As Luck Would Have It
Feonyx: I've already talked to you about all that. I might say good job, but I might say try again, and I might say nothing at all…except GS2 has to come out sooner!
Griffinkhan: Actually, I'm not sure if Zoe knew about Golden Sun beforehand. As far as I know, she didn't, but then you never can tell when characters run wild like she has.
spectralstorm: Zoe is not the starring role in this chapter, nor is she meant to be the starring role in this ficcy. That is all.
A/N: At long last! Chapter 14! Sorry it took so long, but first I lost my gameboy, then my puter broke, and THEN I had this sleepover to go to…you get the picture. Anyway, here I am with the Saturos Battle! I have obviously exceeded the 55 reviews I needed, but hey, things happen.
Phoenix: You're excited about this Saturos thing?
Vilya: *shoves her other self away from the puter* yes, I am. Now, here we go!
Chapter Fourteen (YAY!): Shining Strike
Mia was the first to open her eyes. The sky above her was dark still, the stars bright spots against the blackness of night. Slowly she sat up, finding herself facing a greyish-orange sky.
"The sunrise," she whispered. She had not thought her voice was loud, but the instant she said those words the other four Adepts sat up as well. As one they stood, facing the sunrise together.
As the light broke over the horizon, Mia saw a dark shadow forming to her right. About to cry out, she saw whatever it was vanish in the full light of the sun, which burned away all darkness with its pure radiance.
Of course, though it was nothing compared to the beautiful colors of sunrise, the blue flash and glow of the beacon of Mercury Lighthouse being lit immediately caught the Adepts' attention. Mia felt immense power flowing through her as she turned to glare at the giant orb of liquid flames dancing above the pit of the lighthouse.
"There goes plan A," Garet remarked, drawing his sword. "And I think plan B will be taking a jump out the fourteenth-floor window sometime soon," he added as a figure emerged from behind one of the four Mercury statues surrounding the pit.
Ivan picked up a purple stone that sat on the elevator-type floor they had ridden up. Instantly it flashed, and a bright light surrounded all five of them, restoring their Psynergy to full power.
"We have to jump across the floating platforms," Mia said with certainty. "That takes us to the main spire…where the light is."
"Also where the mysterious shadowy figure is," Ivan put in.
"That's not mysterious," Isaac said flatly. "That's Saturos." Without another word, he jumped onto the first platform, then took a flying leap to the next one. Garet followed, somewhat more clumsily, and Mia behind him. Zoe was reluctant to jump, seeing just how far up she was.
"For Jupiter's sake," Ivan said in an annoyed tone, "you can fly. Why are you afraid of heights?" Having no good answer, Zoe forced herself not to look down as she jumped across, Ivan following close behind.
When all of them were safely on the main spire, they began climbing the large set of stairs, their only way to reach Saturos and end this. Before they had climbed the whole way however, a familiar voice startled them.
"Isaac! Garet!" cried a girl's voice, and the adepts turned to see who it was.
"Jenna!" they cried in unison. Then, seconds later, "Felix!"
"Confused!" Ivan muttered, and in his mind he heard Gust's giggle.
"You're still alive?" asked a tall woman with bright yellow hair. She sneered at the adepts, then turned to the three people she stood with. "I'm going to finish them off once and for all!"
"Menardi, wait!" said a voice from behind the spinning globe of Mercury. "I'll do it. You can't leave our hostages alone, can you?"
"I guess not," Menardi said thoughtfully. Without another audible word, she, Felix, Jenna, and an old man disappeared on the down platform.
"Isaac! Garet! Don't die!" came back a voice, the voice of the old man.
"Kraden," Garet whispered, fire in his eyes. He turned angrily to Saturos. "Come on, you vile slug! Stop being a coward and just fight!"
"Very well then…though this will be so easy it won't even pose a challenge…" Saturos said arrogantly, approaching them with a sauntering gait. Halfway there, he turned around and looked perplexedly at the lighthouse beacon.
"Stop stalling!" Garet was yelling. Saturos frowned and turned his red-eyed glare on the adepts, who promptly moved all the way up the stairs, to put the battle on fair ground.
"Then let's fight," Saturos hissed, his voice sounding more like a snake's might.
