Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun. I own Kanata and Amiko. Heather owns Fiona. And more yet to be introduced :]

Chapter 5: A Village on Fire

After Garet and I had received the Mercury and Venus Stars, we went back around to get the forth Elemental Star.
"Don't hold back next time, or you'll wish you had!" We heard Menardi yell.
"She's got to be paranoid." Garet whispered as we reached the Mars Star. I put a hand over my mouth to stop from laughing. From they way she acted, she did seem a little paranoid.
"Today would be nice, boys!" Saturos called. I looked back and nodded.
"Garet, get the Star…" Garet frowned and grabbed the Mars Star. As he placed it in it's bag, the ground began to shake.
"What did I do to deserve this?!" Garet asked himself, as if he was alone in a terrible situation.

"Alex, hurry and get the Stars from them!" Saturos shouted. Alex looked back at his ally and nodded. He disappeared again in a flash of blue light, and reappeared in front of Garet.
"Give me the Elemental Stars, hurry." In a bright and blinding flash of light, the water from below disappeared. Alex was only able to retrieve three of the four stars.

"Which one did he leave behind?" I asked Garet, trying to retain my balance.
"I think Mars." He replied, holding on to the statue to keep him up.

"Without an Elemental Star, the chamber will collapse, there's no way to get out of the Sanctum in time!" Kanata explained, holding Amiko near her.
"Too bad, we're leaving now." Saturos protested.
At that moment, the ground steadied, and didn't move ant more.
"Whew! It's over," Menardi said, "But what is it?"
"What is that?!?" Jenna pointed at a floating rock with a big, round eye.

"That rock… It's floating… Do you know what is it, Isaac?" Garet asked, complete amazement in his voice. I shook my head, unable to find any words. "Me neither. It looks like someone is trying to use Psynergy to lift It." he commented, putting the Mars Star in his pocket.

"Could that be… the Wise one?!?" Kraden exclaimed.
Kanata nodded, "It is, Kraden. The rock you see before you is the Wise One, guardian of Weyard." The ground shook softly, but quickly regained it's calm for the moment.
"Such power…. Incredible!" Alex complimented. The Wise One's gazed shifted from Garet and myself over to Kanata and the others. "It must be the guardian of the Elemental Stars!" Saturos suggested.
"I just said that, you dope!" Kanata yelled over. She caught Saturos's attention, and gave him a hard-core glare.
"This doesn't look good… We should escape while we can," Felix suggested, shaking his head.
"But we need the Mars Star," Menardi protested, "We can't leave it behind!"
"I agree with Felix," said Alex. "We're no match for the guardian."
Menardi looked back at Saturos, hoping that, at least, he'd agree with her. "The Mars Star will have to wait until another day." Saturos said finally, making the decision clear.
"But what about Isaac and Garet? You just can't leave them here!" Jenna exclaimed, not wanting to leave the two adepts behind.
A brief silence too the adepts, "Forget about them-"
"I will not forget about them!" Jenna interrupted.
"As I was saying," Saturos continued. "They won't make it out alive."
"You'll never know!" Amiko cut in. Saturos looked down at her, making Amiko stay silent.
"She's right, Saturos, there's still a chance that they might survive." Menardi nodded to the boys, obviously agreeing with Amiko. Amiko stuck her tongue out at Saturos as if saying 'I told you so!'
"Anything is possible… So what do you suggest we do?" He glared at the now laughing Amiko.
"We that this "Jenna" with us… If they survive, they will want her back. And if they want her back, they will bring us the Star." Alex explained.
Saturos nodded, "Good. But, Kanata and Amiko can stay here with them, of course." Alex smiled.
"Regardless, Kraden must come with us. He is connected to all of this." He added.
Felix stepped forward, quite angered. "Alex… Are you breaking our promise?" He asked.
"Conditions have changed since I made that promise, Felix," Alex replied. "And of course we can't forget Fiona, who will be joining us as well."
Fiona shook her head in disagreement, "I agreed to come in here with you, and I never intended to leave with you."
Saturos laughed. "Sorry, Fiona, but you are, defiantly, coming with us. You are needed on our part, isn't that right, Alex?" He looked over at the mercury adept, who nodded in agreement.
"But," Felix cut in, drawing attention to him again. "Jenna's not any part of this. I won't let you hurt her!"
"Do what you want with me, just let Jenna go." Kraden pleaded, stepping forward.
"Your bravery speaks well of you, old man, but you cannot help Jenna now."
Menardi turned to Felix, and shook her head, with displeased. "If we leave Jenna, she will surely die. If that what you want, Felix?" Felix remained silent.
"Perhaps we ought to continue this else where, Felix." Alex suggested.
"Felix…"
"Please…can we go now?" Felix nodded and moved aside, with his little sister by his side.
One by one, they all stepped into the portal, going off to the Luna Room, and to leave the Sanctum, with us still trapped inside. Before Jenna left, she looked over at us.
"Isaac, Garet! Don't die!" With that set and done, she left, followed by Felix. Before Alex left, he, too, glanced over at us, shaking his head.
"The Mars Star… It's a pity we have to leave it, but perhaps we'll be seeing it soon…" He looked over at Kanata and Amiko and nodded, and left.
"Isaac! Garet!" Kanata called, protecting Amiko from the falling rocks. "Can you make it over here?!"
I shook my head, "No, it'd be too dangerous." I called back. The roar from the volcano deep inside grew louder. Garet and myself shielded out eyes, and waited for the end.

