Disclaimer: To see full disclaimer, see the prelude. Golden Sun belongs to Camelot and Nintendo. This is a fanfiction, written purely for entertainment purposes only. The disclaimer seems to be getting shorter…
A/N: The second part to ILLUSION. I called it a second chapter, but it actually the last part of chapter 1. So if things don't make sense, you might want to go back and look over chapter 1 again.
"Don't hold to anger, hurt or pain. They steal your energy and keep you from love."-Leo F. Buscaglia
Chapter 2. OVERBOARD (Part 2)
"MIA!!" Isaac screamed, and for a split moment, the storm was shocked into silence. In a flash, however, the storm continued to wail and scream, drowning out the cries of the anguished Venus Adept.
Isaac could only hang there and watch as the watery hands dragged Mia into the sea. While he was normally slow at making decisions, alas, this was not a normal time. Isaac hastily slid down the ladder and leapt off the cabin roof. He landed onto the deck with a thud and leaped past Garet and Ivan.
"Isaac, what are you doing?" Ivan called.
Isaac simply ignored him as he rushed to the railings and climbed up.
"You, you cannot be serious!" Garet exclaimed.
Proving how serious he really was, Isaac leapt into the sea.
"Isaac!" Garet shouted as he rushed to the railings and peered into the water. However, with the darkness and the ferocious waves, he could not spy his yellow-haired friend anywhere. Garet was about to leap over as well, when he felt someone grab his shirt. "Ivan, what are you doing?"
"What do you think you are doing, Garet?" Ivan asked calmly.
When Garet was about to open his mouth and reply, Ivan interrupted him.
"No, Garet, that was a theoretical question. I already know that you plan on jumping over the ship to save Isaac and Mia."
"Then why are you stopping me?" Garet demanded.
"Garet, do not be a fool! If you jump off this ship, what do you plan to accomplish? It is already going to be hard enough for Isaac to find Mia, but for all three of you to find each other? We have to stay here on the ship and do our best to help the both of them. You will have to take the wheel. The waves here seem to be crashing toward the shore. It will take too much energy for them to fight against the waves and will probably go with the flow. I had already sensed the slight trace of human thought coming from that direction, so head there," Ivan said as he pointed to the port side (left). "I will try to find Isaac and Mia with my Mind Read, and then we can try to reach them. Understand?"
Garet nodded, slightly surprised to see Ivan giving out the orders, and quickly hurried towards the wheel. Ivan scanned the waters as he concentrated his thoughts. It was harder for him to read people's minds from afar, and would take quite a bit of Psynergy to do so. However, he had read Isaac's and Mia's minds before, and he could easily recognize the feeling he sensed every time he read their minds. He focused on sending his Psynergy all around him, hopefully reaching their minds. "Isaac, Mia, where are you guys?"
Ivan furrowed his eyebrows. He could not sense Mia's mind at all. Had something happened to her? Did she lose consciousness? Hopefully, it was only because she was too far away that he could not feel anything from her. Fortunately, he soon found Isaac's mind, the golden aura that surrounded Isaac was scintillating in his mind.
"Isaac!"
"Must find Mia! Must find Mia! MUST FIND MIA!"
"Agh!" Ivan groaned as he recoiled slightly.
"Is something wrong?" Garet asked, panicking.
"It was Isaac."
"Did something bad happen?"
"No, it is just that his mind is so focused that no other thoughts could penetrate his thoughts, not even mine," Ivan said with a slight smile.
"How can you be smiling right now, Ivan!?"
"It is just that," Ivan began as he turned to see Garet, "Isaac is so focused on finding Mia. The only thing going through his mind right now is, 'Find Mia! Find Mia!'"
"I do not see how that is amusing," Garet exclaimed.
Ivan's smile only grew larger. "Do not worry, you will understand soon. He will find her."