"Flint unleash!" Isaac yelled, and the Djinni appeared in a great flash of golden light, diving on Saturos with a loud battle cry.
"Fever unleash!" Garet's voice called, and the Mars Djinni became a swirling flame, wrapping around Saturos and burning him. Or trying to.
"Foolish boy!" Saturos yelled, triumph in his eyes. "I am an adept of Mars! You cannot harm me!"
"If you are a Mars Adept, then the power of the Mercury Lighthouse weakens your Psynergy!" Ivan retorted, seconds before adding, "Gust unleash!" The fury of Jupiter struck the villain full in the face.
"Mars Adept, huh?" Mia asked, a wicked grin on her face. "Let's see how you handle Mercury Psynergy! Sleet unleash!" Water drenched Saturos, causing him to cry out and wipe frantically at his face. Glaring with beady red eyes, he raised a hand above his head.
"Psynergy attack coming up!" Ivan warned, then, "Garet, duck!" as Saturos' Heat Flash headed straight for the Mars Adept. Garet merely shrugged the fire off, grinning at Saturos as only Garet could.
"And you called me stupid? I'm a Mars Adept too, slimebrain, and your pathetic Psynergy has about as much effect on me as a drop of water has on a mountain." Garet's grin disappeared, however, as Saturos drew his sword.
"If Psynergy won't take you, then perhaps a blade will!" Saturos yelled, the point of his sword headed straight for Garet's neck. Garet, in a split-second reaction, jumped, and instead of his neck the sword ran him through the stomach.
"GARET!" Isaac yelled. Mia instantly moved to Garet's aid as Saturos turned on Zoe, who had just pulled her longsword from its sheath.
"Thanks for the trick, Ivan!" she called to him, focusing her power into her weapon. "Explorer's Storm!" she yelled, and a great bolt of lightning struck Saturos, who appeared shocked to say the least.
"I summon the spirit of Jupiter, power of the Wind!" Ivan yelled, crying out victoriously as the summoned Jupiter struck Saturos from behind.
"Gah! FIREBALL!" Saturos yelled, his words more of a roar than actual words. Giant balls of flame rained down on the Adepts, one striking Zoe's leg and causing her to collapse, no longer able to stand.
"Squire's Spire!" Isaac said, watching as a gigantic earthen spire crashed on top of Saturos.
"Eruption!" Saturos shot back, a great column of fire spurting from the ground at Isaac's feet. He shot into the air, then fell to the ground, limp, burned, and unmoving.
Mia could hardly watch this. She had unlimited Psynergy from the newly-lit Mercury Lighthouse, but so many things were happening at once that she could barely keep her head from spinning. Then the hot wind of the eruption attack blasted towards her, so strong that it blew her to the edge of the lighthouse. She caught herself, and dangled there, hanging onto the edge for dear life.
"All alone, little boy," Saturos mocked Ivan. Ivan only glared and sent his Plasma Psynergy into his Shaman's Rod, amplifying the attack tenfold. Saturos, visible weakened, countered with an attack of his own, knowing he would last far longer than would the young man fighting him.
The volleys of Psynergy attacks continued for quite a while, until Ivan finally felt himself losing his control. His vision was becoming blurry, his powers weaker, and he was hardly unable to stand. And there was nothing and no one to draw power from.
Sighing in defeat, he glanced back at his friends. Zoe, unconscious from the pain of her burns, sprawled on the ground a few feet away. Isaac, burned to a near crisp, looking for all the world like he was dead. Garet, staked on Saturos' sword barely alive. Mia, gone over the edge of the lighthouse, maybe gone for good.
Even if somehow they were all still alive, Saturos would kill them once he was through with Ivan. And Ivan couldn't just let his friends die like that.
A tremendous power took hold in him then. He felt it, a feeling like being hit with one of his own lightning bolts, shocking and empowering him to the very core of his being. And he found the strength to say two final words.
"SHINING STRIKE!" Ivan yelled, throwing both hands to the sky and sinking to his knees. Great golden bursts of electricity shot from the sky, taking Saturos down after three hits. Still the bolts came, until finally Ivan collapsed from exhaustion, out of power and energy completely.
