Blah blah blah, this is SirGecko speaking again blah blah blah with the 11th chpater blah blah blah for you readers blah blah blah.
Okay. Sorry, it's Monday, and I'm in a blah mood, but, why should I make you that way? So, I have the eleventh chapter, and second battle, here for your reading pleasure.
Now, it is my good . . . and bad duty to inform you that I have just gotten out of my 2-week writer's block on chapter 19. That's the good news. The bad news is that my updates are catching up with my progress, soo we're gonna run into that wall real soon here, in probably about two weeks. Now, perhaps I can get 19 . . . and 20, for that matter, done by then. But I guess my point is that soon, I'll have to update whenever I finish a chapter, and not when I get reviews or feel like updating.
Oh, and speaking of reviews, thanks for the new ones I got.
Now, for the bloody, legal disclaimer. I DO NOT OWN GOLDEN SUN. If I did, I'd be developing a third game to the two already out, and I'd be making some damn good money at it, too. Maybe it'd be from Saturos's and Menardi's point of view . . . heh. I'll have to write a fic like that someday. I know it'll never be as good as Vyctori's . . . but ah, well. Nobody says I'm trying to be the best author. ^_^
Okay, onto chapter 11, and battle number two!
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Chapter 11: Who Won the Race?
"Weapons at the ready," warned Isaac, drawing out his Gaia Blade. "Even though we don't plan on fighting them, it doesn't mean they don't."
"I agree," said Solaris, whisking out his Sol Blade gracefully.
Ivan already had his Kikuichimonji out and at the ready. Mia drew out her Crystal Rod, Garet swung his Giant Axe around, and Lunora held her new staff firmly at her side. By this time, with all their weapons drawn, the platform had risen out of the lighthouse and onto one of the elevators. They could all hear Karst and Agatio talking.
"They're taking too long, Agatio," said Karst in a slightly fearful voice. "I know you want to kill Solaris, but if we don't scram soon, we'll be dead, just like they will be!"
"I do want to kill Solaris," said Agatio. "But, I also want him to understand."
"What is there to understand? He'll not listen to you!" shrieked Karst. "Come on, dammit! Throw the star into the well, now!"
"No, I'm going to wait to finish them off," snarled Agatio.
"You've got your wish," spat a new voice.
Solaris was walking in front, looking around. He had a fixed, menacing expression on his face. Isaac, however was looking around the Aerie. Billowing black clouds were emanating form the Luna statues surrounding the well of the lighthouse.
"You wish to stop us from lighting the beacon?" said Alex, stepping out of the shadows. "You wish in vain. You have tried, and failed, at three lighthouses so far. What makes you think that this time will be any different?"
"We have more knowledge than you think we possess," snapped Lunora. "Light the beacon. Light it now!"
Alex tried, but failed to hide his surprise. Of all the things he expected Lunora to say, he never expected to hear this.
"Did I hear you correctly?" said Agatio. "You want us to light the beacon?"
"Yes, you did hear us correctly," said Garet. "Now do it, before we change our minds!"
Alex smirked. "I have to admit that I underestimated your knowledge. So, for once, I will do as you wish. It is my wish, too, as you will find out, soon enough."
Alex walked forward, and drew out the Luna Elemental Star. It was grayish-silver, with twinkling light in the middle. Alex held it as far over the well as he could without falling in himself, and dropped it in. Isaac gritted his teeth as it fell, knowing he was saving hundreds of lives by making this decision, but at the same time, he felt the faintest taste of defeat on the tip of his tongue.
Instantly, the lighthouse began to shake. And then, a narrow beam of silvery energy shot up through the well. A few minutes after this, an extremely bright flash of light was seen, and then an explosion. The swirling orb of elemental energy came up through the well, pure silvery. It spiraled around like all the rest. Lunora felt a surge of power like she had never felt before. She looked at the ball Luna had given her. Twenty-five minutes left.
"Well, we are now all satisfied by what just happened," said Agatio crisply, but menacingly. "Let's be on our way. You'll have it your way, Karst. We are pressed for time. Felix! Ready the other hostages."
Felix, whom none had noticed, was standing beside one of the Luna statues. He looked over at Agatio and nodded. He went over to Jenna and Sheba, who were waiting next to the elevator on the other side of the lighthouse.
Agatio, who had been supervising the actions of everyone, now started to move towards the elevator. But, his progress was blocked when someone held a sword to his throat.
