Title: Spiritual Elements

Author: mangazgal

Rating: PG-13 (for occasional swearing and subjects such as suicide)

Genre: Fantasy/Romance

Summary: AU Four stars, four kingdoms-very simple. So why does everyone want to change that? Future Isaac/Mia, Garet/Jenna, Felix/Sheba

Disclaimer: To see the full disclaimer, see the prelude. Golden Sun belongs to Camelot and Nintendo. This is a fanfiction, written solely for entertainment.

A/N: No, I'm not neglecting The Return of the Sun. Expect a chapter of that to come out soon. I also have a whole bunch of exams during the beginning of May, as I'm sure most of you high school students out there are aware of. As a result, next chapter of Spiritual Elements won't come out until after then. Hopefully you all understand. ^^; Enjoy the chapter and be a dear and leave a review.

Chapter 2

When trying to seek an audience with someone, common courtesy dictates that you wait for that person to choose the time and place for a meeting. Common sense dictates that you do not barge in on, and, in the process, annoy that person. Of course, because he recognized her voice, Prince Garet of the Mars Kingdom was quite aware that common sense dictates when trying to seek peace with a country you didn't get along with, you shouldn't try to steal the country's power source. Whether the Mercurian princess lacked either common courtesy or common sense, or possibly even both, remained a question to him. Praying desperately that no one else would recognize her, he wanted to grab the girl around the neck and shake her wildly. After allowing the girl to escape yesterday and after dragging Isaac into this mess, his efforts for peace were going up into smoke faster than whatever should get into Lady Jenna's way when she was mad.

"When the Mars Kingdom asked the Mercury Kingdom to participate in a peace talk, she specified that the Mercurian ambassador come to the Ares Palace today." Looking rather sour, the Mercurian princess continued to glare at King Galian. "Yet, when I arrive, I'm told by the guards that everything is to wait until the king takes care of his personal business. I hope that isn't a sign of the efforts you are willing to put in for maintaining peace."

Garet wanted to slap himself silly once he heard that, but Kirin's restraining hold prevented him from doing any permanent damage. Like the fire that the Mars Kingdom was aligned to, the inhabitants of the kingdom had fiery personalities that easily explode when angered. Judging from how red his father's face was turning, he feared that half of the palace would disappear. Again.

Fortunately, Garet wasn't the only one who was aware of how much his father resembled a red bell pepper. King Galian may not be his father, but Prince Isaac from the Venus Kingdom also knew firsthand of the king's volatile temper. He could still recall how his hair was used as a torch when the king discovered the answer to Garet's question of whether plants could really destroy stones, such as the one that made up the palace itself. Or when they attempted to create a forest in the palace garden after they learned about trees and their benefits to the world. Isaac self-consciously tried to smooth his hair as he stepped forward.

"My dear princess," Isaac began as he bowed humbly. "You have misunderstood King Galian's intention. The king is not taking care of personal business; he is actually preparing a party in your honor and is arranging to have me be your guide today." Praying desperately that King Galian hadn't changed his usual custom of honoring notable visitors from the Venus Kingdom by hosting a gala ball, he continued his bluff. "It must have been a long travel for you, having to travel through the mountain ranges. We really must try to have a pass made through Biblin Cave soon, don't we?"

"I didn't come here to attend to some party," the princess began.

"Of course. Peace is very important to the Mars Kingdom, as well. Talks will begin immediately tomorrow morning after breakfast. Surely Princess…" Isaac trailed off, realizing that he did not know the name of the Mercurian Princess.

"Mia. Princess Mia."

"Surely Princess Mia, you would not insist upon entering peace talks without knowing your neighboring kingdom better. After all, this is your first time participating in a peace conference, isn't it?"

"Well, yes, but…"

"But nothing, princess," Isaac grinned, slowly warming up. After all, he wasn't the smooth flatterer for nothing. "As your guide, I insist on showing you a great time. Besides, if you would allow me to say so, a pretty lady such as yourself wouldn't want to be cooped up in a conference room for such a long time." Finishing with a small wink and a warm smile, Isaac mentally chalked up the scoreboard: Isaac 37, Victims 0.

Garet not only wanted to slap himself silly after hearing Isaac's speech, he wanted to slap Isaac silly as well, but once again his faithful bodyguard Kirin made sure that he didn't cause any bodily harm to anyone. That had to be the most obvious, nauseating speech he had ever heard. There was no one this ice princess would fall for it.

"Well, since you have kindly prepared such a warm welcome for me, it was wrong for me to accuse you and rudely barge into your palace. I thank you greatly for being so considerate, and I hope that you and your family will be able to forgive me." With that, Mia gave a graceful courtesy.

"No, there is nothing to forgive," King Galian laughed weakly.

"Excellent!" Isaac beamed. "Queen Felicia, you should probably send some of your attendants to see to it that Princess Mia is outfitted in peasant clothing."

"Ah, of course." Queen Felicia hurried to talk to some of her female servants, and a couple of giggly girls rushed up, delighted to dress up a foreign princess.