But the end, however, never came. Whenever we opened our eyes, the fallen rocks had made a circle around us. I glanced over at Kanata, only to see her panting with loss of energy and her left hand still being held out. When she glanced up at as, she smiled. We glowed Purple and were teleported over to the portal.
"Glad you're safe." Kanata greeted, hiding and obvious signs of weakening.
"Well, this turned out badly, wouldn't you say?" Garet asked, placing his hands on his hips, looking around. I nodded in agreement. Remember to write this down, Isaac: Never do deals with the enemy, no matter what.
"It's a miracle we survived." Garet said, nodding his head.
"Idiot, I'm the one that saved all four of us!"
Garet frowned, "Jenna and Kraden are gone." Obviously, he had stated the obvious, again.
"No kidding, dope! You watched them!" Amiko blurted out.
The ground started to shake softly again.
"You don't think they'll hurt them, do you, Isaac?" Garet asked, turning to me. I looked over at Garet, surprised.
"Of course not! Didn't you see? Felix and Fiona were there with them!"
Garet rubbed the back of his neck, sweatdropping. "Oh, yeah…" he laughed nervously a bit. We all jumped at a loud, and by the sound of it, dangerous sound. "We're in big trouble…" We all nodded, having to agree on something.
"L-Let's get out of here…" I managed to say, heading for the portal.
"Um, Isaac…" Garet stopped dead in his tracks, looking back at me, pointing at the Wise One.
"Why are you standing there?" He asked.
"Err, we were just leaving…" Amiko said, waving her hand in the air so she would get noticed.
"Good. This place has become dangerous."
"Obviously." Garet whispered over to me. A sound in the distance signaled that the volcano was soon to erupt. The four Elemental statues glowed their color, and bright lights disappeared from sight by shooting upwards.
"Hey!" Storm popped out of Amiko's pocket. "The others are back!"
"Take out the Elemental Star…" The Wise one advised, Garet started to, but Kanata held out her arm as if he shouldn't.
"There is no need. Saturos and the others are still in Vale." Kanata stated, her eyes glowing purple.
"Without the power of the Elemental Stars to contain it, the magma flows freely once again, and the camber is collapsing." Wise One explained.
"We know that!" Garet cut in, moving over to the portal.
"There will be no chamber for the Elemental Stars to return to…"
"There doesn't need to be. It's true that they are safest here in this chamber, but the Chosen Adepts of Weyard may wield their Star to their Lighthouse, to protect them both." Kanata explained.
"The world will be exposed to the threat of Alchemy," the Wise One continued.
"Alchemy? A threat?" Garet questioned.
"It can be a dangerous power if it is misused…" Wise One explained. "If the Elemental Stars ignite the flames of the four lighthouses, that power will be released." He added.
"And," Kanata continued, "As long as the four lighthouses remain unlit…" She was cut short by the volcano beginning to erupt.
"The volcano… It's erupting… Flee, now!"
"But how…" Garet shook his head; "We won't make it in time."
"Ah. I see. I will help you…" Wise One concentrated his Psynergy and teleported the four of us to the entrance of Sol Sanctum.

"Let's get out of here before the door closes in!" Amiko warned, running ahead.
"Right!" We all rushed out of the entrance. From a safe distance, I looked back and saw the front doors collapse, adding on to the build-up.
"Isaac, come on!" Garet beckoned. I looked back at him and nodded, following him down stairs.

"We'll have to find a way around." Amiko suggested, pointing down at the stairs at the village's sanctum.
"Man, it's Grandpa and the others… We're in for it this time, Isaac!" Garet started to go back up, but Kanata grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Don't be an idiot, Garet. The entrance is blocked off-either way you'll be killed up there!" Garet sighed and walked down to the ledge a bit further, arms cross over his chest in deep thought.
"Garet!" Garet nearly fell over, loosing what little concentration his had; he knew that the voice calling to him was his little brother's.
"Busted." He scratched his head in a defeating matter.
"Isaac!" I put my hand over my face, in the same defeating matter as Garet had. Now we truly were busted. I had the idea of leaving Garet and finding a way around, but heck; I'd never do that. I looked between my fingers to see who had called my name. It wasn't my mother. No, it was Garet's younger sister, and the look in her eyes made her seem disparate, too disparate if you ask me.

