Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun, but I may have to invest in a bulletproof vest after you get done with this chapter (don't say I didn't warn you!)
The sun was rising slowly in the east as the party resumed its trek. With Jenna hobbling along on her injured ankle, progress was slower than usual. They passed Naribwe nearly two hours after dawn and paused there for a quick breakfast. They'd been going for another hour at least, with the sun slowly continuing its climb into the gray sky. Dark clouds were gathering to the south, and Sheba couldn't shake a strange sense of foreboding as they drew closer to the storm.
The journey was very quiet. Jenna was concentrating on her walking, grimacing with each step. Piers walked silently at the rear, his usual stoic self. Even Kraden remained absorbed in his thoughts. Sheba would normally have appreciated the respite, but she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice the oppressive silence.
Felix had barely spoken the entire morning, and the few words he had managed had been flat and emotionless. Dark circles ringed his vacant eyes, and his steps dragged. He looked like he hadn't slept at all the night before. Sheba had been hoping for an improvement, but if anything he looked worse in the bright morning light.
The young girl sighed to herself as she rounded yet another bend in the road. Felix was obviously putting too much pressure on himself. Now that she thought about it, he had been that way ever since the lighthouse. He was trying to shoulder the entire burden himself. Sheba needed to convince him that the rest of them were here to help him.
That she would always be there to help him.
* * * * * *
Jenna winced involuntarily as her sword banged against her ankle, shooting pain through her leg. She'd been doing her best to keep up with the rest of the group. Even though she hated to admit it, she knew she was slowing the group down. The entire group seemed to be mired in a weariness that went far beyond just physical exhaustion.
Of course, her darling brother wasn't helping matters. He was nearly stiffer than the ground she'd slept on last night. He just stared ahead, mechanically trudging along. He was like a huge black hole of emotion, sucking all the energy out of the party. Jenna was angry with him. But she wasn't quite willing to admit that she was worried about him as well.
The plan for the day had been to reach the Gondowan coast by evening and camp on the beach. But the throbbing in her leg suggested that they'd be lucky to make it even halfway. Felix would be frustrated at their lack of progress, Sheba would go into one of her worry spells, and the entire group would grind straight into the ground.
Not for the first time today, Jenna wondered if a case of hotfoot would get this group going again.
* * * * * *
Felix reached the bend in the road and turned back resignedly, watching as Piers helped Jenna limp along on her foot. She'd held up fairly well during the early hours, but an hour ago her leg had worsened. As much as he didn't like it, she probably needed a rest. The ever-threatening clouds loomed closer still, further darkening Felix's mood. He adjusted the scabbard on his back impatiently.
Sheba walked up beside him, her staff clinking on the ground. "I don't know how much further Jenna's going to make it," she commented carefully, avoiding his gaze.
He nodded curtly, glancing down in disgust.
Sheba sent him a side-glance. Felix quelled an internal spike of angry guilt. They'd all been glancing at him this morning, like he was some freak. Some freakish failure, a walking death warrant.
"Felix," Sheba began, "we should really stop for lunch now."
He turned slowly and stared at her blankly. She shrank back for a moment, then her face set with determination.
"That storm ahead is going to catch us fairly soon, and we want to be able to cook the food before it hits. Besides," she reasoned, "it will give Jenna a chance to rest."
"Very well," Felix cut in. "You can stop for lunch here. I want to keep going ahead."
Sheba gave him a bewildered look. "What?"
Felix continued his stare. "If I get to Madra ahead of you guys, I can make sure the ship is ready to go when you get there. We'll save time that way."
Sheba blinked a couple of times. Felix fought to keep the scowl off his face. She was going to try to talk him out of it, he just knew it.
"Felix, that's crazy!" There it was. "It's dangerous out in the wilderness! You can't possibly travel alone."
"I agree," Kraden interjected as the others joined the discussion. "We really must stick together, even if it means a slight delay."
Felix gestured at his sister's ankle angrily. "It's pretty obvious that Jenna isn't going to be able to make good time. If I get to the ship ahead of time and get it ready, we'll save time at the coast."
"But it won't take you that long to get the ship ready, Felix," Jenna argued. "Besides, my foot will be fine."
"Your foot is not fine-" Felix started.
"The point is moot," Piers interjected. Felix stopped, surprised. What was the Lemurian up to?
