Ha! I'm back. Yes, it's me, SirGecko with another chapter of this fic. Number nine. It's the average-sized one sandwiched in between my two big chapters. It's about eight pages long . . . I can't remember exactly (pathetic, eh?). So, do some reviewing, and you'll have the monster: chapter 10.
I, again, want to thank all the reviewers who took the time to review this fic. I put a ton of work into it, and your reviews are greatly appreciated, the feedback I like. Thanks again. Go get yourself a pop now, and then come back and read this.
Well, for security reasons, I must post that essential, yet constantly annoying disclaimer. So, here goes. I DO NOT OWN GOLDEN SUN. If you truly think so, then call Camelot, or whoever and see what they think.
Okay then. Onto chapter 9!
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Chapter 9: The Welcome and the News
"Okay, time to get up! We've got things to do and a lighthouse to visit," shouted Lunora's tired voice. "Time to get ready for the second, and much worse, hike through the cold."
Isaac opened his eyes, and rubbed them with one hand sleepily. He still felt a shred of the happiness that had flooded though him only a couple of hours ago. He looked down at the girl of his dreams. Mia was still sleeping, a small smile etched on her face. Her hair had come out of its elegant design, and was now strewn all around her head, which rested itself on Isaac's shoulders. Isaac did not want to disturb her, but he was the leader. Things had to be done.
He sat up and stretched. He heard some faint mumbling from next to him, a sign that he had just woken Mia up. She gave Isaac a slight kiss on his neck as he leaned back again with a great sigh of content. Unfortunately, not all enjoyed last night.
Garet was unable to sleep after he heard Mia and Isaac whispering to each other. She had mentioned something about 'feeling better now that I have shown you this'. He stayed up for a few minutes after this, pondering what she could've been talking about.
What Garet heard next was utterly sappy. It took him a long time to fall asleep after this, what with Isaac's and Mia's kissing. He felt is was not right, under the circumstances they were here for, and the race against time. Of course, Isaac and Mia weren't to know that he stayed awake though everything.
Isaac got up entirely and smoothed his hair into its usual style. He started to help Mia put her hair into its number of elegant bands, but she grabbed his hand.
"Don't bother. The wind will just undo it again," she said.
"You're right. This would be pointless," agreed Isaac. "But even without, you'll still look beautiful," he added passionately.
He smiled at her and tried to pull his hand free of Mia's grasp, intending to start of get ready, but Mia wouldn't let it go. He soft, slender fingers pulled his hand forward, her eyes full of desire. Isaac went willingly forward with his hand, and their lips met again.
Everybody else watched them kiss with different expressions on their faces. Solaris looked satisfied, Lunora looked amused, and Garet looked positively revolted. Ivan was still asleep. This was good, because if he woke up and saw this, he would have made sure that Isaac and Mia wouldn't forget this for a long time. Solaris spoke up.
"Quite sentimental, but time is of the essence. We need to get to the Luna Lighthouse before nightfall, and then you can continue your . . . uh . . . that is . . . where you left off."
Isaac and Mia broke apart quickly, looking quite embarrassed. Ivan, by this time, had woken up. He sat up groggily and looked around. Everyone was staring at Isaac and Mia. By this point, he could pretty well have guessed what just happened. Just to be sure, he turned to Garet and read his mind. Garet didn't even notice.
'Sick! They were kissing last night, as if that weren't enough, and now they do it again! Not that I mind them kissing, just not in front of me! . . . It makes me jealous . . .'
Ivan stopped here. He knew enough. Ivan felt a huge smirk plaster his face, and a light floaty feeling, one of great triumph. Hee hee hee heeeeeeeeee! A double whammy! Isaac and Mia snogging, and Garet's jealous! This was perfect, just too perfect. But there was no time for poking fun now.
"Let's just do what Solaris said, and get ready to go," said Isaac, trying to fill the very nasty silence.
To his relief, everyone complied with what he said. They bustled around, gathering their blankets, and stomping out the embers of the fire. At last, they were ready to go. Lunora suddenly spoke as everyone gathered their stuff together.
"We continue south from here, down that passageway," she explained, indicating the passageway to her left. We'll hit the end of it soon after that. Monsters might be lurking about in the passageway, so be alert. Once at the end, we'll emerge out on the south side of the mountains. The cold on this side will be unbearable, so be ready for it."
