Woo-hoo. Six reviews. I feel special, that I do.
It pleases me ever so how well people are starting to take to this fanfic already, when only one chapter has been published. But I digress, and I'm sure you'd rather read the chapter then listen to me ramble, no?
I had to cut out a lot from this chapter … because … it was just way too long in its original form. I do believe that the last 25-40% was cut out of this chapter, mainly due to it's original length.
Oh, and if you feel like this is turning into Garet/Jenna because of this chapter…well, it isn't. Look to what I said at the end last chapter, kay? ^^;
Disclaimer: Refer to Chapter One.
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Tap-Tap-Tap.
The melodious sound of fingers strumming on a keyboard was the only thing that could be heard in his office. Albino-white skin could be seen typing away at the black keyboard, filing up his report.
He paused in his work. Slowly, he reached for his vibrating cell-phone and put it up to his ear.
"Valentino," the man stated.
There was a pause in the room.
"Ah, good. Now then, when shall I expect him here at our division of Golden Sun Enterprises?"
Another pause.
"… I see. Well, pass along the information to the Headmaster. Tell the old man that we're expecting him, and soon. Thank you, Miss Katsumoto." He brushed the "Cancel" button on his cell-phone, setting it back down on his desk.
And he went back to his report.
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"Man, I could really go for a beer right now…" moaned Garet.
Garet and Isaac were currently in the boy's dormitories – specifically in Isaac's bedroom – and the two were discussing military strategies that one must execute in battle, as a "review" of sorts for the field exam.
"Garet…" sighed Isaac, "you and I both know how… intoxicated … you can get with just one beer."
"Hmph," Garet crossed his arms, "look, just because of that one time I had one beer too many –"
"You had five beers, Garet."
"- and started coming on to every pretty girl I could see –"
"Including Jenna."
"- doesn't mean that I'm always going to get like that when I start drinking!" he finished, blushing madly.
Isaac blinked. "Still doesn't mean I can trust you with a bottle of beer, now can I?"
"Eh, shut up," Garet took a seat down on Isaac's bed. Isaac released a tiny smirk and turned his body around on the chair he was currently sitting on.
"Alright then, Mr. Boozer," he said as his smirk deepened, "what course of action do you take when confronted with multiple enemies?"
Garet scratched his head. "Let's see… go and knock them out one-by-one?"
Isaac sighed. "Yes, if you wanted to kill yourself."
"Huh?"
"Why do you think Adept members are injected with that Alchemy stuff, anyway?" Before Garet could respond, Isaac answered for him, "Because, when used properly, Psynergy can eliminate groups of enemies without having to get in close. We're mercenaries, Garet; you really need to drop this whole 'honor code' of yours."
Garet considered himself an old-fashioned knight in a modern-day world. It was his personal belief that all men – mercenaries, warriors, and soldiers alike – needed to fight with honor, pride, and dignity. He considered gun weapons to be heinous and sacrilege to everything he stood for, and that "only cowards attack from a distance; real men fight to the death with all their might, not with some cheap pistol!"
Garet frowned deeply. "Oh yeah, and blasting open the earth with your mind is really fair."
"Whatever."
"All right then, Mr. Tough Guy, answer me this: what if you encounter a monster that's under a different alignment than your own Psynergy?"
"Simple: If it's your own or of your two neutral types, you can fight them off, but if it's of the opposite alignment, you retreat."
"… you can still fight them off."
"If you wanted to get killed," Isaac pointed out, "and I don't feel like dieing anytime soon."
Garet sighed. As much as he hated to admit, Isaac was right, and always would be right when it came to battle tactics. Isaac was, after all, the best strategist the West Angaran Academy had seen in nearly nineteen years, and could easily prove it with just a simple round of sparring. No one had ever been able as to send Isaac to the infirmary in any practice duel, and it was this sort of reputation that did nothing to calm the rumors that spread about him.
Garet's own battle tactics were of the following: rush the opponent and fight 'til the death. Simple as that.
Garet turned his head to the digital clock that Isaac kept in his room. The red digits stared back at him. 10:00 PM.
Garet stood up and dusted his uniform off, "Well, I'd better be going Isaac. Need a good night's sleep, after all."
Isaac nodded, "Yeah, sure."
Garet gave his friend a thumb's up, and promptly excused himself from the room. Alone at last, Isaac sighed in relief and plopped himself down onto his bed. He opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling. It stared back as much as a ceiling could. His eyes darted around his dormitory bedroom, for what would probably be the last time as a military cadet.