Mia dragged herself up over the edge of Mercury Lighthouse in time to see another blue-haired man helping Saturos to stand. She recognized this man instantly.
"Alex," she said coldly, meeting his eyes with a chilling stare.
"Mia," he said in the same tone. "You would never be able to finish Saturos off. I take my leave of you." Without another word, he was gone.
Confused and a bit taken aback by Alex's attitude, Mia turned her thoughts to more important matters. The first person her eyes lit on was Isaac, and she knelt beside him, fingers feeling for a pulse in his neck and finding none.
"Oh no," she whispered. "Gone. They're all…already gone. I don't deserve to be a healer. I let them down. I couldn't stop them from lighting the lighthouse. I've failed my clan, failed in my duty…and failed my friends."
"That's not true," whispered a hoarse voice. Garet's voice, Mia realized. "Don't sit feeling sorry for yourself. Get up and do something about it."
Mia smiled a little and stood. She was going to do something about it. First, however, she had to figure out how to get four badly injured and possibly dead adepts off the top of the lighthouse.
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Vil: should I leave them at a cliffhanger like this, not knowing who's dead, if anyone?
Kaede: Si, senorita. Esta muy bueno!
Vil: Nah, I don't think I will. Lea would have my head. So on we go.
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The first thing he noticed when he came to was that he wasn't hurt anywhere. That meant they must have won. Saturos had been defeated.
He could hear Mia's voice, talking to what sounded like one or the other of her Djinn. And Zoe's voice, too, answering some question Mia had asked.
Slowly, wanting this peaceful moment to last forever, he opened his eyes. Mia instantly noticed and sent him a warm smile.
"How do you feel?" she asked. Zoe sighed exasperatedly and shook her head.
"You are a Mercury Adept through and through," she said, making him laugh. He had been thinking the same thing himself.
"Where's Garet?" he asked, sitting up. He was obviously at an Inn, and, judging from the snow outside, still in Imil.
"Sleeping in another room," Mia said, her smile darkening some.
"And…Isaac?" Ivan asked, purple eyes intent. Isaac was the only one missing. Could he truly be…gone?
"Isaac is—" Zoe began, but was interrupted by the opening of the door to their room.
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Vil: let's stop HERE!
Kaede: now look, chica. You had your chance to stop, and you didn't take it. Ahora, you're gonna live with it.
Vil: Oh fine…
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Through the door walked Isaac, alive and well, and, to Ivan's relief, smiling broadly.
"—right here," Zoe finished lamely. She fought the urge to jump up and hug Isaac. He had looked so terrible, burned by Saturos' fire.
"Also lucky," Mia pointed out.
"And ready to go, when you guys are," Isaac added. Before they could protest, he held up a hand. "There are rumors of forests going wild and destroying entire towns. Don't look at me that way Ivan. Anyway, they say the mayor of Bilibin is hiring warriors to go and see what's up. And I figure, this cold isn't the ideal thing, so why don't we go?"
"Leave Imil?" Mia asked, eyes wide. "Well…I suppose, with the Fountain of Hermes flowing again, I'm not needed here as much as I have been. And Megan and Justin can see to whatever might go wrong. I have faith in them. So yes, I'll go."
"Tomorrow then?"
"Tomorrow?!" Zoe and Ivan cried in unison.
"We should go soon. If the situation is as serious as it sounds, then we can't waste time."
"Well I guess…" Zoe trailed off with a heavy sigh.
"I'll go and say goodbye to Megan and Justin," Mia said, rising and leaving the room. Ivan, head now spinning at all the important decisions that had just taken place within the course of a minute, did not mind at all as he crashed back onto his pillow and fell into a sound sleep.
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Vil: End of chapter fourteen! Next chapter…will be a surprise! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
Kaede: you're scaring me. Anyway, we wanna acknowledge Feonyx, author of Golden Sun Redux, for the fourteenth-floor window bit, that title back there about 'very very unlikely' (which Vil forgot was even IN one of his fics) and a number of other ideas that we can't find at the moment. But do go read GS: Redux. It's humor. Good humor.
Vil: And keep watching for the first part of Kaede's ficcy, which should be coming soon.
Kaede: Now, here comes that magic arrow again! And kudos to Alex for getting Isaac that dry-erase board!
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