The group nodded. So, they picked up their weapons and backpacks, and after what seemed like days, they started on their way again.
*******
"This is it! The end of the tunnel," said Lunora, torn between excitement and nervousness.
She and the others were still walking along the narrow passageway. She must have recognized every bend to know where they were at without arriving there first. Isaac turned back to his group as they proceeded.
"Okay, everyone bundle up!" commanded Isaac. Everyone but himself threw their blankets over their heads. He had insisted that Mia start out with the blanket this time. She had accepted reluctantly.
What struck the group as ominous was that they already needed the blankets, and they hadn't even gotten out of the cave yet. Then, after assessing the very end of the tunnel, they all made a disappointing discovery.
"Dammit!" shouted Solaris. It was obvious to everyone why he swore. The exit to the cave was completely blocked by a huge drift of snow.
"How are we going to remove all this snow by the time nightfall comes? Damn," cursed Lunora.
"You keep telling us we need to be there by nightfall," said Ivan, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Why?"
"I've been waiting for someone to ask me that," said Lunora, smiling at him. "It is a truly marvelous, yet puzzling concept.
"The Luna Lighthouse is on the edge of Weyard, as I have told you before. However, the lighthouse only appears at night When Luna shines down upon the spot where it resides. So-"
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I have a question," said Mia. "This storm outside has clouds extremely thick to go with it. How are we supposed to go to the lighthouse when the clouds are going to most likely obscure the moon?"
"Another good question," said Lunora. "You see, Luna will always shine. It has enough control over the clouds to always keep them clear of the light she shines upon the lighthouse. Anyway, we need to get to the base of the lighthouse before night falls, so we'll have plenty of time to solve its puzzles."
"Why would we need that time? Haven't you explored the lighthouse?" asked Garet.
"Not entirely, Garet," said Lunora sadly. "My progress was blocked by a stone pillar in front of the door, which I could not reach. I would have needed a Venus Adept to proceed. Now, the other reason we need a lot of time is because we'll need it to settle any issues between Karst, Agatio, and Alex."
She put emphasis on the word Alex, and glanced at Mia, who stared right back, her eyes flashing. Obviously, Solaris had told her about his Mia's and Isaac's little trip through time. Lunora continued.
"The amount of time we have is roughly four hours, according to the moon."
"What happens if we don't finish in time?" asked Garet nervously.
"I don't even want to think about it," said Lunora, shuddering.
"If we don't finish in time, one of two things will happen," cut in Solaris. "We could be thrown into the core of the lighthouse, never to come out of it again, or we could just be thrown off, depending on where we are at the time it disappears."
"Those are great options," said Mia sarcastically. "Do we die, or do we die?"
"Keep in mind that that's if the worst comes to the worst, though," added Solaris quickly, trying to look on the positive side of things.
"Hey guys, while we stand here, precious minutes are ticking away! We've gotta figure out how to remove this drift!" said Isaac urgently.
"He's right," said Ivan, nodding. "Let's get going!"
"But how, though?" said Lunora despairingly. "We won't get this done and still have enough time left!"
The group thought hard for a few minutes, but nothing came to mind. All of a sudden, Isaac felt a slight quiver under his tunic, and a high squeaky noise. Then, the idea came to him.
"Djinn," he said.
"What?" said Garet, starting to snicker. "The Djinn?! What are they gonna do . . . make snowmen?"
All of a sudden, the tips of Garet's spiky red hair went ablaze. Everyone started to laugh. Garet looked at them, a befuddled expression on his face. Then, he looked up, and saw the orange light dancing on top of his head.
"Aaaaughh!" he screamed. He charged forward, and threw himself head-first into the snowdrift. A loud, sizzling sound could be heard as soon as his hair touched the snow.
By this time, everybody was positively howling with laughter, but none laughed harder than Solaris. Garet came up from the snowdrift, the tips of his normally spiky red hair now black and still smoking slightly. He looked livid.
"Alright! Which of you Djinn burned my hair?!" he roared. Seven little Mars Djinn popped out of a pocket in Garet's stuffed backpack, sniggering heartily. But none more so than the little Djinni on the far right.
