Sheba: Mercury! Why didn't you put this on the fan fiction site on Wednesday (3rd September)? Why did you only put his up today? (5th September)
Mercury: Well, I couldn't get to the Net because the dumb connection wouldn't work! I could only go from today!
Sheba: Yeah, right.
Mercury: You are getting more annoying at the minute, Sheba. Shut up, or else…
Sheba: Or else what?
Mercury: I'll use my author powers!
[Silence]
Isaac: Okay, um…MercuryAdept would like to thank the following people for reviewing her story. If your name is not listed here, sorry, as the names here are only those that she saw on the review page before she uploaded this chapter.
Mercury: Erm, I got a flame from someone called You Suck!… Well, since you don't like it, don't read it then.
Sheba: Next review!
Mercury: Well… I got a review from EchoKazul. Thanks for the encouraging review, Echo. Your stories are great, too. ::rereads review:: Umm, okay, hope you like this chapter.
Sheba: ::looking over Mercury's shoulder:: You're scared of a scrunchy?
Mercury: Shut up, Sheba.
Sheba: [gleefully] Mercury's scared of a scrunchy! Mercury's scared of a scrunchy! Mercury's scared-
[Suddenly, a lightning bolt appears from nowhere and strikes Sheba. She collapses, her hair slightly singed.]
Mercury: ::sly grin::
Sheba Fans: :: gasp:: MercuryAdept, you are so going to pay for this! ::all charge at her::
[The lightning bolt strikes them, too.]
Ivan: Sheba! ::turns to Mercury:: Why did you do that you-
[The same lightning bolt strikes Ivan, too.]
FBM (Fans of a Blonde Midget): IVAN!
Mercury: He deserved that for yelling at me.
FBM: [really angry] MercuryAdept!!! ::comes charging at her::
[The lightning bolt returns and strikes the FBM]
Mercury: ::closes laptop contentedly::
Isaac + Mia: ::shuddering:: Scary author powers…
Mercury: That's right, my muses. Sheba's lucky she was one of my favorite characters. Otherwise she would be struck by a tsunami.
Mia: Oh, umm… MercuryAdept does not own Golden Sun, the FBM, or the idea of scary author powers. She forgot to put the last one in the first chapter.
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Chapter 2- The Hooded Man
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Isaac turned his head when he heard Mia's voice but continued walking.
"What?" he asked.
"Isaac! Stop!" she cried, running up to him.
"Why-?" But he didn't get to finish his sentence. He bumped into something rough and blacked out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sniggering could be heard in the background. Isaac opened his eyes wearily. He saw Mia's face, contorted with concern.
"Isaac! You're awake!" she exclaimed, and her worried face broke into a relived smile.
"Wh-what happened?" he asked. The Venus Adept realized he was lying on the forest ground.
"You bumped into a tree and fell unconscious," she explained. "And you've been out cold for half an hour. We had to stop and wait for you to wake up."
"Strange… I don't feel any pain…"
"Well, you had a bruise on your forehead, but I've used Ply."
"Who's laughing?" interrogated Isaac.
"Garet and Jenna." Mia shot the Mars Adepts a disapproving look from the corner of her aqua eyes. "They said that Venus Adepts shouldn't bump into stuff since they're so careful. And you did, so they thought it was funny. But I don't think so." She looked back into Isaac's azure eyes. "I told them Venus Adepts aren't all perfect."
Isaac smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Mia."
Mia grinned. "No problem. Do you think you're okay now?"
The Venus Adept nodded and got up slowly with Mia's help.
"Hey, Isaac. Are you okay?" asked Piers. (No reviews about wanting of Picard yet) The Lemurian was sitting under a tree nearby.
"Yeah. Thanks, Piers," replied Isaac.
"Good. So we can go now," came Felix's voice. The raven-haired Venus Adept hopped down from the rock he was sitting on. Isaac nodded.
"Hey, Isaac. All right there? Heard you knocked into a tree!" sniggered Garet. Jenna burst out into fits of laughter.
Isaac glared at his childhood friends. Jenna and Garet were still laughing. When they realised that the rest were glaring at them, they kept quiet.
"How near are we to Kolima Forest?" Isaac asked as he walked.
"A few minutes' walk," replied Piers as they continued walking.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Is this Kolima Forest?" Sheba asked.
"Yes it is," replied Garet.
The Adepts had reached Kolima Forest. Mia, Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers, who had never been here before, marveled at the lush green grass, blooming flowers, calm sapphire streams and sturdy trees of the forest.
"Even though it looks peaceful, monsters can appear from anywhere so be careful," warned Isaac.
"Look! A whole swarm of Drone Bees!" exclaimed Ivan. And he was right.
An entire swarm of Drone Bees appeared from behind some tightly- packed trees and headed at them.
"Looks like we'll have to fight them," decided Felix. The swarm buzzed angrily at them.
"Why are they so angry? We didn't do anything!" cried Jenna, brandishing the Tisiphone Edge out of its scabbard.
"It must be the man's doing!" said Piers, casting Deluge on some of the Drone Bees. The bees hummed in anger as they rushed forward, drenched, at Piers, their stings facing him.