* * *
Mia felt as if her Ice Missiles were trying to skewer her from all directions. She struggled to stay afloat, but despite the fact that water was her natural element, she kept sinking. Losing focus, she wondered if those strange hands were still dragging her. Maybe that was why she kept sinking. Strangely, she felt quite calm, even though she could possibly be pulled to her death by a pair of mysterious watery hands that were dragging her to the sea floor. Mia blinked. Dragged to her death at seventeen. By watery hands. This was not fair! If she had to die young, she wanted to die nobly! She was Mia, the Mercury Adept from the Mercury Clan of Imil, not some simpleton. She was not going to die like this. This was outrageous! Unfortunately, before she could pursue this train of thought any further, she lost consciousness.
The only thing she could remember was peeking through her eyelashes, the saltiness of the water stinging her eyes. She struggled to make out vaguely the shapes of seven blue shapes glowing around her. Then, everything turned black.
* * *
In any other situations, Isaac would have laughed to see himself bobbling helplessly in the middle of the sea. He knew it was a sad sight to see as he struggled amidst the waves, progressing about an inch per second and falling back about two inches per every other second. However, the girl he cared for was abducted by a pair of watery hands, probably being dragged to her death, and was somewhere out in the sea, and he had to find her. It was definitely not an opportune moment to open his mouth and laugh. He would end up choking on the salty seawater.
Things were looking badly for him. Isaac had no idea how he was going to locate Mia like this. He did not know if she was managing to stay afloat, or if she was sinking. He wasn't sure if he should attempt to keep moving forward or dive into the water and see if he could locate her. He didn't think that she could be that far off, but when he surfaced after his dive, he could not see her anywhere. Being hasty, he didn't even think of having Ivan try to find her with his Mind Read, or Reveal, or something. Everything was looking hopeless.
'Never give up!' he thought to himself furiously. No matter what, even if he had to swim the entire Eastern Sea, he will find Mia. She was Mia, Mercury Adept from the Mercury Clan of Imil, and she would be fine. He will find her, save her, and ask for forgiveness. He would not allow it to be any other way. He MUST find her. If he didn't, he did not know what he would do with himself…
* * *
"I just do not understand how they could have both disappeared so quickly," Garet muttered as he tried to keep the wheel from spinning wildly.
"I do not understand, either, but we have to keep looking. If the sea could fool us with an illusion for so long, who knows what are the true extent of her powers," Ivan replied, continuing to scan the seawater.
"Land ho, Ivan! What do we do?"
Ivan narrowed his eyes and peered through the gloom, faintly making out the shoreline. Garet really had some sharp eyes. "I do not know. I cannot feel Mia and Isaac anymore…"
"Do you want to continue sailing around, looking for them?"
Ivan bit his lower lip as he shook his head. "No, we will never find them in time that way."
"Now what, then?"
"If only Isaac was here. Now I know how he feels," Ivan said with a sigh. "I do not know what to do."
"Just make the best decision that you can," Garet said with a smile. "That is all you can do, and that is all I expect you to do. Isaac and Mia would feel that way, as well."
Ivan returned a small smile. "Yes, I know…"
"Well then?"
"Bring her to shore, Garet!"
"Yes, sir!" Garet replied. He could see the outline of trees as the ship approached land. "We cannot sail completely next to the shore for I do not know how deep the water is around here, and the waves may crash the ship against something. We will have to anchor off around here." (I really don't know much about ships. I hope this is plausible…)
"All right," Ivan nodded. "That will do. Be prepared to use your Psynergy."
"All ri- Wait! Psynergy!? Why?" Garet exclaimed.
"I was thinking. I will continue to use Mind Read and try to sense them, but… We have not been able to see them so far, but we can help them see us. You will have to use your Psynergy and illuminate the area so that they will be able to find us in this darkness."
"But it is raining! In case you forgotten, fire plus water equals psshhh!!" Garet hissed, imitating the sound of water dousing a fire.
"I figure Fire Ball would be the best for you to use," Ivan replied cheerfully. "Time to see who will win-us or the storm."
* * *
"The storm wins," Garet said flatly.
"Garet…"
"It is true. I am almost completely sapped of Psynergy, and I bet you are, too. I have been trying to keep the ship lit up, and it is probably light enough to become the next lighthouse! Standing in the rain does not help, either. Really. It is like the rain is sapping my energy, and you do not look so great either. Your face is all pale and clammy looking."