"Torch!" shouted Garet. By this time, all of the Adepts' Djinn had appeared from various places on their respective Adept, sniggering loudly, as well as the Adepts.
"What? You're the one who insulted us! It seemed only fair to even the score," said Torch squeakily. Garet didn't reply.
"Anyway, back to my suggestion," said Isaac, after he stopped laughing. The realization that dawned on him next was that Torch's little prank had wasted a good five minutes. "What do you all think of it? They'll work much faster than us."
"What are you talking about? Garet could just Pyroclasm the damn thing and *poof*! All done!" said Ivan impatiently. Lunora giggled at his tone of voice.
"Hey man, I'm drained," said Garet. Then he said, in a much quieter voice, "If you heard what I did last night, you'd be drained too."
"I know about it," said Ivan.
"Wha? How do you . . . you little whelp! You read my mind again, didn't you?!" shouted Garet, making to charge after Ivan, but Solaris held him back.
"Control yourself, man," he said.
Breathing heavily, Garet straightened himself up and dusted himself off unnecessarily. He had a set face, but a friendly face nonetheless.
"No hard feelings man, eh?" he asked, extending his hand. Ivan gratefully shook it.
"Isaac, your suggestion is a good one," said Lunora, trying to put things back on track. Everyone else agreed.
"How about we have only our Djinn leaders do the work?" suggested Mia. "That way, things won't be as chaotic."
"Good idea," said Isaac. "Flint!"
A Venus Djinni popped out form under his tunic, where he had been shielding himself from the cold, and after it had stopped laughing at Garet.
"What's up, pal?"
"Get to work on that snowdrift! And work fast, Flint, time is of the essence!"
"You got it!" squeaked Flint.
All around Isaac, the other Adepts were doing the same thing: addressing their lead Djinn, and giving them instructions on what to do, and commanding them to help Flint. So, they all set to work; Flint immediately took charge.
Flint swung into the snow mercilessly with his cleaver, scattering snow about behind him. Forge boosted Flint's strength. Gust blew snow out of the way. Fizz restored any lost strength in the other Djinn. Flare (Solaris's lead Djinni) melted any snow in its way. Darkness (Lunora's lead Djinni) protected all of them from the cold by encircling them with a mystical aura.
The Djinn worked extremely fast, having understood that there was no time to spare. In only a few minutes, Flint, Flare, and Gust had broken through the mountain of snow.
"Done!" Flare cried happily, but he was quickly knocked over. A freezing blast of air and snow blew into everyone's face. Gust hovered forward and blew out a bigger opening that everyone could fit through.
"Thanks, guys," said Isaac appreciatively. The Djinn nodded and squeaked their acknowledgments, and then hopped back to their respective Adepts.
Everyone threw the blankets over their heads and stepped through the drift. Everyone soon noticed how much new snow had accumulated since the last time they had been outside. It had to have snowed at least another foot and a half, maybe even more. Lunora's now distant voice suddenly rang through the air.
"If we follow the mountains west, we should come straight to Tundris! The walk should be no more than an hour. Come! We must hurry!" And so they set off once again, following the base of the mountains.
It didn't take long for everyone to notice how much colder it was on this side of the mountains than on the other side. Isaac noticed especially quickly, since he didn't have a blanket. The snow blew harder, the wind was fiercer, and the air in general was much colder.
All of a sudden, Isaac felt something warm hit him in the side of the head. It was a wool blanket, thrown to him by Mia. Mia came up to him and put an arm around his shoulder.
"It looked like you needed it more than me," she shouted, grinning.
Isaac nodded, too cold to speak. The wind was so loud at that particular instant, that it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
Isaac extended his gloved hand in front of his face, trying to block the snow from his eyes. He had little success, though. The wind kept shifting direction slightly, blowing snow in from somewhere else.
Isaac looked as far off into the distance as he could. All he saw, however, was white. White, as far as the eye could see. And the cold itself was still unbearable, even with a blanket on. He didn't know how Mia could stand it. She just trudged on, arms wrapped around herself for warmth, a small smile etched on her face. Isaac deeply admired her for this.
Up ahead, Solaris and Lunora were having a conversation.
"How long has it been since you left?" asked Solaris.