"The plaza is on fire!!" A villager cried out. We all stood frozen. The plaza is on fire? It took a minute for the words to seek in, but when I saw the black smoke rise into the sky, I knew that we had to act, and fast.
We zoomed past the tree and down the stairs. As Garet ran by behind me, he told his younger brother and sister to say there. Kanata told Amiko to say close; I could tell she had figured something out.
When we came to the short passageway before the plaza, we stopped in front of blazing fires about 5 feet high. I looked up at the massive reds, oranges, yellows and gold's as they played about within the fire's heat.
"Isaac, you and Garet should head off to make sure that no one's hurt. The Psynergy Stone isn't too far from here, you should be able to recover quickly." I looked back at Kanata and nodded. I quickly surveyed the area; not too far from one of the burning houses stood my mother, helping out put out the fires and tending to the injured. I rushed down the stairs, jumping over about halfway, Garet following suit. I pointed out in the opposite direction; Garet getting the idea right away nodded and ran off. I looked up at Kanata and Amiko and saw that they were tending to the closest fires.
'Hopefully they can handle it on their own. The last thing we need is-' Isaac heard a muffled scream and turned his attention back to the task at hand. A townswoman screamed again as the frame of her home collapsed.
"Dora's still in there!" She told her husband. "You have got to do something!" I sped off as fast as my feet could take me, rushing into the burning home without a second thought.
"Isaac!!" Garet's muffled voice called. I ignored it. I couldn't be stopped now. Not by the fires roaring heat, not by Garet.
Inside was scorching hot, but I had to do the best I could to ignore the immense heat. I looked to my left, burning bookcases, and, to the right, burning furniture and a staircase leading up behind it.
"Mom! Mom, where are you?" I called out. I stood silent, trying hard to listen for any sound or movement above the crackling fire. I thought I had heard a cough and a scratched cry for help. I leaped over the burning couch and ran up the stairs. Muffling a couple of coughs myself I looked in every room. My hopes were getting thin, until I looked into the last remaining room. There in the far corner sat my mother holding onto a child around Amiko's age.
"Mom, we have to get out of here!" No response. I ran into the room and weaved around the burning frame pieces. From the fire's view, the house was about to collapse. I bent down to her height, looking into her scorched face. She opened her eyes and smiled weakly.
"Isaac… I was worried. When the fires started I couldn't stay behind. I had to help them, but I'm too weak now…" She coughed a few times. "Please, take this child and get her our of here. Don't worry about me." I shook my head fiercely, a few tears making their way out.
"No, I won't ever leave you behind, not if I was forced to." I took the child's unconscious body and helped mom up. Casting a quick Cure, we weaved back out of the room and hurried down the hallway.
However, just as we reached the middle of the stairway, a pole fell, enflamed.
"No way out…" I thought quickly about which options I had left. I could go back up and jump, but… No, I ruled that thought out. I'd risk Mom's health, and I'd doubt she would be any better falling from a two-story house twice in one day. I didn't know how long we stood there; I struggled just to keep my eyes opened. The heat of the fire now grew twice as strong, as if someone added to it.
What happened next had to be a miracle. The flames parted, and I heard someone say something about moving to them. I took the deep voice's advice and continued down the stairs, and collapsed right into his outstretched arms.

