Sheba: MercuryAdept does not own Golden Sun.
Isaac: And it shall stay that way forever.
Mia: Oh yes, and she tried her best to give you the fic in American English.
MercuryAdept: That was because the Microsoft Document in my PC is set to A. English and I don't know how to fix it so Spell Check goes haywire when I write school reports in B. English. So, it is in A. English… I think…
Sheba: Enough with your rambling! Can you just get on with the lame story?! ::Sparks are crackling over her head::
Mercury: Eep! Okay anyway, here is Chapter 1 of the story. ::muttering:: Note to self: Never make a Jupiter Adept, especially Sheba, wait, unless you're asking for a Spark Plasma.
Sheba: I heard that! ::runs after MercuryAdept
Mercury: Eep! Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh! ::runs away::
Isaac and Mia: ::anime sweatdrop::
Mia: Umm, there's a really really long flashback later so you might want to skip it because that part was from the first game. And, erm…here's the fic.
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Chapter 1- The Problem
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"How long have we been walking?" whined a red-haired boy with brown eyes.
"Shut up, Garet, and give me a break, unless you want me to Dragon Fume you," snapped a girl with auburn hair and similar brown eyes. "We going to solve a problem and if you don't shut up you'll be reduced to a cinder." Her name was Jenna, and she and a group of seven Adepts, including Garet, were nearing their destination—Kolima Forest.
Make that a really huge problem, thought Ivan, one of the eight Adepts. Having short blond hair and purple eyes, Ivan was a Jupiter Adept, meaning that he possessed Psynergy of the wind type and certain psychic abilities too, like the ability to read minds and perceive hidden truths.
Anyway, the eight Adepts had to go to Kolima Forest for a mission: To free it from a rogue man's control. Tret, who (or which, I don't know!) was the forest king of Kolima, had somehow come under the man's control, and that had made Kolima Forest come under the man's control. He could manipulate all the plants in the forest or even make the entire forest wilt and die.
Déjà vu, thought Isaac. It is still so clear, even though it was about a year ago…
Isaac was thinking about a incident about a year ago, when he had came to Kolima for the first time and with just Garet and Ivan, without Mia, Felix, Jenna, Sheba or Piers. It was before any of the four Elemental Lighthouses were lit. Isaac, Garet and Ivan had just walked into the town of Kolima when they noticed the entire town was filled with logs.
Not just the houses, of course, he added silently to himself.
--------------------------- [Flashback…]
Isaac and his friends walked into the eerily quiet town of Kolima. Everything was made of trees, even the houses.
There are the trees again – exactly like the ones at Bilibin, Isaac thought.
"Hey, look, those trees look like the one at Bilibin's Entrance," exclaimed Garet, voicing out Isaac's thoughts.
"But they look so much like humans," said Ivan. He walked to the nearest tree and cast Mind Read. The familiar purple rings of Psynergy force surrounded Ivan. When he was done, he looked aghast.
"They're actually humans!" he gasped. "They're not trees!"
"They aren't?" asked Garet.
"No!"
Isaac peered around the quiet town and spotted something. Garet also noticed it.
"What's that sparkly stuff over there?" inquired the Mars Adept, pointing at something. Ivan turned.
"I don't know…" Suddenly, Ivan let out a cry of pain.
"Aargh!" Ivan fell to the ground. "I'm paralyzed! I can't move!" he cried.
At exactly the same moment, Isaac felt an excruciating pain and fell to his knees. He felt all of the Psynergy being drained out of him and lay sprawled on the dirt floor. Next to him, Garet was also gave a cry of pain. Isaac tried to move but he could only move his eyes. Somehow, Flint, Forge, and Gust had managed to get out of the Adepts before they were paralyzed and were now poring over their respective allies.
"Isaac! Are you alright?" Flint asked with concern.
Isaac could hear Forge fussing over Garet nearby. "Garet! Garet! What's happened to you?"
"IVAN! What's wrong?" Ivan's Djinni twittered in circles all over him. "IVAN! IVAN! IVAN!" (If you think Gust is obsessed with her ally, the issue was from EchoKazul's fic, The Book of Golden Sun. I don't think so, but if you do, here's the source anyway)
"I don't know, Flint… I can't move and my Psynergy's suddenly been drained out of me…" Isaac managed to say.
Before the Venus Djinni could reply, Garet interrupted him abruptly.
"Look! There's that sparkling stuff again!" said the Mars Adept somewhere from his left.
"Oh no! It must be what turned the people of Kolima to trees!" exclaimed the Jupiter Adept from his right. "And it's getting nearer!"