"Four years," sighed Lunora over the wind. Actually, quite a bit of the town was sad to see me go. You know, the ones who didn't think tradition was everything." Here, her soft voice hardened a little.
"The ones who gave me the sneering faces were the families of the people on the council who voted to expel me from town. Alex and my friends tried to tell them to leave me alone, but those stupid bastards told Alex and my friends that they were in league with a traitor." Here, she started spitting her words out.
"My parents didn't even say goodbye or anything when I walked out of the gates. Anything to save their reputation and our tradition, and anything would do!"
Solaris remained silent through all of this. Then he spoke up. "When I was little, I was always shunted to one side when Saturos was my brother. He was taught by the greatest swordsman in Prox, and probably in all of Western Weyard. And, of course, I was just his kid tag-along brother. "Saturos and I started out being really close, as most young brothers do. Then, when he went to see Agatio and started to learn about the lighthouses, he became distant with me.
"Eventually, he became obsessed with lighting the lighthouses. And hardly anything else mattered to him after that," Solaris went on irritably. "Agatio drove him insane. My brother. My only brother! He drove Saturos so insane that he died from it! I'LL KILL AGATIO! I'LL KILL HIM!!!" he shouted, his voice cracking slightly.
Garet suddenly popped up on his right side, his blanket uneven at the top where his hair still managed to keep it up.
"Hey man, it's okay. It wasn't your fault, or Saturos's. If it's anybody's fault, it's mine. I helped kill Saturos."
"No, Garet. Saturos was dead long before you killed him. Agatio wiped all sanity from him, and to me, that is just like dying. If anything, I'm glad you killed my brother. I wouldn't want to see him live on like that."
Lunora spoke again from Solaris's other side.
"I felt that way about my parents. They persuaded over half of the council into believing I was a traitor. All for some stupid tradition!" her voice rose uncontrollably in anger.
In the middle of the group, Isaac, and Mia listen to Solaris and Lunora relive their pasts. Their eyebrows were raised the whole time.
"Sounds like their teenage years were tough," commented Isaac.
"It does," said Mia. "Mine weren't exactly a stack of pancakes either. All of that stuff with Alex." she broke off. "Of course, at the time, the time I did spend with him was great. But the months that followed his absence were so miserable.
"I imagine," said Isaac, nodding. "I don't like him much now, but I'm sure he was very likable four years ago. The time when I lost my did . . ." Isaac broke off. "Man, our teenage years pretty much sucked," he added.
This made both of them snicker. All of a sudden, they heard a noise, an unmistakable shout of joy. It came from Lunora.
"Unless my eyes are deceiving me, Tundris approaches!"
Everyone looked ahead, and they indeed saw lights and smoke billowing into the sky in the distance, before being blown away by the raging winds and swirling snow. The group all let out a whoop of joy, and jumped into the air.
A few minutes after that, small outbursts of pain arose. The cold had split their lips again, and had also cracked their nasal passages. Blood oozed from their lips and nose again, and to make matters worse, it froze to their face. But they pressed on.
Isaac could now see Tundris better. The glows that emanated from the windows was very inviting. Isaac, enticed by the feeling of warmth that he would soon feel, sped up, along with everyone else. They were all anxious to get out of the cold.
*******
Isaac walked through the town gate, two tall, glittering ice pillars several feet apart. The town itself was quite small. It had a very long building right in the center, which Isaac assumed to be the Town Council Building.
Lunora was quite happy to be seeing her hometown again for the first time in four years. She would have explained what and where everything is, but her lips were too cracked and numb to speak.
Instead, she led them to the inn. It was a welcome relief to everyone when they stepped inside the door. A fire was crackling merrily in the fireplace, and was quite a bit of jostling around by all to get close to it, so they could "defrost".
Everyone took off their snow-covered wool blankets, and draped them in front of the fire. The blood on everyone's faces that had frozen in thin lines was now starting to melt.
A voice suddenly spoke out from the shadows. It had the same accented voice as Lunora, only this new voice was slightly heavier and less floaty.
"Welcome to the Tundris Inn. How long will you be staying . . . Bless Luna! It can't be . . . Lunora, is that you?!"