"You won't even be able to enter the ship without my crystal," he informed Felix.
"Well, you could give me the crystal," Felix countered.
Piers took a step back, eying the Venus adept cautiously.
"Come on," Felix's voice rose. "Give me the crystal!"
Silence rang through the dead air. Sheba took a small step away from him and joined the line of his friends.
"I am bound as a Lemurian to keep this crystal," Piers ventured uncertainly.
Felix glared at him. Kraden stifled a cough.
"We may as well just stick together," Sheba managed, stealing a glance at Felix.
The others all nodded nervously. Felix turned and started walking away.
"Where are you going?" he heard Jenna ask.
"Nowhere!" he yelled without slowing.
His thoughts raced as fast as his feet would carry him. They were all conspiring against him. He knew he would become the bad guy when he'd stolen the Elemental Stars, but he hadn't counted on the others. But first Jenna, then Sheba, and now Piers had latched onto him… burdened him. They followed him around, forcing him to make needless accommodations. With each new person he felt his control over his destiny slipping.
He had assumed all the responsibility, all of the risk. It wasn't fair of the others to impose themselves on what was rightfully his. The quest was his. All they did was give him extra worries, extra trouble. He alone had started this quest, and he would finish it. Alone.
It was time to take control again.
Except they would try to stop him. They would argue that he needed help. Felix scoffed in disgust. He didn't need them. He didn't need anybody. If they refused to see that…
He'd just have to show them.
It was time to free himself from their grasp.
A shadow passed over Felix's face, and he looked up to see that the dark clouds had indeed caught up with him. A cold breeze pierced his pale skin, penetrating through to his bones and his very core.
He took off his gauntlets and slipped his hand into his satchel, trembling fingers closing around the familiar warmth of the ancient tome. The wind picked up, flying through the tattered pages. Felix looked at the blood-red text and felt the darkness overwhelm him.
He bared his teeth into a smile.
"Vehsoj ev olac," he intoned, "wukxoh ke mo!"
* * * * * *
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, and Sheba had the strange, fleeting sensation that she'd seen this before.
"We're under attack!"
Sheba glanced next to her, where Jenna had stood suddenly. The Mars adept hobbled forward, palm extended, and incinerated a pair of zombies that had attacked their camp.
Sheba sat frozen in fear. This seemed very familiar…
To her other side, Piers stood slicing away at yet more of the undead warriors. Another contingent made their way towards her, and Sheba snapped out of her trance, blasting the first group with a plasma attack. The next group was flung to the side with a whirling tornado. The battle seemed to be going well, but the young mage couldn't shake a nagging feeling of dread.
Suddenly, a dark shadow stood before her. Sheba strained her eyes to recognize this newcomer, when suddenly a bright flash of lightning illuminated him.
It was Felix.
She stared, frozen, into the lifeless eyes that she knew so well. He returned her stare, then grinned sadistically at her, stretching a pale, skeletal hand forward.
He spoke, and it was his voice, only horribly distorted and mangled, as if his throat was rotting.
"Xopoj ev xocc, rhadw vehkx kxo taho advohde!"
As Sheba watched, Felix 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's thoughts finally caught up to her. She screamed shrilly, and ran towards the crumpled form of the Lemurian. Her breath left her as she saw him.
His hair had totally disintegrated. What was left of his body clung in limp strands to his crisp, blackened skeleton. It was just like her nightmare all over again… only this time, Piers was dead.
Sheba took a horrified step backwards as Felix turned to Jenna. She couldn't comprehend what was happening. She dimly heard Felix's ghastly chant starting again.
Felix was going to kill them all.
"Cok feajed vcen vhoo!"
The blast of foul air extended from Felix's crooked palm. Less than a foot from the fiercely battling Mars adept, it collided with the gusts from Sheba's palm. Rain began to pour from the black sky as Felix gave an unearthly shriek and turned to focus his attack on Sheba.
Sheba concentrated. Felix had gained unbelievable power; she was having trouble keeping his assault at bay. A miniature tornado formed between the two former friends. Through the whipping winds, Sheba could see all the power and fury of Hell blazing forth from Felix's soulless eyes.
"Felix," she called out, horribly torn. "Why are you doing this?"
His eyes blazed towards her as his ghastly voice rang out.
"You cannot win, Sheba!" he spat venomously. "I have more power than you could possibly imagine. I shall light the lighthouses… and take Alchemy for myself!"
