... leave you here to have..." (he coughed), "...all the fun...right?" Sheba smiled.
"We'll get out of this yet," Sheba whispered.
"I promise you that," he replied.
Meanwhile, the friendly neighbourhood Lemurian was still barely on his feet, trying to defend himself as best he could from Dullahan. Gifted with long life, Picard had spent decades worth of years in his youth, training and pushing himself to his physical limits. There was only one problem with that.
Dullahan was older.
Dullahan didn't even try to slash at Picard directly, he just slammed into him with his shoulder, sending the unfortunate Mercury Adept into the cave wall. Picard tried to focus himself enough for a Megacool, but Dullahan quickly launched True Collide, and Picard slumped, unmoving.
Dullahan turned his attention next to Felix and Garet, who were both struggling to stand. Garet launched a Pyroclasm and Felix a Clay Spire, but as they were so weak, by the time the attacks reached Dullahan, they simply crashed to the floor before him, not even hitting him.
"Pitiful mortals," Dullahan smirked. "Ye have not even the might to oppose me, ye who hold the Sun's power."
"Can he only speak a few phrases?" Garet tried to joke. Before anyone could answer, he and Felix found themselves in a crumpled heap on the floor beside Jenna, who had already been dispatched via Charon.
"And then there was one," Mia whispered, looking around. Leaning on her Meditation Rod for support, she rose, and tried to gain the strength to cast a Pure Wish. Dullahan didn't much care for that idea, and blasted her with Djinnsong, to remove her little Set ally's power and stop her from being able to cast the spell. Dullahan charged at her and slammed into sending her flying, much like Picard, towards the cave entrance.
********************
Isaac heard the sounds of battle nearly from the city entrance, and had no problem finding them below. He screamed into the room like a bolt of lightning, just in time to catch Mia. She felt herself stop and looked into his eyes.
"You know," she smiled, "at this rate you're going to get the idea I don't know how to defend myself..."
"Whatever you say Mia,' Isaac replied, turning her to face him directly, and kissed her. "That was for what you've given me, Mia," Isaac whispered. "And this," he said, glancing at Dullahan and kissing her more deeply, "is for what I can do to him." Mia blushed and stared at him.
"Stay alive, Isaac," she whispered. Isaac nodded, looked at her quickly and began to walk towards Dullahan, talking one last look at her.
"I love you, Mia," he said. She blushed until she was the shade of Garet's hair.
"Enough stalling," Dullahan said.
"No more, then," Isaac replied. Dullahan began to charge energy.
"I am the shadow..."
"I am the light..." said Isaac.
"The keeper of light..."
"The slayer of shadow..."
"You who hold the sun's power..."
"You who lost the sun's power..."
"Relinquish it now!!"
"It ends now..."
Isaac charged at Dullahan and vice versa. Dullahan swung around with his arm in a mighty sweep, but Isaac deflected it with the flat of the Sol Blade. Isaac cast Quake to trip Dullahan up, but he merely leaped over Isaac to dodge and catch him on the defensive.
Not one to be caught off-guard, Isaac followed his movements, and leaped back to avoid Dullahan's leg drop. Dullahan gathered his energy and cast Formina Sage. The attack hit the Sol Blade dead on, but dissipated the moment it touched the glowing, legendary weapon. Isaac focussed his energy in the Sol Blade and conjured the all-too familiar meteor.
"Megiddo!" Isaac cried., sending the flaming rock hurtling toward his adversary Dullahan absorbed the blow, but by the time the smoke had cleared, he was on one knee.
Dullahan slowly got to his feet and sent himself towards Isaac in a mad rush, casting Formina Sage and True Collide so quickly most of the Adepts thought they were cast simultaneously. Isaac rolled to the outside of the True Collide, barely missing it, but took a grave blow from Formina Sage. He rose to his feet, though, refusing to bow to his enemy. Isaac unleashed an Odyssey attack, but Dullahan simply shrugged it off. He chased after Isaac and elbowed him in the stomach, and, thanks to his Wise One-given speed boost and size reduction, quickly pummeled Isaac with an onslaught of kicks to the back, sending him to the ground. Isaac hit the dirt, rolled and bounced to his feet again, and charged back toward Dullahan.
"At this rate, we could be down here forever," Garet said.
"Forever's an understatement," Jenna muttered.
Isaac either didn't hear them or didn't care. He caught Dullahan in the arm with the edge of his blade, and Dullahan leaped back, leaking a black substance that Isaac could only assume was blood. Dullahan charged back with his legs out, going for a huge flurry of kicks. Isaac let the Sol Blade howl with power and swung horizontally. The Sol Blade clashed with Dullahan's legs.