Lunora had a broad grin on her face. "Sagan! It's been too long!" she cried happily. They both rushed forward and embraced. Even Garet couldn't help but smile. Then, Lunora drew away and turned back to the rest of the group.
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet one of my old best friends. This is Sagan." Sagan nodded, smiling broadly. "These are my traveling companions: Isaac, Garet, Mia, and Solaris, who's been my friend ever since I arrived in Prox. Oh, and I almost forgot Ivan!" she said, smiling at him and tousling his hair. Sagan shook everyone's hand.
"Nice, very nice," she said happily. She then turned back to Lunora. "So, what brings you to Tundris, after all these years? Finally decided to defy the Council, huh?"
"No, even though that would be nice," said Lunora, a steely smile on her face. "We've come here concerning business with the Luna Lighthouse. We must protect it from being lit, for a fearsome group is on the way to light it. We have to prevent that from happening."
"What are you talking about? We need the lighthouse lit!" said Sagan, looking surprised that Lunora didn't know this. Lunora was taken aback.
"But . . . but . . . the reason we are a town was to prevent exactly that from happening! That would be going against our tradition!"
"I know it, but-"
"They banish me from town because I wasn't loyal enough to guard the lighthouse, and now they wish to light it themselves?" Lunora looked furious.
"Why did they decide to light the lighthouse?" asked Ivan.
"As soon as the Jupiter Lighthouse was lit, an imbalance was created between the Common elements, Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind, and the Forgotten elements: Sol and Luna.. With three Common lighthouses lit and no Forgotten lighthouses lit, Luna has gotten angry, and her fury is this storm. She wants her lighthouse lit, and her fury will go away. But the storm will get steadily worse until Luna Lighthouse is lit, and we will all freeze to death," explained Sagan.
"Okay. Now that I know the reasoning behind lighting the lighthouse, and seeing that lives are at stake, we agree with letting the group light the lighthouse. But I'm still skeptical . . ." said Lunora slowly.
"It was a tough decision for the Council to make, Lunora. Your parents did everything they could to prevent this course of action-"
"Of course they would! All they care about is this town's damn traditions! They don't give a damn about anything else, as long as the damn traditions are kept!" screamed Lunora, spit flying from her mouth.
She and Sagan continued to work out the current change of plans, while Isaac and company (and Solaris) talked amongst themselves.
"Man, I've never seen her this angry in my life," commented Solaris to Garet.
"She has issues," Garet whispered. Solaris snickered.
Then, Garet felt something hard hit him in the back of the head. It was Mia's staff. Garet spun around, rubbing the back of his head.
"Don't be so insensitive!" snapped Mia. "How would you like it if you got kicked out of your house?"
Garet thought about this. "To be totally honest with you, when my sister's there, I go over to Isaac's. And my sister's there almost all the time. So, basically, I wouldn't mind at all."
Everyone snickered, even Mia. Then, everyone turned their attention back to Lunora's and Sagan's conversation.
"Where are the Council members and my parents?" asked Lunora.
"Well, most of the Council has gone to the Luna Lighthouse, and your parents are at home, going over some paperwork."
"But why? They don't even have the Luna Star!" said Ivan.
"I agree with Ivan," said Lunora. "What would they gain from going to the lighthouse if they don't even have the star?"
"Think about it for a moment, Lunora," said Sagan quietly. 'These travelers you're talking about . . . the fearsome group, as you say . . . they have the Star, but they need one more thing."
Everyone thought about this for a moment. Then, Isaac spoke up.
"They need a Luna Adept to open the lighthouse for them," he said.
"Precisely!" said Sagan, gesturing towards Isaac.
"Thank you Isaac," said Lunora. "I couldn't remember that part."
"When should the Lighthouse appear?" asked Lunora.
"What are you talking about?" asked Sagan. "It already appeared an hour ago."
"W-what?!" stuttered Lunora. "Oh Luna no . . . come on! We must make haste!"
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This just goes to show that it's never good to be late for anything. Unless it's school ^_^. Then that's OK.
This is SirGecko signing . . . oh wait. My geckos just said this.
"You moron, you forgot to tell those readers to review that excuse for a fanfic!"
Hey, I take personal insult to that last part of the statement . . . but the other half, I heartily agree with. REVIEW!!!