Sheba's blood ran cold as the tears cascaded down her cheeks.
"Felix… don't make me do this!" she sobbed.
In response, Felix merely redoubled his assault. The foul winds swirled in violent arcs, and Sheba felt herself losing control.
Suddenly, a beam of flame shot out from behind Sheba, missing Felix's head by less than a foot. Sheba felt the pressure on the tornado drop off as his concentration was broken, and suddenly the deadly funnel shot towards Felix. Sheba felt her heart leap into her throat.
Felix's reflexes were quick, though, and he dove just beyond the reach of the whirling winds. Sheba felt her heart return to her chest as she waved her hands and dispelled the tornado. Felix got to his feet and shrieked furiously at his sister.
"Sheba, get over here!" Jenna screamed, fending off more undead warriors.
Sheba backed her way towards the older girl, furiously wiping the tears from her face.
"You'll pay for that, insolent fools!" his harsh voice grated. "Tomedj ev xocc, ukkusb!"
As Sheba watched, the ground around Felix erupted, and several hell-spawned demons dragged themselves from the earth's clutch. Without waiting for them to charge, she threw a plasma assault at the nearest batch, and Jenna followed it up with a flare storm.
"Why is he doing this?" Sheba screamed over the crash of thunder.
"I have no idea!" Jenna returned, blasting one of the charging zombies with a beam of fire. "But he's obviously not playing around!"
The four remaining demons closed fast. Sheba sent a gust of wind and rain screaming at them to slow their charge.
"Jenna!" Sheba yelled as an idea hit her. "Draw your sword!" She ignored the incredulous look Jenna shot her and concentrated, whirling the air around the girl's feet.
Attack them, she thought at her, and I shall aid you.
Jenna nodded beside her and drew her rapier. As the enemy closed, she dropped into a fighting position. Sheba focused her energies and Jenna leapt forward a full fifteen feet, decapitating one of the demonic warriors. She dodged two other blows as if they were in slow motion, then dispatched another of the enemy. A quick flare storm took care of the third, and Sheba's lightning assault took care of the fourth.
Yet there was no time to rest. Another one of Felix's shrill cries accompanied a second army of undead zombies.
"We can't keep this up forever!" Jenna called worriedly, favoring her ankle.
"We can't kill Felix!" Sheba yelled, swirling a tornado to carry away three of the attackers.
Jenna sidled up beside her, a look of grim determination on her face.
"We may not have a choice."
Sheba stared at her in disbelief, then glanced at Felix's sadistic smirk and dark eyes, blazing with fury as his ring of zombies closed around the two girls. There had to be another way.
"He's possessed!"
Sheba and Jenna turned to see Kraden behind them.
"Thanks so much for pointing that out!" Jenna screamed in frustration, blasting a pair of zombies who strayed too close. The circle was closing quickly.
"I think I know how we can save him!" Kraden continued, ignoring her.
"What?" Sheba screamed.
"SILENCE!" Felix thundered, raising something in his left hand. "Fxudkem jfahakj, kouh xej jeic!"
Suddenly, Sheba recognized the object in Felix's hand. It was the book from her nightmare! She watched in horror as ghastly phantoms emerged, screeching, from its pages. They swirled in fury around Felix, and he merely grinned and pointed. The spirits flew straight and true, tearing through Kraden's body as the scholar screamed in agony.
When the spirits had dissipated, Kraden's lifeless form lay on the cold earth.
Then the zombies attacked.
Sheba fended off the first assault with her staff, then countered by hurling several zombies through the air on gusts of wind. Beside her, Jenna was hacking off limbs desperately.
"Jenna!" she screamed, sending plasma coursing through some of her assailants. But there were too many. Jenna disappeared beneath a crush of undead.
"Kxei uhk sedtomdot!"
Sheba ignored Felix's incantation, futilely blasting still more of the zombie assailants, who had strangely stepped away from the fallen Mars adept. Jenna sat up, bloodied and bruised.
Sheba barely saw the hint of a shadow, the ghostly flash of a scythe.
Jenna gave a strangled scream, stiffened, and fell to ground.
Something inside of Sheba snapped. A huge blast of plasma radiated from her, immolating the entire zombie army. But it was too late.
She was alone.
