Disclaimer: insert witty disclaimer explaining how I don't own Golden Sun here
Author's Note: It's a good thing I posted this story when I did; another story about the Tomegathericon was posted only two days later. They insist they did not "steel," so I believe them. I hope this story continues to please its readers!
Oh, and the first person to tell me where I got my foreign language from gets a cookie! Or a lollipop!
Sheba glanced around. The bright day had suddenly become dark and dreary, with large clouds threatening overhead. The fire they'd made to cook lunch flickered and danced with sinister purpose, and Sheba was suddenly cold. The landscape seemed surreal somehow, like it was mocking Sheba's reality.
She glanced next to her, where Jenna had stood suddenly. The Mars adept then leapt forward, palm extended, and incinerated a pair of zombies that had attacked their camp. Sheba glanced towards the other side and saw Piers slicing away at yet more of the undead warriors.
Before her, several more undead zombies shuffled forward at alarming speed. Sheba went into action, blasting the first group with a plasma attack, then using a whirling tornado to fling the remainder to the side. The battle seemed to be going well, she thought, and then she saw him.
A dark shadow stood before her, strangely familiar, yet utterly unrecognizable. The shadow's hand stretched out, and Sheba heard a strange incantation sound out.
"Xopoj ev xocc, rhadw vehkx kxo taho advohde!"
The shadow flung something toward Piers, and glowing hexes seemed to surround the Lemurian, boxing him in. All of a sudden, the hexes exploded, and the Lemurian disappeared, immolated in the sheets of flame that had engulfed him.
Sheba took a horrified step backwards as the shadow turned to Jenna. She tried to shout out a warning, but her feeble voice was drowned out by the ghastly chant.
"Cok feajed vcen vhoo!"
A blast of foul air extended from the shadow's palm, wrapping itself around the helpless Mars adept. She sagged visibly, ceasing her Psynergetic assault on the undead warriors.
"Den ukkusb, tomedj!"
Sheba watched, aghast, as demons leapt up from the earth around the weakened adept. Jenna drew her sword, but lacked the strength to fend off the hellish beasts for long. Sheba turned away just as her friend was overwhelmed, her chilling scream echoing in her mind.
The shadow had turned to her now. As the wind adept stood, frozen in fear, the shadow started chanting a single word with increasing volume.
"Kemo-wukxo-hased."
"Kemo-wukxo-hased."
The outline of a large tome formed in the middle of the shadow, gradually gaining substance.
"Kemo-wukxo-hased!"
"Kemo-wukxo-hased!"
Even though she couldn't see it, Sheba felt the shadow smile sadistically at her.
"KEMO-WUKXO-HASED!!"
"KEMO-WUKXO-HASED!!"
Sheba screamed as the book flew towards her…
…and sat bolt upright in bed, panting.
Sheba took several deep breaths, attempting to calm her frazzled nerves. A dream. It had just been a dream. Sheba looked around, frowning at her unfamiliar surroundings. Where was she?
The Jupiter adept was comforted somewhat by the sight of Felix, sprawled in a chair, sleeping. Her memories began to come back, slowly. They'd been caught in that ghastly tunnel, and she'd been poisoned by that plant-like thing. Apparently, Felix had managed to get them out of that tunnel alive. Sheba glanced over at the sleeping Venus adept, then blushed as she realized she'd been stripped to her dress-like undertunic. She shook her head at her own shyness. Obviously, she'd needed some fairly extensive healing.
The morning sun peeked in on Sheba as she fell back on the bed, her thoughts returning to her dream. Such a horrible dream it had been! Jenna and Piers, both… Sheba shut her eyes at the memory. She'd been having visions for most of her life, but sorting out the visions from simple dreams had always been impossible. Until she'd visited Air's Rock, that is.
Air's Rock had given her the power to see the future in short spurts, and Sheba had been slowly mastering that power. It was almost like a voluntary daydream, where the Jupiter adept could use her Psynergy to foresee conversations from that day's lunch, or dreams that she later had that night. Sheba hadn't really tried it on anything important yet, content to build her skill without any potential complications. But something about this chilling dream was sticking in her head. If it was a vision, Sheba had to find some way to prevent it.
Her mind resolved, Sheba sat up in bed, drawing on her Psynergy. After a few seconds, however, she sank back onto her bed, drained. That poison had taken much more out of her than she'd thought; her Psynergy was still very weak. The young adept tried not to think about how close she might have come to death. She was suddenly that much more grateful to have Felix as her protector.
Suddenly, an odd thought struck Sheba. Where had Felix been in her dream?