His room didn't contain much, really. There was the usual: bed, desk, computer, dresser. Most of the other students decorated their rooms with banners, pictures, and awards from various different things; Jenna herself had many, many posters decorated into her room for her favorite band: Cloud Brand. His room was rather plain, though. The only items of interest in his room was a wooden sword Kraden had gotten him as a child, and a picture of Isaac, Garet, and Jenna in their swimsuits from the trip to the Kalay shores last summer.
Isaac tried to memorize the feeling of his room as it was now; tomorrow everything would be different.
Deciding to retire for the night, Isaac undressed himself down to boxers and undershirt, nodded to himself, and collapsed under the sheets.
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Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzzzzzzt!
Isaac opened a bleary eye and glared hatefully at his alarm clock. Unsurprisingly, the clock did not glare back. Instead, it glowed the time back at him. 6:45 AM.
Isaac lifted himself upright and yawned deeply. He blinked the sleep from his eyes and forced his body out of bed, throwing a clean uniform on. It didn't bother him that he was up so early; he usually was up this early anyway, and Isaac had some last-minute matters to attend to before the field exam.
As he buttoned up his jacket, his attention turned to the picture he had on his desk. He couldn't help but chuckle at the scene: Jenna had him in a friendly headlock, and Garet's sunglasses had slid down his nose in an attempt to look "cool". They all had smiles and laughs on their faces – even Isaac. The cadet couldn't help but chuckle at the picture.
He took one last glance of himself in the mirror, then exited his room.
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Within the next 45 minutes, Isaac found himself in the infirmary - shirtless, and several wires injected into the veins in his right arm. A young nurse – possibly seventeen or eighteen – with long dark blue hair was looking over a computer screen. A statistical graph appeared on the screen, and the nurse smiled.
"Thanks for coming here, Mr. DelSol. It's good to know that some of you students out here actually care about the Alchemy levels in your bloodstream."
Isaac's face remained emotionless. "Just tell me my levels, Miss…?"
The girl turned to him, a witty smile on her face. "My name's Megan Chonce, please call me Megan, thank you very much. And since you seem so interested about good ol' me, I'll let you know that I'm eighteen years old – "
"Please. Just tell me my levels."
Megan, in spite of herself, giggled. So what she had heard from the other students was true. "Alright, Mr. DelSol. The Alchemy levels in your bloodstream are in the normal parameters; perfectly stable – no fluctuations or anything." She looked up from the screen, and focused her eyes on him.
Isaac blinked. "What?"
"Oh! Sorry. I was just trying to find out… what you were… injected with, that's all."
Isaac nodded in understand. He knew what she meant. Those who were injected with Alchemy went through a change physically and mentally – it was the only price to pay for Adept members. Changes in hair color, eye color, skin tones, and smaller things were the "usual" physical changes. Depending on the chemicals, some members of Adept were granted an IQ boost, strength boost, or speed boost.
It was plain obvious that Megan was a Mercury – someone who could harness healing energy ( And that was why she was a nurse, or so Isaac thought ) and usually became much more docile and calm in nature – because of her dark blue hair, a common sign of Mercury-aligned Adept.
"It's okay," he said, "but I'm a Venus, if you must know."
Venuses were rare in the ranks of Adept. The "Venus" Psynergy was only given out to those who excelled evenly in all the tests that determined what Psynergy was best suited for you. Those who excelled in physical combat were injected with "Mars", like Garet and Jenna. Those who excelled in the academic part of the Academy were injected with "Jupiter". Finally, those were nimble and quick on their feet were injected with "Mercury".
What made Venus so special – beside its rarity – was that it was the "omnipotent Psynergy", as some called it. Those who were given Venus were granted a slight speed, strength, and intelligence boost – not as much as those that belonged to their respective recipients, however.
Megan's eyebrows shot up. "Wow. Impressive, Mr. DelSol."
"Thanks."
Megan grinned and walked over to Isaac. Carefully, she unplugged the needles injected into his body, and nodded him a "you can leave now." Isaac bowed his head in thanks, grabbed his jacket, and headed out of the infirmary ward.
Isaac quickly found a bathroom to change in. Before you knew it, he was back in the hallways of the Academy. It was still early, and he highly doubted that anyone would still be up.
It wasn't long until he found the elevator. He pressed the "down" button, and pretty soon the elevator had appeared before him. What surprised him, however, was that as soon as the doors opened, he found Garet leaning against the elevator wall, a bruise on his neck.
Garet grinned. "Yo, Isaac!"