"And just where do you think you're going?" said a voice.
"We did what you want, now let us go," said Agatio.
"Do you really think that just because we let you light this lighthouse, that we'd let you light the rest of them?" said the low, menacing voice. It was Solaris, Sol Blade at Agatio's throat, standing there without moving.
"What do you mean?" said Agatio, looking slightly nervous at the Sol Blade at his throat. He silently reached his hand to his side where his weapon was kept . . .
"We mean that we're going to stop you here and now to prevent you from lighting the other lighthouses," said Isaac, stepping forward.
Over on the other side of the Aerie, Karst noticed that Agatio was in trouble. She couldn't make a direct attack on Isaac and his friends, though. They'd see it. But how could she help . . .
"And we're also going to take back Jenna," said Garet.
"And Felix," said Mia.
"And Sheba," added Ivan.
"You think so, huh?" said Agatio. His hand was around the hilt of his sword now. "Think again!"
With one swift movement, he whipped out his sword. The instant he touched the hilt, the long, thin red sword burst aflame. Solaris, taken by surprise, didn't see this coming. He paid for this. Agatio brought his sword around, and sliced Solaris across the chest.
"Aaaaaaughhhhh!" he screamed.
Blood spurted from the wound across his chest. All of a sudden, a wave of flames passed over them all, searing them. Solaris screamed particularly loud, his tender inner flesh also being seared by the heat. Karst charged forward, her scythe drawn. Isaac ran forward and engaged her in swift combat.
Lunora dragged Solaris away from the melee and placed her hand on his chest, while Mia ran forward to engage Alex, who went up to help Karst and Agatio. Lunora concentrated her healing powers on the wound, and Solaris felt it heal instantly.
"You're getting good at that," said Solaris weakly, sitting up.
"It's the lighthouse," said Lunora softly. "It's strengthened me greatly. Are you fit to fight?"
"You're damn right I am," snarled Solaris, who got up.
He began to charge back to Agatio, who met him head-on. The sounds of metal on metal were heard. Soon, Garet appeared out of nowhere, and he began to swing his Giant Axe effortlessly, but Agatio was able to block both his and Solaris's attempts to kill him.
Alex was dueling with Mia. He had drawn out an extremely light, long, powerful, periwinkle blue scimitar as his weapon. She kept smashing him with her Crystal Rod, and occasionally unleashing Drown, but Alex was far too powerful to succumb to that attack. Lunora appeared suddenly by Mia's side, and began to help her fight Alex, but Lunora was no more than an extra hindrance, a pathetic attempt at defeating him.
"You have no hope against me, Mia," said Alex. "I will prevail over both of you."
"What caused you to change, Alex?" shouted Mia as she swung her Crystal Rod to deflect the blows that Alex was delivering. "Why have you become evil?"
"Evil? How could you think that? I have merely become . . . ambitious. I have great power. I told you in that letter that you would not like me when I saw you again."
"Well, you were damn right about that one," snapped Mia. "Aaggh!"
The tip of Alex's scimitar had cut her wrist. Blood trickled down her arm and seeped into her robes, but she ignored it, and shifted her Crystal rod to the other hand. She dueled as effectively with her right hand as she did her left.
Isaac, meanwhile, was having a one-on-one sword-fight against Karst. She was an extremely powerful woman; she blocked all of the offense that Isaac threw at her. His Gaia Blade occasionally unleashed Titan Blade, which caught Karst off-guard for a second, but she leaped right back in it and engaged Isaac again.
"You will pay for my sister's death," snarled Karst as she got narrowly close to slicing off Isaac's leg. "I did not want to kill her," panted Isaac. "But she was a threat to me and my friends; I had no choice."
"Valiant of you, boy," sneered Karst. "But you will die sooner or later. And your death will be by me!"
"The only ones who will die will be you, Agatio, and Alex," said Isaac. "And unless you wish to die quicker, you will return your hostages to us!"
"You wish," screeched Karst, and her anger helped her land a critical blow on Isaac.
"Aaggh!" he screamed.
Karst had put her scythe right through Isaac's left shoulder. Isaac's arm went limp, and his Gaia blade went crashing to the ground. Isaac, fell to the ground, clutching his right shoulder, and screaming in agony. He felt warm blood seep through his fingers.
Karst put her scythe above Isaac's head, like she was going to spear a marshmallow on a stick. With a screech that shook the air, she brought down the scythe.