She was about to pursue that thought when a knock sounded on the door. After a slight pause, the door creaked open and Jenna stuck her head in.
"Oh, Sheba! You're awake!" the Mars adept said softly, closing the door behind her.
"Hey, Jenna," Sheba replied, sitting up and smiling.
"How are you feeling?" Jenna asked, sitting on the bed next to her.
"Other than being very tired, I feel okay. Where are we?"
Jenna glanced over at her brother, who was still sound asleep. "We're at the inn in Kibombo. We brought you here… to heal you."
Sheba was quiet at that statement. "Where are the others?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Kraden is downstairs, arranging for breakfast. Piers was just waking up when I left, and I guess my brother is still asleep."
"Piers slept this late? That's not like him."
Jenna avoided the younger girl's gaze. "I guess he used a lot of his energy to heal you last night."
"Jenna," Sheba started, waiting for the Mars adept to meet her gaze. "how… bad was it?"
Jenna sighed, but did not break from her gaze. "When Felix finally reappeared, carrying you, you'd stopped breathing." Sheba gasped softly.
"Piers got some herbs ready while Felix tried to jump start your lungs again," Jenna continued in an even tone. "I got the rooms at the inn, and they brought you in here, where Piers healed you."
Sheba was stunned. She'd been on the brink of death, and only Felix and Piers had brought her back. She glanced over at the sleeping Venus adept.
Jenna followed her gaze, and smiled knowingly. "He was worried sick about you, you know."
Sheba returned her eyes to the older girl, blushing. "I…I'm sure I had everyone very worried."
Jenna nodded, still smiling. "But now it's a couple hours after dawn, and we're getting ready to leave this stinking mud puddle and head back east. Do you think you'll be up for it?"
Sheba stretched briefly and yawned. "Yeah, I think I'll be able to keep up with you guys."
"Good," Jenna declared, standing. "I think it's time for Sleepy over here to wake up." And with that, she shoved the slumbering adept off his chair. Felix awoke with a bump, glancing around wildly and fending off his unseen assailant. Sheba laughed at his awkward position. It felt good to laugh again.
"Rise and shine, big brother," Jenna taunted, helping him to his feet.
"What was that for?" Felix moaned, rubbing his eyes drowsily.
"It's three hours past dawn, and you're the last one up!" Jenna reprimanded. "Even Sheba's awake!"
Felix blinked and looked over at Sheba, heaving a relieved sigh. "Sheba! How are you feeling?"
Jenna came around to the foot of the bed. "If you hadn't been sleeping, you'd have realized-"
Her sentence was cut short by Felix's hand clamping over her mouth. Sheba laughed at the startled expression in Jenna's eyes. "I'm doing much better now, Felix, thanks to you."
Felix refused to meet her eyes. "Piers was the one who healed you, you should thank him."
Jenna forced her brother's hand away from her mouth. "And she would, except that you've been sleeping in her room."
Felix eyed his sister skeptically. "And your point is?"
Jenna threw up her hands in mock exasperation. "She can't very well get dressed with you standing here!"
Sheba blushed furiously, glaring at the Mars adept. Felix's face also seemed to turn a few shades redder as Jenna rolled her eyes.
"Come on," she said, grabbing her brother's arm. "I need someone besides Kraden to eat breakfast with, or he'll talk my ear off!" She looked over at Sheba. "We'll give you some privacy now, okay?" And with that, the siblings were gone.
Sheba found herself smiling and shaking her head. One of these days, she'd have to get back at Jenna. Maybe she'd casually drop Isaac's name…
Already plotting her revenge, Sheba began to get dressed.
* * * * * *
Felix looked up at the towering Kibombo Mountains. They'd made much better time today than he'd dared to hope. There seemed to be a few hours left before dawn at least, and he wanted to press through the mountains and hopefully reach Naribwe before nightfall. He glanced back at his followers and read determination in their faces. Sheba's escape had seemed to energize the team, and even though they hadn't started until after lunch, they'd reached the mountains in half a day.
Felix had been most worried about Sheba. He hadn't been sure how she would hold up after her ordeal, but even she looked like she could keep going. They'd already lost considerable time off their quest. Felix ran a hand through his hair.
"Let's try to get to Naribwe tonight," he announced, turning to gauge his team's reaction.
Felix caught Piers's eyes widening slightly. Jenna simply nodded.
"Are you sure that's a wise idea, Felix?"
Felix turned towards the aged scholar. "As long as Sheba feels up to it, I'm sure we'll be fine, Kraden."