Felix's sadistic laughter echoed through the tempest. Sheba turned towards him and saw his evil smirk. A dark red glow emanated from the tome in his left hand.
She knew he could be saved.
She would only have one shot.
"Tixuccud, a jimmed kxoo…"
* * * * * *
A dim pain pulsed in the back of his mind. Then his awareness came rushing back, as if he was surfacing from a vast dark ocean.
He screamed in agony.
Felix sank to his knees, clutching his left arm. It was burnt badly, as if from a bolt of lightning. Bewildered, he looked around through the driving rain and saw a blur of white.
Sheba.
"Sheba?" he called uncertainly, grimacing in pain.
"Felix?" came the response. "Felix, is it really you?"
"What… what's happening?"
Felix looked into Sheba's eyes. She studied him for a moment, then cried out, "It really is you!" and ran over and enveloped him in a tearful hug.
Felix gazed around at the landscape as he squeezed Sheba tightly. All kinds of undead corpses littered the terrain, but it was the sight of dark-auburn hair that ran his blood cold.
"Sheba, what happened?" he asked, more urgently this time.
Sheba pulled back and was about to answer when her tearful eyes widened in horror. "Felix, look out!"
Without thinking, Felix dove forward with Sheba, rolling to protect her from whatever threat. Landing painfully on his arm, he came up on one knee and drew his sword, alert for any sort of threat.
The ancient tome he'd found in the Gabomba Statue was floating in mid-air, exuding a blood-red glow. And suddenly, everything clicked into place in Felix's mind. He must have been corrupted by the Tomegathericon.
Which meant all this destruction was his doing.
And that he'd killed his friends.
Horrified, he looked at Sheba, kneeling behind him. But she could only tearfully nod her head.
"Oh my god," he whispered.
The dark glow intensified in front of him, expanding and seeming to take shape.
"What's happening?" he croaked at Sheba.
"I… I don't know," she whimpered. "You chanted one last thing before…"
Felix shook with anguish. Suddenly, the glow flashed brightly.
A tall, headless figure stood in front of them, exuding darkness. As the two terrified adepts watched, the figure resolved into an empty suit of black armor, with a tattered cape swaying in the breeze behind it. The Tomegathericon floated to rest on the ground, a small tendril of blood-red connecting it to the behemoth as it pulsed with unholy light.
| I AM THE DULLAHAN, BRINGER OF DEATH. |
Felix took a step backwards as the suit of armor flexed its gauntlets.
| PREPARE FOR YOUR JOURNEY TO HELL. |
The unholy light from the evil tome slowly filled the suit of armor. Felix and Sheba stood, transfixed.
| VEHMADU JUWO! |
Suddenly, the armor's left arm swung towards the adepts. A brilliant beam of white light extended from the gauntlet and sliced cleanly through Sheba's torso. The young mage crumpled to the ground wordlessly as Felix ran to her side.
A festering black line marked where the beam had taken Sheba's life.
The evil laughter of the Dullahan reverberated through the heavens as Felix stood, his tears mingling with the bloody rain.
With his friends dead at his feet, Felix turned to face his demons.
Author's Note: Before you all kill me, please note that if I'm dead I won't be able to write the conclusion to this story. And that would make all of us rather unhappy, now wouldn't it?
Review responses:
Vyctori: "Kill not the characters!" … eh, so much for that part. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter… I love writing Jenna's snide little comments. As for Felix and Sheba… well, it may not look good now, but keep some faith! Thanks for the review!
Empress Dotdotdot: Lighthouseshipping… I understand the theory, but it's too unwieldy for my tastes. I think I prefer Fateshipping (or something else). I may or may not translate the language, as the actual words he speaks aren't really important. But since you asked, Xocf mo jeic is literally translated as "Help my soul"
College life aside, here's the next update!
Kyarorain: I'm glad you enjoyed it! And you were right… Felix speaking the language was (and is) very, very bad… Thanks for the support!
Oh, and all three of the above wanted to burn the Tomegathericon? That's kinda scary…
Kadevi: Thanks for the compliments! My format has always been a little bit off… something for me to work on, I suppose. Here's the next chapter!
Smurf Cat: I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much! You're right, I'm not much for lemons, but I hope you're enjoying this anyway! Sorry the last one took so long, here's the next!
That's all for this week… no characters left to kill…
I promise to update as fast as I can! Until next time,
-AE