A short sword appeared out of nowhere, stopping Karst's scythe two inches from Isaac's head. Isaac looked up through his tears of pain to see who had saved his life. It was Ivan. His sword, gleaming in the light of Luna, was resting horizontally in the air, held by Ivan, stopping Karst's scythe.
"Don't even try it, Karst," said Ivan. "I'll kill you for him."
"Pah! You, a little whelp like yourself? Come on, I'd like to see you even get your damn sword near me!" shot back Karst.
She withdrew her scythe and swung it at Ivan. With some spurt of cleverness that Ivan possessed, he ducked the horizontal swipe, leveled his Kikuichimonji, and thrust it forward. This all happened in a split second. The blade went straight through Karst lower right leg.
"Aack!" she screamed.
Collapsing to the ground, her scythe clattered away across the ground. Isaac, who was still clutching his bloody shoulder, grabbed it and set it down by his side. A small pool of blood had spread itself around Karst's pierced knee. But she did not writhe and scream, as was normal. She simply gritted her teeth and held her bloodstained leg.
"You have defeated my by a lucky chance," said Karst. "I was foolish to attack like that. I was caught up in my rage. So, kill me."
"No," said Ivan after a moment.
"What?!" hissed Karst. "You have won! You have downed me! Kill me now! I do not wish to be at the mercy of some little kid! That in itself hurts worse than death!"
"That is exactly why I'm keeping you alive," said Ivan. "I am not going to kill you. I've already mentally scarred you, and that's good enough."
And with that, Ivan strode wordlessly away from Karst, despite her shouts of rage and pain. He went over to Isaac and helped him to his feet. With one hand, Ivan supported Isaac, and with the other, he held Isaac's Gaia Blade.
"Let me down," said Isaac.
"Why?" said Ivan.
"I can heal myself, remember?" said Isaac. "I'm nowhere near as good as Mia, but I can try."
Ivan nodded, and let go of Isaac. Isaac took his good hand, and concentrated his energy on the wound in his shoulder. He instantly felt the fluid-like sensation of Venus flowing through his wound, repairing most of the damage. The skin and inner tissue healed, but most of the pain still remained.
Isaac took his sword from Ivan and put it into his bad arm. He moved it around, tried a few cuts of the air. The pain seared throughout his arm and shoulder, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.
"Ivan!" he said.
"What?" Ivan asked.
"Go find Felix and the others!" said Isaac. "Make sure they're okay!"
Ivan nodded, and he disappeared to the other side of the Aerie, ane went down the stairs. Isaac made his way to the steps on the other side, and sat down, massaging his injured shoulder.
"Mia, you have no chance against me," said Alex. "And neither do you, Lunora."
"Well, we may not, but we're not going to go down just because you say we are!" shouted Lunora, swinging her new staff wildly, blocking Alex's scimitar from piercing her chest.
"I feel faint," said Mia, all of a sudden. She slumped to the ground, and moved no more.
"It was the blood loss," said Lunora to herself. "I do hope she'll be alright. I'd heal her now, but I can't, or I'll die."
"You'll die anyway, Lunora!" said Alex triumphantly.
"No, I won't! Said Lunora. "I have to live! I just have to!"
And then, her staff began to glow. The arcs lit up, the blue one first. Lunora, to her great surprise, saw some trickling Mercury energy flow out of Mia and into the Arc. Isaac felt a little bit of his strength leave him as Venus energy stemmed out of his body and into the yellow arc. The same happed with Ivan (whose energy flowed into the purple arc), and Garet (whose energy flowed into the red arc), and finally, Lunora herself, whose energy flowed into the gray arc. The energy seeped into the arcs, and then the energy began to flow into the central full-moon orb. The more energy that went into the orb, the brighter it got. And the, the weapon unleashed.
Five beams of energy: blue, yellow, red, purple, and silver, shot out of the full moon-orb and straight into Alex. Alex reeled; his scimitar flew out of his hands. For a moment, the weapon disappeared into the generated clouds, and then reappeared, and clattered away across the stone floor.
Alex swayed on the spot, bombarded by the combination of five elements against him. They were all pointed at his heart, and Alex looked like he was having trouble breathing. Then, the beams dissipated, one by one, beginning with Mercury, followed by Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and finally, Luna. Alex crumpled to the floor, motionless.