Isaac watched as Mia was being dragged off by the overly enthusiastic servants, and he called out, "I must go and change as well, but I will wait for you, princess, in the main hall."

"Wait!" Mia pulled away from the attendants and turned to face Isaac again. "You know my name, but you haven't given me yours."

"My name is Isaac, princess."

"Isaac, what a lovely name." Mia turned her head to give a warm smile to Isaac as she followed the servants into the palace.

As a prince, Isaac was used to flattering females and seeing them smile and giggle at what he had to say. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to survive the balls and parties that were thrown for every possible occasion, including a party he had to attend that was held in honor of the two new trees that were added to the palace garden. Fishing was obviously very important to females as they attempted to hook him into marriage, but because he was a prince, he had to put up with all of it. He had grown immune to the smiles girls would give him, but for the first time in a long while, this smile refused to be categorized as one of those simpering smiles. He continued to stare after Mia, the smile forever imprinted into his memory.

"Isaac, what a lovely name," Garet mimicked as he nudged his friend.

"Knock it off," Isaac muttered.

"Well, Prince Isaac, that smooth tongue of yours sure knows how to get into trouble," an angry voice boomed from behind him.

Isaac winced as he turned around, hands immediately clutching his head. "King Galian, I…"

The king started to laugh jovially. "Isaac, I've always known that you had a clever mind, but never have I appreciated that until today."

"You're… not mad at me?"

"Mad? Isaac, you saved our kingdom from being plunged into a senseless war over manners." Queen Felicia walked up and wrapped her arms tenderly around her husband's neck. "We will be fighting the Mercury Kingdom because the princess barged into the palace and was rude, while the Mars Kingdom will be fighting us because Galian can't control his temper."

"Felicia," the king growled good-heartedly. "Don't make fun of me before everyone."

"Yes, yes. Come along, King Galian, we must plan this gala event if we want Isaac's excuse to be valid."

When the merry rulers left the garden, Garet whirled around. "Isaac, stop grabbing your hair like that. My dad only set your hair on fire twice, so stop worrying. You worry about your hair more than any other girl I know!"

Isaac merely glared at Garet as he released his hair. "Yes, and both times I got into that mess because of your ingenious ideas."

"Hey, I thought you didn't want to get involved in any of this. Why the huge elaboration?" Garet asked innocently.

"Trying to change the subject, Garet? Well, who was the one that said without a risk, nothing could be accomplished? Wh-what?" Isaac suddenly gasped as Garet pulled him into a big hug.

"Thanks a lot," Garet said. "You know how much this peace means to me."

"I-I didn't do this for you, you know. I was thinking of the good of the kingdoms."

"Of course, Isaac." Garet smiled as he released his friend. "But you know, I still wanted to let you know-thanks. Well then, you should get ready for your role, Isaac the guide. Otherwise, you'll keep the 'pretty lady' waiting."

"Stop mocking me," Isaac said in frustration as he walked into the palace with Ramses trailing behind him.

"Who's mocking you?" a familiar voice asked.

Isaac turned in surprise to see Lady Jenna walking up to him from behind. Dressed in a crimson red dress with puffy sleeves, she waltzed up to her childhood friend.

"Jenna!" Isaac exclaimed as he pulled the slender reddish-brown haired girl into a hug. Having grown up in the Aphrodite Alcazar with him, Isaac had known Jenna for a long time. She had only started to reside in the Ares Palace to develop her strength as a Mars Adept just three years ago, but three years were enough to transform a gawky girl into a lovely lady.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Prince Isaac," Jenna chided. "It's Lady Jenna to you."

"A thousand apologies, Lady Jenna," Isaac said as he dropped to one knee. "Whatever could I do make up the horrendous heresy I committed?"

"Well, you can start by bowing before me and kissing my feet."

"What? I don't have to go so low, do I? I'm already on one knee before you!"

"Oh Venus, don't tell me you are proposing to my clumsy sister, Prince Isaac. Surely you don't have to go that low!"

"Clumsy! Felix, how dare you make fun of me like that!" Preparing to whirl around to scold her elder brother, Jenna remembered why she preferred wearing short skirts and leggings to long flowing dresses as she accidentally stepped onto the overly abundant cloth that was trailing around her feet. Jenna shut her eyes as she put her arms up to protect her face, expecting to crash onto the hard tile. However, she was saved from such an embarrassing fall.

"See, my dear clumsy sister, the reason you wear dresses is to keep that temper of yours in check," Felix chided as he held his sister.

Jenna pouted as she rested her head against the silky green shirt that her brother wore, her eyes following the golden thread that showed his loyalty to the Venus Kingdom with the customary symbol of green vines surrounding a sun. "I wanted so badly to make you proud and show you that I am a graceful lady, but I guess I'm still a clumsy oaf."

"Yes, but you're my little clumsy oaf," Felix smiled, his brown eyes twinkling. "And I'll always be proud of you." He leaned forward to press a small brotherly kiss onto her forehead.