The Sol Blade snapped.
The blade of the once perfect sword went spinning into the dirt behind Isaac, protruding form it as though a stick in the mud. Dullahan's flurry of kicks ended up hitting empty air as Isaac rolled behind him and slammed Dullahan onto the remnants of the Sol Blade. He landed, was impaled, and greyed out. Isaac bent to one knee and sighed. It was finally... over.
"Isaac!" Mia called, running over to him. She waited for him to stand and kissed him deeply. They broke apart slowly and she cast a very energetic Pure Ply over him, then kissed him again.
It took approximately three-one-hundredths of a second for Jenna and Garet to say "Awwwww..."
Felix stood over the broken Sol Blade, and carefully lifted it out of the ground. The blade was dented in many places and totally snapped, unusable. "Looks like you gave it your all, this time, Isaac," he commented. "Too bad..." Isaac shrugged.
"I can always have it reforged," he smiled. "I'm just glad it's over."
"What about Saturos?" Picard asked.
"That's a long story..."
********************
A week went by soon enough. Saturos was exposed to all as the instigator and received many punishments from leaders of the respective cities. The last Isaac had heard, Saturos was strapped to a dunking chair overlooking a small pond at Lunpa's outskirts. Lunpa began making reparations to Vault and Kalay, and discovering Dodonpa later, dead in the prison system, his son took over the rule of Lunpa.
In spare time, a huge service was held, organized between the leaders of the cities of northern Angara, to honour the fallen. The service lasted no more than an hour, but it was extremely profound and meaningful for everyone present, especially the small group of Adepts. They could do no more than express their dearest sympathies to the people who had lost friends and family, saying that they knew what it felt like.
Well, that wasn't totally true, Isaac supposed. Sure, they know what it felt like to lose someone - him - but not what it was like to have to live with that forever. They were lucky in that aspect, he supposed. Life went on.
After the service, Isaac and the others were resting up in Kalay. It was now a common sight to see Mia and Isaac hand in hand walking the streets of Kalay, and even Ivan and Sheba could be seen together on rare occasions. If you paid close attention, Garet and Jenna were shamelessly flirting with one another, but Felix had to be facing the other direction before you saw that...
Ivan and Sheba were looking particularly frazzled, however. Through all the battle and suffering, the pain of losing friends and the joy of getting them back, one thought still seemed to worry them. The group was resting in Ivan's Kalay residence when the others decided to see what was bothering him.
"What's wrong, Ivan?" Picard asked. Ivan frowned.
"Where's Master Hammet?" Ivan asked, to no one in particular. Isaac nearly knocked himself down after slapping his forehead so hard.
"We totally forgot about him! Ivan, I'm so sorry..."
"It's not your fault..." he trailed.
"Maybe Master Hammet's on his way back here now?" Jenna posed. "Now that it's safe again, he could be coming back right now."
"And maybe he's already arrived," said the voice of Master Hammet from behind them.
"Master Hammet!" Ivan yelped, surprised by the sudden re-appearance.
"You're okay!" Sheba exclaimed.
"Well, of course I am!" Master Hammet said. "I can take care of myself, you know!"
"But I thought... with Dodon... I mean Saturos and the war, and..." Garet stuttered.
"Oh, no need to worry about that, I was adequately taken care of, I can assure you," Hammet smiled.
"By whom?" Felix asked.
"By me," said a figure, strolling up from farther behind Hammet.
"Kraden?!" the Adepts exclaimed.
"You've been with Kraden all this time?!" Ivan asked incrediously.
"Of course," Hammet replied. "I needed a place to stay, and Kraden was moving up to the peak of Mount. Aleph for awhile. It was the perfect getaway. Quite a lovely view, as well."
"But who took your stuff up to the top of the mountain?" Garet asked.
"Why, I believe you did, Garet," Kraden answered. "I hid all of his items in a box marked 'Pheonix Feathers'. No one would expect to find items related to near royalty in a simple alchemical student's chemical boxes such as my own. Of course, it was a rather ingenious plan, if you ask me..."
"I TOLD you those boxes were too heavy to be feathers!" Garet shouted with a triumphant look at Isaac. Isaac rolled his eyes, and the group promptly began laughing, except for Kraden, of course, who was still talking.
"...elements in the fusion of the Golden Sun seem to have formed a quite lovely view over the peak of Mount. Aleph. Indeed, at dusk, if Sol hits it just right, it almost appears to mark something in the ground. Of course, I thought this was just superstition at first, but then I..." and so on. Garet rolled his eyes.
"Quack," he said under his breath to the other Adepts. The room was overtaken by laughter again.