Isaac rushed over to Mia and Lunora, and cast Revive on Mia, to wake her up. He then cast Potent Cure on the wound on her wrist. She looked up at him and smiled.
"Thank you," she breathed.
"Well, it's only temporary," said Isaac. "I'm sure you could heal yourself better than I can, but that was a nasty cut."
"I feel fine," smiled Mia. "What about your shoulder?"
"It still hurts like Hell, but I don't think I'll suffer any lasting damage," said Isaac reassuringly. "I'm drained on energy though. I doubt I could even lift my sword, let alone cast any more Psynergy."
"Maybe this will help," said Mia, and she lowered her head to Isaac's shoulder, and gave it a long, passionate kiss.
Isaac bent his head down against her neck, and took some of her skin into his mouth, and began to suck on it, to which Mia groaned slightly. She then put her hand on the side of Isaac's face. He wrapped his arms around Mia's waist as he swirled his tongue around Mia's soft skin. 'I'm lucky Garet isn't seeing this,' he thought. 'He looks pretty busy himself.'
Garet was busy, but not romantically. He, along with Solaris, was fighting for his life as Agatio dueled with them so viciously, that they could hardly see his sword.
"Garet, I feel pathetic," said Solaris as he whirled his sword around equally fast and gracefully as Agatio. "I have assistance in fighting this guy, and I still can't beat him!"
"That's right, you and your little axe-swinging friend can't beat me," cheered Agatio as he dodged a blow from Garet effortlessly. "I am too great! The best in Prox!"
"Isn't that nice," said Garet slowly and very sarcastically.
"It is," said Agatio, and with one swift move, he brought his sword through Garet's defense and sliced his hip open.
"Auuuughhhh! Mars! Oh, Mars, it hurts!"
Bare white bone could be seen between the squirts of blood that spattered to the ground. He was writhing and twisting in pain. It felt like a white-hot poker had been pressed to his side, one that was electrically charged.
"H . . . here, Solaris," he said. "Take my Axe. Finish that bastard off, for me!"
Garet threw his Giant Axe into the air, and Solaris caught it one-handed. Solaris noticed that it was rather heavy, which showed Garet's strength in wielding heavy weapons. This balanced Solaris out though, he had an almost even amount of weight in both hands. He began to duel again.
Between the throbbing pain and the blood on his hands and side, Garet saw that Solaris was truly one of a kind. He jumped around, dodging everything that Agatio threw at him. The sword and axe that he now used whirled around him, like a constant deadly shield. He didn't know how Solaris could get so strong as to wield 35 pounds of combined metal. But he did.
Garet wasn't disappointed. After a few minutes, Agatio wore down, and Solaris was able to land a blow across Agatio's right arm. Agatio grunted in pain, and clutched his arm, allowing his weapon to clatter to the ground.
Agatio leapt for his sword with his other arm, but Solaris was too fast for him. He kicked it away, straight to Mia and Isaac, who were still not finished with their . . . uh . . . charges. Isaac looked up, licking Mia's neck as he went.
"Look, it's Agatio's sword," said Isaac.
Mia looked up from where she was sucking on Isaac's wound. "What happened, I wonder?" she said in a hushed voice.
Isaac stood up. "Come on! Garet is in trouble!"
"Oh!" said Mia, and she stood up, and ran to Garet's side. "Where did you get hurt?" she asked.
The pain was too much for Garet even to speak. So, he simply pointed one of his bloody fingers to the deep gash in his side.
"Right," said Mia.
She closed her eyes, and rested her hand very gingerly on Garet's wound. Drawing out the powers form her clan, she felt the energy seep into Garet's cut and start mending the broken tissue and the dented bone. Within seconds, the wound was completely healed.
"Thanks, Mia," said Garet.
"It's what I'm for," said Mia, helping Garet gingerly to his feet.
He turned his attention to Agatio and Solaris. "So, are you going to kill him or not, Solaris?"
"I've been thinking about it," said Solaris thoughtfully. "Half of me wants to, to avenge my brother's death. But the bigger half enjoys our confrontations," he added. He turned to Agatio. "You realize that we could have easily killed all three of you tonight," he started. Lunora had just walked over. "We have seven minutes left, Solaris," she said tentatively. "Make this quick."
She looked around. The clouds were starting to dissipate, now that the lighthouse beacon had finally been lit.