"Felix, I…"

"Yes?"

"I got you!" Jenna shouted as she tugged Felix's long dark brown, almost black, ponytail. Laughing cheerfully, she blew the two men a kiss as she dashed down the hall, proving that long dress or not she could still do whatever she pleased.

"Why that little-" Felix began, but he was interrupted by peals of laughter. Eyebrow twitching, Felix turned to see Isaac half-heatedly attempting to stifle his laughter. "Prince Isaac, do you find something amusing?"

"No, nothing." Isaac struggled to say with a straight face.

"Yes, well, I heard of the… elaboration you made in the garden."

Isaac no longer had to struggle to keep a straight face. "Oh. About that…"

Felix sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "You realize that what you did is completely out of line with our kingdom's policies."

"Yes, but-"

"And as one of the advisors to your father, I disapprove of your action."

"I know, but-"

"And as a friend and as a human being, I think you did the right thing."

"You see, I- Wait, what?"

"I think you did the right thing," Felix repeated. "Sometimes you will have to ignore diplomacy and the rules to do the right thing. As a king, you have to learn when you have to follow the rules and when to break them. So far, you're doing a great job, Prince Isaac."

"Really? I-I-"

"Where did all that eloquence and charisma go?" Felix said with a shake of a head as he turned to leave. "I will be returning to Venus Kingdom and Aphrodite Alcazar later this afternoon, and I will tell King Kyle that Prince Garet has invited you to spend a couple of days with him. I'll make sure that your servants and everyone else will be sure to not refer to you as a prince and treat you as a lord of the Mars Kingdom. Don't blow your own cover. Until we meet again, my liege."

"Yes, I-I-"

"I think you should go change," Ramses said playfully, finally speaking up as he gently pulled Isaac towards the guest room that he always occupied at Mars Palace.

"Yes, of course. But Ramses, are you going to continue following me?" Isaac said, regaining some semblance of speech.

"My prince, I will always be by your side to protect you."

"However, wouldn't that make me more noticeable?"

Ramses laughed. "Prince Isaac, everyone in the kingdom already knows who you are, no matter what disguise you wear."

"Yes, but the Mercurian princess will suspect something if you're following."

"Do you think that lowly of my skills? She will not even know that I am trailing you, and neither will you. Now go on in and change," Ramses said with a shooing motion. "Otherwise you'll make the princess wait."

"You should change, too, Ramses," Isaac's voice yelled from within the room.

"I will, just worry about yourself first." Ramses leaned against the wall next to the door as he ran a mental check to see that all of his weapons were hidden and stored properly. Bored, he began to create a small wispy image of a strange pyramid that had a large head with piercing red eyes and two huge hands, one holding a colored shield and the other balled up into a fist as it punched the air.

"Oh, I see you summoned your favorite spirit."

Looking up, Ramses saw that Isaac was done changing. He was now dressed like one of the other farming teenagers of his age with a long brown tunic with the sign of allegiance towards the Mars Kingdom-flames engulfing the sun-on the bottom left hem, the side of the heart. Wrapped around his waist was a woven belt colorfully decorated with an assortment of bright beads, and only if a person looked carefully would anyone know that the green vines that were around the knot in the belt was the sign that Isaac was truly a prince from the Venus Kingdom. A bright red cloth was wrapped around his forehead, originally to catch the sweat of the farmers, and brown sandals on his feet completed the outfit.

"I wish I could summon spirits as well as you could," Isaac lamented as he shook off the dust that had gathered on his red leggings.

"If you work harder on training your spiritual energy, you will be able to," Ramses reassured the prince as they headed towards the main hall.

Isaac wrinkled his nose. "But spiritual energies are so much harder to manage in comparison to Psynergy. I don't understand why I need to learn both."

"You never know when you may need it."

"By the Ramses, I thought you were going to change."

"I did."

Isaac did a double take as he turned around to stare at his bodyguard. "When did you change? You were still dressed in your normal garb when I left the room!"

Ramses only smiled sweetly. "Have fun, Prince Isaac. I'll try not to follow too closely."

Isaac merely snorted in response as he entered the main hall. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Sure of what?" Mia asked.

However, Isaac had stopped to gaze at what Mia was wearing. Dressed in a similar manner as he was with a tunic, leggings, belt, and sandals, Mia managed to pull off the outfit much better than he did with the belt tied to accentuate her waist and the leggings showing off the curves in her legs. The attendants had managed to dig up a headdress that covered most of her blue hair, which would have stood out easily. They had also fastened a golden chain with a red pendant around her forehead with a similar chain around her slender neck. All of the darker colors contrasted nicely against her paler skin and her bright blue eyes.

"Isaac? Sure of what?" Mia repeated.

"Sure of what? Sure that we will have a lovely time," Isaac covered smoothly. Offering his arm to the princess, he gave her a charming smile. "Are you ready, princess?"

Mia returned the smile as she placed her arm through his. "Ready whenever you are."

~To be continued