Isaac walked inside the elevator, hitting the "Floor 1" button. "Hey, Garet."
The doors shut, and there was silence.
"Nice hickey."
Garet's face went through several shades of red, and remained silence for the rest of the ride down, if only out of embarressment.
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"Man, I knew I shouldn't have started putting the moves on that blonde chick…" Garet moaned to himself.
The two boys were in the cafeteria, eating breakfast. Garet had his hand over the "bruise" on his neck, but Isaac knew that was rather pointless. Garet had the reputation of a player at the Academy, and many girls ( with the exception of Jenna ) chased after him mercilessly. Sure, it was common knowledge that Garet was friends with Isaac, but that, surprisingly, did nothing to stop the girls from trying to make Garet their boyfriend.
Isaac smirked. "Maybe that'll teach you to control your testosterone one of these days."
"Pheh. Like that'll ever happen."
Isaac bit into his muffin, chewing pensively. "You truly are the ladies man, Sir Garet."
Garet puffed out his chest. "Damn proud of it, too."
Isaac smirked again, than went back to his muffin. He was going to need all the energy he could get; the field exam began in half an hour.
Garet swallowed a piece of bacon. "I hope they give us some actual quality-weapons for this test, man. The stuff they usually give us for the tests are shit, dude."
Isaac frowned. "That just depends on the weapon you're using. Why should you have a problem with a simple broadsword?"
Garet scoffed. "Because! Most of the ones I have to take during those tests are rusted, dented, or cracked! It's a disgrace!"
Isaac sighed. "Whatever." He finished his muffin, and leaned back in his chair. The only other students up at this hour were those about to take the field exam, and they all seemed to be rather skittish about it all. Everyone he knew from the graduating class was there…except…
He frowned. "Where's Jenna…?"
Garet shrugged. "I dunno. I tried knocking at her door earlier, but she must've been in a deep trance – I tried slamming into the door and everything!" He leaned back in his chair, "I would've gone in, too, if it weren't for that policy of 'Gentleman shall not trespass in the ladies' rooms!'"
Isaac snickered. "Why didn't you just burn the stupid thing down, then? That would've gotten her attention…"
Garet fidgeted in his seat. "I thought about it…"
Isaac let out a small laugh. "Smooth."
"Oh, shut up!"
Isaac shook his head, his trademarked smirk still plastered on his face. "Alright, alright, Garet. I'll shut up if you want me to so badly." He turned his head towards the door, and his golden eyebrows shot up. The teachers were gathering those taking the exam today, and Isaac motioned Garet with a jerk of his head to follow him over there. Garet grinned eagerly and cracked his knuckles.
"Oh, boy, what fun we'll be having today…"
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Headmaster Kraden's old eyes stared joyfully at the congregating students in the school courtyard. He was an old man of sixty-one – the kind of old man that had been able to keep his height and his back straight, while the rest of his limbs became crooked over time. His wild gray hair stood on end, making him look like a nutcase or some sort of mad scientist. He pushed his glasses back up his nose upon seeing his adoptive son Isaac and his friend Garet Jerra enter the congregating mass. He cleared his throat and lifted a microphone to his lips.
"Greetings, my lovely students! How are you all doing today?"
A chorus of "Fine," echoed through the mass of students.
The old man smiled. "That's good, that's good! As long as you feel fine and never down, you will make great Adepts!"
Admist the crowd, Isaac heard some students snicker and make rude comments about the Headmaster. Isaac's eyebrow furrowed, but chose against splitting the ground in two.
Kraden began to speak up again. "But, by now you all realize what today is. In one week from now, you shall graduate from our beloved Academy. I hope that most – if not all – of you pass this exam, and gain your licenses. Then, and only then, will you all truly be members of Adept."
Some of the students whooped in glee and excitement.
Kraden smiled, and stared out at the crowd. "This is the beginning of your new lives. I will give you all ten minutes to gather your supplies and form your teams." He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
Several weapon racks extended from the ground, carrying the various weapons that the Academy trained its students in. Isaac crossed his arms and smirked. Kraden surely put a show on for this year's graduating class. He looked up to the podium Kraden stood on, only to see the man had gone with some Adept senior officers, talking with them diligently.
Garet tapped him on the shoulder. "C'mon, let's get some good equipment before it's taken."
"Good idea."
The two made their way to their respected weapons; Garet found a polished broadsword and slung it over his shoulder. Isaac reached for a HI-Blade and eyed the safety. It was still on, but unlike the ones used in the Colosso system, these safeties could be removed easily. Satisfied, he also took a sheath for his HI-Blade and hooked it to his belt. He then promptly sheathed the weapon.