"Why was that so funny?" Ivan asked.
"I'm not sure," Mia said. "I suppose we're all in a good mood today. For once," she smiled taking Isaac's hand, "everything seems to be perfect."
"I agree," he said.
"You know, I still wonder how Isaac managed to focus that much psynergy when he fought Dullahan," Sheba wondered. "I mean, he was positively glowing!" At this, Kraden stopped his explanations and rambling and focussed entirely on Isaac.
"Glowing, you say? With psynergy? You simply must tell me everything that happened!" he said.
"Thanks, Sheba," Isaac muttered. Sheba giggled, and the group launched into a long explanation of the events on the mountain. When it was over, Kraden paused and formulated his best hypothesis.
"I would suppose that when you were all atop Mars Lighthouse when it was lit and the Golden Sun rose, you were all exposed to extreme concentrations of Psynergetical power."
"You already told us that," Felix said.
"Yes, but I think Isaac has 'tapped into' that power and learned to harness it. It's the only way he could become so strong that fast," Kraden said. Isaac thought back to Lunpa and his final battle with Saturos and how he achieved that power, and looked around at the sources of it. He smiled.
"Maybe not the only way..."
********************
Isaac sat atop the highest point of Hammet's castle, overlooking the direction of Vale and the Golden Sun. He reflected upon the events of the last little while. Actually, he had been doing that for the last hour. By this point Picard would be telling him not to waste his short life, and Felix would tell him to stop trying to be so philosophical all the time. Ivan and Sheba would say that thinking was their job, and Jenna and Garet would just say to come down and enjoy life again. Mia...well she might join him in the solitude, actually. Might be worth checking.
And on cue, Mia appeared behind him, coming up from downstairs.
"What are you thinking about, Isaac?" she asked him, joining him at the window. Isaac paused before answering.
"It's been a long couple of weeks..."
"I know what you mean," she said. "What are you going to do now?"
"I thought might head back to Bilibin," he replied. "There's a lot of work to be done there." Isaac looked contemplatively out the window. "I wonder how many of the others would come with me...?" Mia smiled and took his hand.
"One, at least."
Mia leaned forward and kissed him. Finally, after the anarchy and death that they had seen so much of over the last few days, he could relax and enjoy the moment. He could take his time getting to Bilibin, he could take his time returning home, he could even take his time waiting for Garet to finish lunch.
But most importantly, he could take his time now and enjoy it, with Mia, alone and at peace. He kissed her again, and the couple enjoyed the setting twilight, lit only by Luna, and the faint, distant light of the Golden Sun.
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(Dew): HOORAY!
(Char): Conga line!!
(Dew/Char): This dumb fic is done NOW... This dumb fic is done NOW...
I didn't think it was that bad!
(Dew/Char): *still conga-ing* That's 'cause you're a mo-RON... That's 'cause you're a mo-RON...
...You have a conga chant for everything! How long have you been planning that conga line?
(Dew/Char): *you guessed it* Original chap-TER... Original chap-TER...
Moving right along...
That's the end of my first ever fanfiction...actually, my first ever story! ...Okay, fine, first ever plot. I'd like to thank everyone who's helped me in some way to create this story.
Firstly, that means some targeted thanks. Many thanks go to:
Sweetsixteen5 and Ivan of Vault, for never ceasing to threaten my bodily health (especially in Law Class) whenever I cliff, and possibly convincing me to write even more than my muses.
Secondly, to other authors on fanfiction.net, including, but not limited to: Midnight C, Triad Orion, Griffinkhan, Akiko and Elena. Your stories have covered a wide array of emotions in me, from serious and touching to downright hilarious and overall something great to look forward to week in and week out. I humbly thank you all for writing and continuing to write such great stories. Special thanks also to Midnight C for being a dedicated and 'consistant' reviewer since the early chapters. (Incidentally, to anyone who hates me for cliffhanging, it's partly her you can blame, as she has indirectly taught this annoying and yet addictive skill to me.)
And finally, I wish to thank every person who has reviewed this story at any point. More often than not, your reviews have been insightful, humourous and something I would look forward to reading after each chapter I posted, almost as much as I liked writing the chapters themselves. To everyone who reviewed, thank you.
Having said all that, it is time for me to close this. If you decide to review this last chapter, please include at the very least an opinion on my writing of at least one of the following styles of scenes, each of which I personally thought were rather weak: 1) Fight scenes, 2) Sad scenes and 3) Romantic scenes. Your opinions would be greatly appreciated and usable if I decide to write another story.
(Dew/Char): *halting the line* MORE WRITING?!
^_^;; Again, thank you to the above people and my reviewers. It's been a blast. See you around.