"But I think I will let you live, Agatio. You may battle us the next time we meet as you wish. But, you must do two things before we let you go."
"What?" said Agatio disdainfully. Karst had crawled next to Agatio.
"First, you must accept your defeat," said Solaris, arms folded.
"We already have done that!" spat Karst. "You fools, who wallow in self-triumph!"
"The second thing you must do, is you'll free Felix, Jenna, and Sheba," said Solaris, ignoring Karst's outburst.
"What?" said Agatio. "No we won't."
Solaris shrugged his shoulders, and pulled his Sol Blade from its scabbard. He held the tip to Agatio's Adam's Apple.
"How about now?" said Solaris.
"No," repeated Agatio.
Solaris sighed, and then inched his Sol Blade further forward. A solitary drop of blood oozed form the tiny pinprick that the blade had made in Agatio's neck.
"Now?" asked Solaris.
"Fine! We'll give you the hostages!" shrieked Karst.
"Good," said Solaris, taking back the Sol Blade and sheathing it. "Go get them!"
Karst nodded, and amazingly stood up on her one good leg. She hopped over to the other side of the aerie and called.
"Felix! Get over here, and bring the girls too!" she snapped.
Soon, Felix emerged from the stairway on the other side of the lighthouse. Isaac noticed with a twinge of horror that a red line had appeared on the horizon . . .
"Yes, Karst?" said Felix.
"You're fee to go," said Karst, looking like each word pained her to say it.
"I'm not sure I heard you correctly . . . are you saying that me, Jenna, and Sheba can leave?" said Felix in disbelief.
"Are you deaf?" snapped Karst. "That's what I said."
"But why?" piped up Sheba.
"Don't ask why!" shrieked Karst. "Just go! Now!"
"Isaac and his friends are there!" said Jenna. "Did they defeat you Karst?"
"You're smarter than you look," said Karst. "Take it as a compliment. Now, leave!"
"No," said Felix. "I will not leave."
"What?!" shouted Garet. "We beat them . . . Karst, Agatio, and Alex! We defeated them, and now you wish to turn down our second offer of freedom? What the Hell is wrong with you?"
"There's a destiny I have to fulfill, and I can only do that by traveling with Karst, not you or Isaac," replied Felix softly. "You're wasting time up here. You only have . . ."
And to Isaac's group's great surprise, he pulled out an orb just like the one Lunora had to check the time.
"Two and a half minutes," he finished. "Now go. I don't want you to die."
"Then let Jenna go!" said Garet.
"And Sheba!" added Isaac.
"Of course, I will leave that decision up to them," said Felix. "You're both welcome to go with them," he said to Sheba and Jenna. "I won't object."
"Well . . ." said Jenna and Sheba together.
"Hurry up!" urged Isaac. "We want you to come with us, but we don't have much time!"
"No, we need more time to decide than what we have right now," said Jenna. "So, for now, we're gonna stay with Felix."
"Jenna! Wha . . . why?" said Garet, looking hurt.
"I'm sorry Garet, I truly am," said Jenna who sounded close to tears. "Maybe at the next lighthouse."
"We only have a minute!" said Lunora. "Come on, Isaac, get us out of here! We need to Retreat, now!"
"Lunora, I can't!" said Isaac, sounding horrified. "All the fighting has drained me of my power!"
"Than, this is it," said Solaris. "We will not survive the fall. We are done."
"No!" shouted Ivan. "We can't be! Isaac, you've gotta pull something off! You always have in the past!"
"That was the past, Ivan!" said Isaac, sounding truly scared now. "I can't do anything about it! I've already tried!"
"Ten-nine-eight-seven-six-" said Lunora quite calmly.
"Goodbye, everybody!" said Isaac. "It has been a pleasure traveling with you."
Already, the lighthouse was starting to rumble. Garet, since he was closest to the edge, looked down, and saw that the bottom half of the lighthouse had already disappeared.
"Goodbye, Isaac!" said Mia, who was clasping his hand so tightly that it cut off all the circulation. But that didn't matter now. Not with death mere seconds away. And still, Karst and her travelers had not disappeared yet . . .
"Three-two-one-" said Lunora, her voice rising steadily.
"AAAAAUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!"
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Out of time . . . and at the end of their life? Who knows . . . besides me! Bwahahahahaha! ^_-
Anyway, review, now! Make it snappy! My geckos will be pretty pissed at you if you don't. So please review.