Garet walked over to him. "Where the hell is Jenna, man… I haven't seen her all day…"
Isaac shrugged. "She'd better get here soon, though. Look, I'm going to get some medical supplies too. You wait here, got it?"
"Sure thing."
Isaac headed over to a different rack with various white boxes resting on it. He took one off the rack and opened its contents: some poison antidotes, some anti-paralysis injections, several green liquids ( Isaac identified them as Med Potions ), and some water bottles. Nodding his head in satisfation, he closed the lid and made his way back over to Garet.
As he neared his friend, he saw that Jenna had rejoined them, and was obviously out of breath. As Isaac drew closer, he noticed that she was missing her usual make-up, and that the yellow scarf she usually had tied around her neck was missing too. Isaac rolled his eyes though, however, when he saw that she was wearing high-heeled leather boots. Jenna was a fashion queen, after all.
He set the box down on the ground and stared at the boots. "I'm never going to understand how women walk in those."
Jenna smiled. "It's a girl thing."
Garet shook his head. "What took you so long, anyway?" he asked, "I was on the verge of burning your door down and everything!"
Jenna blushed. "I…I got a call from one of my friends back in Vault…lost track of time…overslept…"
The two boys nodded in understanding. Isaac kicked the med box over to her. "Here. You're the registered paramedic, after all."
Jenna nodded absentmindedly, looking through the staff selection. Finally, she grabbed one that had a cattle prod-like attachment to it. "This should do it," she grinned. She picked up the med box with her left hand, and fondled the staff with her free one. The three turned around once they heard a microphone turn back on.
Kraden spoke into the mike once more. "The ten minutes are up, and I hope that you are all prepared," he said, as the racks retreated to the ground below, "because there is no do-over for the next two months. Now listen closely!" he said, tone changing from kind to stern.
"The citizens of Lunpa have been kind enough to lend us their old military fortress for this exam. We shall fly you all over there via jet, and one of our senior officers shall accompany the teams that are riding on them. They will give you a briefing on your exact mission, but you all must infiltrate through the fortress and bring back a specified item to here, via foot. I must warn you that we released monsters into the fortress, so please be careful. Those of you who make it back here by dusk shall pass, and those who make it pass later then that will be given an Incomplete for this exam. Points are awarded for your skill, time, and survivability."
As he was about to finish, a trio of small airplanes landed outside the school. Their doors opened, and ramps extended from them. The students turned back from the landed planes and took one last, long glance at Kraden. The old man's eyes were downcast, and he lifted them back upwards towards Isaac, staring directly at him.
"That is all."
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Reviewer Responses[ Trisket-n-Gunther ] ~ Glad you liked. I would review yours back, but I believe that FF.N removed the Fanfiction Poetry section before I actually had the time to read one of your poems. ( I browsed through your profile, so I know what you wrote. )
Sieg ~ Yes, the other Golden Sun characters will – slowly – be introduced as this progresses. And I catch your drift, if you know what I'm saying… ^_~
[ roc-girl ] ~ Glad you liked it, too. I'm also pleased you like long chapters, but like I said earlier, I had to limit this chapter to that last scene with Kraden and Isaac.
[ Joker's Specter ] ~ Sweet! Got someone who added this to their favorites list! Yes, I too am aware of the error when I introduced Garet's name. I spell-checked it absentmindedly so… Also, it pleases me greatly that you're going to expect great things from this.
Mercury Gold ~ And I applaud you, too, for liking this so much. But, don't be so hard on yourself. "Assassin of the Night" is by far one of the coolest Mudshippers I've read in a looong time. As for the Mudshipping bit…since I'd rather introduce the pairings as the story progresses rather then the summary, I guess I'm forcing all of you to keep on reading this. ^_~
[ Luce*Scuro ] ~ Cool. Nice to know that! Since you bring up yaoi in your review: I'm not sure if I should include it or not. I have nothing against yaoi or yuri 'cause I ain't a homophobe ( Not saying that ANYONE is; it is perfectly fine if you don't write it because you're weirded out if you ever attempted to write it – I feel the same way. ), but since I'm not a fangirl, it seems rather … weird to write. I have a couple of humor fics if you ever wanted to read one of those, too. [/shamelessplug]
That just about wraps this chapter up. I'm going to massage my fingers in the sink, but feel free to leave a review!
Or, I'll cut your head off.
…or something.