"We don't want to be stranded in the mountains as night is falling," Kraden pointed out.
"Kraden, we've been through these mountains three times already. I think I know how much time it takes to get through them!" Felix cried out, exasperated.
"Please," Sheba interrupted. "I feel fine. Let's just get through the mountains and see where we stand then."
Kraden looked like he was going to continue the argument when Jenna stomped on his foot, smiling sweetly.
Felix turned and began to climb the steep slope. Sheba followed behind him, then Jenna and Kraden, with Piers bringing up the rear.
Kraden had been getting increasingly on Felix's nerves. The scholar was a wealth of information on Alchemy, but little to no help when it came to actually running an expedition. Kraden had all sorts of suggestions, and would get disgruntled when Felix didn't follow his propositions. Thus far, the Venus adept had had the support of his fellow adepts, but that hadn't stopped Kraden and his inane ideas.
"I never thought I would travel this much," Sheba said behind him.
"I never wanted to travel this much," Felix commented wryly.
Sheba gave a small laugh behind him. "Well aren't we lucky?"
Felix shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder."
* * * * * *
Three hours and two mountains later, the party halted at the edge of a forest of elm trees. Felix threw his sword down in disgust. Jenna had twisted an ankle on the descent of the first mountain, and Piers had half-carried her through the rest of the mountains. They'd still lost considerable time, and now they were forced to camp here for the night.
He unfurled one of the blankets and laid it out on a soft patch of grass. "Help her over here," he directed Piers. The Lemurian helped Jenna limp over and collapse onto the makeshift bed. Jenna winced in pain as Piers gingerly slipped her boot off. Felix growled at the sight of Jenna's badly swollen ankle.
"Can you do anything, Piers?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Well, I can lessen the pain and put some ice on it to reduce the swelling," Piers replied hesitatingly. "It's going to have to heal naturally. I don't know how long it will be."
Felix turned away, exasperated. "Do what you can." He looked at the rest of his group. "Let's try to set up camp."
Sheba moved to help set up the bedding with Felix. As they unfurled blankets, she spoke softly to Felix.
"What are we going to do if Jenna can't walk?"
"I have no idea," Felix growled in response.
Sheba worked silently beside him for a moment. "Are you all right?" she asked suddenly.
Felix threw another of the blankets to the ground. "Nothing is going right. We should have been sailing by now, and instead were stuck in this, this interminable wilderness," he bit out, glaring furiously at the bedroll beneath him.
He felt Sheba's small hand touch his shoulder. "Maybe we should take a day or two to recuperate. It's been a rough trip for everyone recently. We could get to Naribwe tomorrow and rest there until we're-"
Felix met Sheba's gaze suddenly. "We can't afford to wait any longer," he bit out emphatically.
Sheba looked faintly surprised, her hand falling from Felix's shoulder. "If Jenna can't walk, we're not going to make it very far."
"We can't afford to waste any more time. We already lost enough going back to the catacombs, for all the good that did us!" Felix argued vehemently, his voice rising. He glared over to where Jenna lay.
"It wasn't her fault we lost all that time," Sheba put in.
"I know perfectly well whose fault it was!" Felix yelled angrily. The camp was deathly still, all others stopped by Felix's outburst.
Seeing Sheba's shocked expression, Felix suddenly realized what he was doing. "I… I'm sorry, Sheba, I…"
The young wind mage looked away, silently. He'd hurt her. Yet another stupid mistake he'd made.
"I'll go get some firewood," he finished bitterly.
The leaves trembled in the cold wind as he passed into the shadows of the forest.
A/N: If anyone here reads my Zelda story, The Sages' Might, chapter six should be out in a couple days. Review responses:
Smurf Cat: I'm glad this story is surprising you! Pleasantly, I hope. I'm not a big fan of lemons, but thanks for the offer!
Plot line, shmot line. Minor details, if you ask me ;).
Vyctori: Nice pen name! I believe the Felix/Sheba couple has the most romantic potential… which is why I write them! This story is shorter because that's how far the plot takes it. Depending on how I end this story and the response from reviewers, I may do a sequel.
Felix is a bit tricky, not only to define a believable personality, but to have it change and develop in the course of the story. I think I've got the first part fairly well, and we'll see how I do with the second. You get a taste of Sheba in this chapter.
Oh, and I couldn't kill Sheba off.
Yet.
Thanks for the review!
Thanks also to Darkcomet, Lord of Darkness, who put me on his favorite authors list. Only two reviews from last chapter, so only three of my fabulous readers have to review for me to improve! Please, press that button!
Until next time,
-AE