Isaac's sapphire eyes traveled to where Ivan's purple ones were looking at. If he were not paralyzed, his jaw would have dropped. The sparkling stuff was now a few inches away from the trio.
Suddenly, a golden- colored dome formed around him and his Djinni. Flint noticed it too and looked up.
The sparkling substance was directly falling above him now, oh not at all was it touching him. It fell on the dome and slid off the sides.
Isaac looked over to where Garet was. The Mars Adept also had a dome around him, and it was red in color. Ivan had one too and his was purple in color. The substance trickled off the domes and onto the grass.
Suddenly, the substance stopped dropping and Isaac could move his body again. He stood up and saw Garet and Ivan getting up, too. Their Djinn disappeared back inside them, relieved to see that the Adepts were not trees.
"Did you see those domes that were protecting us?" Ivan exclaimed in disbelief. "They protected us from the substance!" His fellow Adepts nodded.
"What did you think they were?" Garet asked. Ivan paced around before speaking up.
"I think we were projecting Psynergy."
Before the Jupiter Adept could continue, Garet interrupted him. "Psynergy? Don't lie, Ivan. I couldn't feel any Psynergy at all when I was paralyzed.
"Me too,' added Isaac.
"Well, I think Psynergy appears only when it's needed," explained Ivan. He continued, explaining further on his theory.
"Wow. I never knew that even though I'm older than you, Ivan," admitted Isaac. "Look-- The sparkling stuff's coming again!"
The other Adepts noticed this too, and started focusing their minds on projecting the Psynergy barrier. They succeeded and were safe as the substance trickled away.
"Hroom!" boomed a deep and low voice that made all three Adepts jump. "Why don't they turn into trees?"
"Who are these people who are immune to Tret's glamour?" came a more feminine and gentle voice. "Perhaps they can save all of Kolima and Kolima Forest."
"Hroom! Laurel, it is impossible! When we die, so will all of Kolima!" came the low voice again. The Adepts listened intently.
"Tret was once a kindly forest king. All of Kolima Forest bloomed and the people of Kolima lived happily. But one day, someone came to Kolima Forest and tried to cut Tret down. The evil side of Tret was unleashed and he started placing a curse on anybody that went near the forest and the people of Kolima were affected, too. Now, you must reawaken his gentle side before the people of Weyard become trees and die when Tret and I do."
"Hroom! Laurel, there is no hope! Kolima took their axes to me, and now I take mine to them! When we die, all of Kolima will cease to exist!" said the one known as Tret.
Laurel spoke again. "Look for us deep within the Forest, North of Kolima. Reawaken the gentle Tret before all of Kolima wastes away. Good luck, Adepts."
--------------------------- [End of Flashback]
After a while, the Adepts had decided to do what Laurel said. They found Tret deep within the Forest and battled him. They came out victorious and the gentle side of Tret returned. However, Tret had no energy to revert the people of Kolima back to normal. Isaac, Garet, and Ivan then traveled to the northern regions of Angara, where the quiet town of Imil and the Mercury Lighthouse resided. It was also where they had met Mia. After a brief meeting with her, she rushed off to the Lighthouse. After helping her a few times, Mia decided to join Isaac's party. They completed several hard puzzles before reaching the Lighthouse Aerie, where they met Saturos, Menardi, Felix, Jenna, Alex and Kraden. Saturos and Menardi lit the Mercury Lighthouse Beacon with the Mercury Elemental Star before a battle between the four Adepts and Saturos ensued. They defeated Saturos and got the Hermes' Water they needed. They traveled back to Kolima, Mia with them, and gave Tret the Hermes' Water he needed. He uncursed the people of Kolima and they continued their journey.
Flashbacks of these accounts whirred throughout Isaac's mind. Suddenly, Mia's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Isaac, look out!"
Sheba: ::death glare:: A cliffhanger?
Mercury: Yes! ::grinning broadly::
Sheba: You know I abhor cliffhangers, Mercury! You know!
[At this point of time, sparks are crackling over Sheba's head.]
Mercury: Oh course, I do. And if you're discontented with it, I'll use my author powers!
All Adepts: ::gasp:: Scary author powers? Just like EchoKazul and Midnight C? NNNNNNNOOOOOOOO!!!
All except Sheba: Keep quiet Sheba! Otherwise Mercury will use her scary author powers!
Sheba: O-Okay…
[The sparks disappear]
Mercury: R&R! Oh yes and if you express great dislike for the name Piers, please add that in your review that you would prefer Picard. :) I should be able to get Chapter 2 up by next week or so coz' it's the school holidays for me in my country. Erm, I got mixed up with the time slots when Tret and Laurel started talking, and also what they talk about, so sorry! See you!