MercuryAdept: Yay! Sorry for the super-slow update for this chapter! I had EXAMS! (And a case of writer's block) Anyway, let's cut to the chase today. I would like to thank the following people for reviewing my story. If your name's not here, sorry! Granite!
Granite: Here you are. ::somehow hands her printed page of reviews (Djinn have no hands)::
Mercury: Okay. Replies:
Never Been Taken Alive: Thanks for saying I don't suck and reviewing.
Void: Thank you for saying the accident was funny. I doubt trees are related to Mars, Jupiter, or Mercury, either.
Dark Ice Dragon: Wow, the cliffy was good? Yay! And Dodonpa wants—Wait! I can't give away the story! It'll be revealed in this chapter.
Blitz: Hey! Cliffies are NEVER good.
Mercury: Ignore that Djinni.
EchoKazul: Thanks for reviewing! Hmm, Picard, huh? Okay, fine with me. Hope there're no objections. Good idea to delete 'You Suck's' review. I probably will.
Blitz: Hey, Mercury, you still haven't told Sheba what's sooooo scary about EchoKazul's scrunchy.
Mercury: Oh yeah. Ah, screw it. With that done, disclaimer, please, Sleet!
Sleet: MercuryAdept does not own any part of Golden Sun at all. Camelot and Nintendo do. Now scroll down for the fic!
Granite: Oh yes, Piers shall now be called Picard, like EchoKazul requested.
[NOTE: If you have only started reading this story, Blitz, Granite and Sleet are my new muses. Isaac, Mia and Sheba have been sent back to Triad Orion and Griffinkhan respectively]
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Chapter 3- Out of the Forest
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Surprised was what each of the eight Adepts was feeling now. Even Picard felt surprised, as he knew Dodonpa was Lunpa's grandson, and Lunpa was presently living in his hometown of Lemuria.
"You?" asked Ivan incredulously. "Weren't you imprisoned in jail by your own father?"
"Ah, that incident…" said Dodonpa, the smirk still on his face. "I shall tell you in a moment… Tret! Bind these pesky Adepts right now with your vines!"
"Hroom!!!" boomed Tret [once again!]. There was a little scramble for the clearing in the surrounding trees as green vines shot out from the sides of the titanic tree. The vines grabbed each of them and wrapped them tightly, just enough for them to breathe normally.
"Now… you listen while I talk.
"I escaped from that nasty prison, of course with my great wit. I fled my hometown of Lunpa and went south, smartly navigating through a cave. Afterwards, I disguised myself as a wandering traveler and rested at the Bilibin Inn. The very next day, I set off in a southeastern direction and found the small village of Kolima.
"I heard some people talking about the great tree Tret my time there. They said that he ruled Kolima Forest. Then, a brilliant plan formed in my mind…
"I decided to see how great this Tret was… and somehow, I managed to control him. Now, I am going to hold you eight ransom and demand money from your families!" Dodonpa laughed a high, cold laugh that triggered a tingle down each of their backs. "And even if they do manage to come out with the large amount of coins, you will probably be dead by then!" He laughed again. As he turned to leave, he smirked unpleasantly at them and added, "If you do have the luck to get free from the vines, I'll be at Kalay, demanding ransom from Hammet…"
"Oh great, now what do we do?" grumbled Jenna. "We are trapped in this stupid forest by a crazy maniac who wants to hold us for ransom from our families. If only we could move… I would cut the vines with my Tisiphone Edge."
An idea leapt into Isaac's mind. "Sheba, you have Gale with you, right?" Sheba nodded. "Use Gale to cut our vines!"
"Great idea, Isaac!" Sheba shouted.
Gale! she tried to call the Djinni telepathically.
Yes, Sheba? came the reply.
I need you to cut our vines so we can be freed, Sheba 'said' back.
Well, okay, agreed the Jupiter Djinni. Sheba yelled, "Gale!" and the lavender-colored Djinni came zooming out from the Jupiter Adept's tunic. It flew swiftly at the Adepts' vines, and sliced them nicely. The group of eight Adepts fell to the forest ground one after another as Gale sped back to Sheba.
There you go! Job done! declared the little creature happily.
"Good work, Gale," agreed Sheba. "Go back and Set yourself, okay?" Obeying her, the Jupiter Djinni returned to its original place.
After some grateful thank-yous, Felix cast Retreat to return to the entrance of Kolima Forest. All eight of them glowed a mild orange and gave off a slight aura of Venus Psynergy, as they were slowly teleported back to the entrance of the forest.
"How long has it been since Dodonpa left the forest?" inquired Mia.
Isaac was deep in thought for a while. "Not long. Probably about a quarter of an hour, I guess."
"Then he probably hasn't reached there yet," deduced Felix. "He most probably traveled through Goma Cave and decided to go south to Kalay. My guess is that he's probably still in Goma Cave." The rest of the Adepts nodded in agreement.
"Wrong," drawled a familiar voice. That voice is too familiar, thought Isaac. He and the rest whirled around. Dodonpa stood near them, the obnoxious smirk still on his face.
"Why are you still here?!" Garet blurted out.
"Ah, I knew the eight of you were smart enough to get your way out of that simple situation and would eventually catch up before long," he replied. "And… I have a little surprise for you…" He gestured to their backs, and they stared at the creature approaching them.
It was Toadonpa.
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Mercury: Okay, so I lied. This story's going to have more than five chapters because of another surprise I'm going to give them. [Serious hint on another cliffy like this]
Granite: All I have to say is that you are seriously evil, Mercury. You just love leaving off the readers at terrible cliffhangers like this, don't you? You already put cliffhangers in both Chapters 1 and 2 and now you're going to do it again.
Sleet: Are all authors like that?
Mercury: Be quiet, or have a taste of Scary Author Powers!!!
[Silence]
Mercury: Okay, anyway, about Gale cutting the vines for the Adepts, um, they can't exactly move their hands so those wielding swords could not cut the vines. There. ::turns to Blitz + Granite + Sleet:: And in Mercury's Fury, I did NOT leave cliffies at all.
Blitz: But you did leave them in suspense on the mystery person.
Mercury: …
Blitz: Hah! I'm right!
Mercury: … Okay, if you want the next chapter to come out quickly, please review! And remember: NO POINTLESS FLAMES!!!