"Pyroclasm!" hollered Garet.
"Dragon Fume!" yelled Jenna.
Both Psynergy were aimed at the offensive insects. Flames burned the insects as they droned loudly. Piers muttered a hurried 'Thanks' to the Mars Adepts as they smirked triumphantly.
"Legend!" bellowed Felix. The swords of Jupiter Psynergy hit some of their enemies and they disappeared after a Tundra attack by Mia.
Isaac unleashed Flint, one of his Djinni. It rushed out from his garments and crashed into a group of bees that did not scatter fast enough. Although they were weakened, they buzzed angrily at the Venus Adept and charged at him. Ivan and Sheba rushed in to help, both casting Shine Plasma at the rest of their unwelcome pests, defeating all of the Drone Bees. A small bounty of coins lay in a heap where the bees disappeared. Isaac wiped a trickle of sweat from his forehead as he scooped up the coins into his money bag.
"Wel,l that was surprising," commented Felix, sheathing Excalibur back inside its leather scabbard.
"That's just the beginning. Whoever's controlling Tret will have more challenges for us to overcome," said Ivan, panting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Garet groaned. "Not the puzzles again!"
The group had reached the area with the first log puzzle. When Isaac, Garet and Ivan had just past Kolima Forest for the first time, Garet had decided to try the puzzles first. When Isaac and Ivan tried to help, Garet assured them that he could complete the puzzle by himself. An hour later, Garet had not made any progress at all. Isaac sniggered as the memory came back to him.
"What's so funny?" asked Garet.
"N-nothing," said Isaac, stifling his laughter. Inside, he was bursting to laugh out loud. In the memory, Garet had finally given up and Isaac and Ivan solved it in a matter of minutes. Garet blushed crimson red when they did.
"Isaac, can you still remember how to solve this puzzle?" asked Ivan. The Venus Adept snapped back to reality and struggled to remember the solution. He nodded slowly and started pushing the logs so they left their pathway across the river clear. Everyone smiled at him as they hopped across the log.
The Venus Adept cleared the next puzzle easily with some help from Ivan. And at last, they reached the part where Laurel and Tret were.
Laurel looked exactly the same as Isaac, Garet and Ivan had seen her before, but her face was contorted with worry. Isaac thought that if Laurel had a human's face, her face would be full of wrinkles. Slowly, the tree opened her eyes.
"Oh, it is the Adepts… Save Tret… before it's too late…" she murmured before her eyelids drooped again.
Mia, Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers stared bewildered at the tree. Did it just talk? They knew Tret was a talking tree but there was more than one talking tree? Weird.
"Umm, guys," said Ivan, sensing their confusion. "This is Laurel. She's another tree."
"Oh," said Piers. "Well, let's move on, then."
Garet nodded. "Tret is over there. Let's go." The Mars Adept had pointed to their right. He headed there first, with the others following behind.
In the other area, Tret was looking vicious and angrier than when Isaac, Garet and Ivan first saw him.
"HROOM!" he boomed suddenly, and all the Adepts thought they just had a heart attack. (Maybe Kraden would if he were with them) "YOU ARE THE ONE NAMED ISAAC! GO TO LUNPA NOW! MY MASTER SAID SO!"
"Master?" questioned Sheba.
"YES!!!" roared the tree. "GO NOW!"
"We won't," said Felix firmly.
"YES YOU WILL!"
"Nope, not even if you paid us a million gold coins!" said Garet, wielding the Darksword by the hilt. "Well, maybe I would."
"Garet!" scolded Jenna.
"Ah, persistent, aren't we?" came a voice that sounded oddly familiar to Isaac, Garet, Ivan, and Mia. Isaac gripped the Sol Blade even harder. Garet looked around the area frantically, expecting someone to show up. Ivan racked his brains, trying to remember who the voice belonged to. Mia's cerulean eyes darted around, getting ready to smash the Nebula Wand at the first person to make a sudden movement. The other four looked at the tree determinedly as a tingle ran down each of their backs.
"Who are you? And why are you controlling Tret?" shouted Piers, trying to ignore the tingle.
"Who am I? I shall show you who am I."
A shadowed figure emerged from the back of the tree. He or she wore a brown and ragged traveling cloak that shielded his face. He yanked the hood of his head. Dark green hair and a matching moustache were some of his features. There was an evil glint in his eyes as he gave the eight Adepts and unpleasant smirk.
"You!" exclaimed Garet.
"Dodonpa?" Ivan said in disbelief.
"Yes," the man said. "Me."
Sheba: (who woke up sometime in the middle of the chapter) MERCURY!!! What is it with you and cliffhangers? You had one the previous chapter and another one again?
Mercury: Duh. It adds suspense to the chapters.
Sheba: I HAAAAAAAAAATE cliffhangers, author girl! Spark Plas-
Mercury: I know that. And-
All except Sheba: Shut up before she uses her scary author powers!!! ::shudder:: Remember before?
Sheba: Oh yeah. ::hands fall from original Psynergy-casting position::
MercuryAdept: R&R! Oh yes, and say it if you want Picard. Ciao!