-----------------------------------



"Isaac… Isaac wake up!"
I opened my eyes slowly, and waited until they got focus to say anything. Standing over me stood both Garet and my mother.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Mother sighed of relief and Garet just smiled. I sat up, but gentle hands forced me back down. I looked to the side and saw Kanata.
"You need your rest, Isaac. You inhaled a lot of smoke, too much for one's health, to be exact." She smiled as I sighed, staring back up at the sanctum's ceiling.
"How are they? And the villa--?"
"Easy, tiger!" Garet said, "All the fires were put out. Everyone's safe so there's nothing to worry about."
I sighed, that's all I needed to know.
"Ahem." I sat up again, and leaned against the wall for support. Great Healer looked really worried about something.
"Isaac, Garet, Kanata, please explain all that happened in Sol Sanctum." I blinked, thinking back for a moment. I quickly glanced around and saw Amiko, Garet, Kanata, Great Healer, Mom, a couple of healers, and the Mayor.
"Err, well…" Garet and I fell into explanation. Kanata only came in to correct whatever Garet said that was false, which was quite often. We showed them the Mars Star, told them about Kraden and Jenna being kidnapped against their will, how the volcano became active, everything.
After we had finished explaining there was silence for a few moments.
"Err…" Mayor was the one to break the silence. "We had no idea… The true Sanctum…" We all nodded.
"And Jenna and Kraden… They're prisoners?" Mom asked. I looked at her and nodded.
"Yes, that's right."
"They've been taken against their will! How awful!"
"Do you think they can be saved?" One of the healers asked.
"Of course they can!" Garet said, nodding positively.
"Jenna's brother, Felix, will protect them, won't he?" The other stated. Mayor frowned and looked over at Great Healer.
"What is it, Great Healer?" He asked, "You have been very quiet."
"It's like you're a thousand miles away." Mom agreed.
Great Healer turned back to us from the small shrine he was facing. "That hovering stone, the one that appeared before them…"
"What about it?" Mayor pressed.
"I have seen it before in my dreams." We were all lost at his words, not understanding what he meant, exactly, by those words.
"In my mind's eye, it appeared again just now and spoke to me." He explained.
"You saw it just now?" Garet asked, quite surprised as all of us were.
Great Healer nodded. "It must be the Wise One, guardian of the Elemental Stars." Kanata nodded. He continued, "It told me what happened to you all in Sol Sanctum." There was a brief silence.
"So… What does the Wise One say about the eruption?" Garet's grandfather asked.
"Will the volcano destroy Vale?" Mom asked.
Sparked weaved around Great Healer as they came down, obviously something from the Wise One.
"It is impossible to stop the eruption now," He explained. We all frowned. "Vale will be safe." He stated, before any questions were asked." The Wise One will prevent the lava from reaching us." There were a couple sighs of relief.
"However," He pressed, "Something even more dreadful then Vale's destruction looms ahead."
"The Lighthouses…" There was a look of sadness in Kanata's eyes as I gazed at her for a moment.
"Yes, and those four lighthouses possess a terrible power. The Stars themselves house a incredible power themselves."
"…And Vale has been guarding them?" Mayor asked. Great Healer nodded.
"Yes. If each Elemental Star is thrown into its beacon, the lighthouses will release its power." He turned to look at me, it seemed.
"Once the power of the gems has been released, the world will…" He trailed off and we all frowned.
"The Wise One wants us to get back the gems, doesn't he?" Mother asked. Great Healer shook his head.
"Err… why not?" I asked.
"This world is ours to save or destroy… Our inaction may bring its destruction." He explained.
"What a pity…" Mayor sighed, shaking his head.
"We cannot hops for salvation. We must save ourselves."
"How?" Garet asked, slightly confused.
"By preventing the lighthouses from being lit. It's the most that we can do. If we can get the Stars back, each chosen adept from that clan protects it." Kanata explained.
"Then what do we do?" Amiko asked, setting on the bench.
Great Healer walked over to the four of us, and nodded to each one. "Acquiring the Elemental Stars is their fate alone."
"Are you suggesting that we place the fate of the world… in the hands of these four children?" Great Healer nodded.
"Garet is only a child. You cannot expect him to bear such burden." Mayor protested.
"I can handle it, Grandpa!" Garet assured.
"Each of you shares responsibility for this." Great Healer stated, looking back at the shrine. "Now, each of you makes your decision!"
"I'm going." Kanata said at once. "I cannot watch Weyard suffer at the hands of Alchemy, nor stand back and watch those two light the four lighthouses." Amiko nodded and jumped off of the bench.
"Count me in!"
"I don't know…" Garet turned over and looked at me. "Isaac, you decide." I grinned.
"I'm with Kanata on this one."
"You accept? Oh, Isaac… You can't mean it…" Garet whined.
"You complaining again, Garet?" Amiko teased, poking at him.
"No, I'm not! I'm going too!"
"O, Wise One, these four have accepted your quest," Great Healer said chantingly, facing the shrine once more. "Give us your next command!" The lights dimmed as the Wise One showed itself."
"You lots are quite brave to take this quest. I shall be watching you. Choose your destiny wisely, young ones." With that said and done, he vanished into the Shrine's lights.
"That was the Wise One…" Mom said in amazement.
"What did the Wise One say?" Mayor asked. Great Healer looked at us and nodded.
"Felix… must unlock the power." We all frowned. Felix? How could he do that? He isn't much of a fighter…
"Find the lighthouses… You'll have the guidance of the Elemental Stars." We nodded. With that, he left to whatever errand needed to be tended to. After that, the other healers left to meditate.
"Err… When should we leave?" I asked, covering a cough.
"Obviously tomorrow, Isaac, you need rest." Mom said, putting her hands on her hips and shaking her head.
"Oh, right…"