"You are right," Ivan sighed, holding a hand to his forehead. "Too bad weather prediction is not your seventh sense."
"Hey!"
"All right, we will stop for now. I guess if Isaac and Mia were anywhere in the area, they would have seen us by now. If I get the Black Orb, we can leave the ship. Let us try walking further down the shore to see if we can find them. If we do not find them soon, we will come back and rest for a while."
"Good idea!" Garet agreed enthusiastically. "I have the feeling that the sun is going to come out soon!"
* * *
"Good job, Alex. Go through all that trouble to leave just to abduct somebody, and then lose the abducted as someone abducts my abducting target. Crazy storm," Alex muttered to himself as he brushed his pale blue, almost white-colored, bangs out of his deep green eyes. He angrily pushed aside the tree branches that seemed to randomly poke out at him. Some of the branches whipped back at, causing the wet leaves to smack him in the face. However, he had already given up on staying dry. Turning his head up to see the ominous clouds through the foliage, he wrinkled his nose.
"Can't wait to get out of this stupid rain," he said, shivering slightly. It was strange. He was a Mercury Adept, yet this rain disturbed him, chilled him to the bone. Why did he chose today of all day to abduct someone? 'Because there are no other times… You have a mission to complete. If you do not do it now, you will be late…'
"Now my conscious is talking to me. I have been in the rain too long," Alex groaned as he approached the outer limits of the woods. "I am going back to the inn right now…"
Trailing off, Alex could not believe what was before his eyes. The rain was playing tricks on him. He blinked once. Twice. 'Right now' was going to have to wait.
* * *
"I am going back to the inn right now…" a familiar voice trailed off.
"The rain, the rain, it is the rain making me hallucinate," Mia muttered, digging her head deeper into the muddy sand.
"Mia?" the voice called.
"Please let me be hallucinating!"
"Mia? It is I, Alex."
'Why?' Mia thought to herself as she pushed herself up.
"Mia?"
"Hello, Alex," Mia said, with a fake smile pasted on her face.
* * *
Ivan grimaced as he faced the door, preparing to step back into the rain. He had ducked into the cabin to retrieve the Black Orb while Garet waited outside. It was a short, simple trip, but the cabin was warm and comfortable, making even a short trip into the cabin appear to be a luxury compared to having to step back into the piercing, cold rain. He took a deep breath before opening the door, bracing himself for the deluge.
"Garet, I am back," Ivan called, shielding his eyes with his hand from the needle sharp droplets.
"Uh, Ivan, I think we have company."
"What are you talking about?" Ivan asked in disbelief as he removed his hand.
As Ivan glanced around the deck, he realized that he and Garet were no longer alone on the fair ship. While he left to retrieve the Black Orb, eight more people had boarded their ship. Although it was hard to see these intruders very well, Ivan could tell that they were all eight, brawny men. They had surrounded both him and Garet, and were approaching closer, hemming the two of the closer in towards the center.
"Can we…help you with anything?" Ivan offered hopefully.
A fist suddenly came flying towards Ivan as one of the men charged with a shrill cry. Ivan leapt quickly out of the way in alarm and then quickly ducked when another man tried to kick him squarely in the face.
"Do you think that you may have offended them?" Garet asked as he blocked a punch.
"How? By asking them if they needed help?" Ivan called as he tried to avoid being run over as three of the men simultaneously charged.
"You never know, Ivan. Maybe you insulted them by offering to help. Maybe they thought you were implying they needed help!" Garet offered as he tried to fend off the numerous punches and kicks.
Ivan did not even bothered to argue back because he was slightly busy trying to think of some way to deal with the situation. He racked his brain for some idea, but besides the idea of running, which would be silly because they were on a ship, he could come up with nothing. He was too distracted to be able to concentrate fully to develop a plan as he watched several of the men draw their swords. Ivan reached for his light blade, Kikuichimonji, as well, whipping it out in time to ward off an attack. Nimble footed, Ivan easily parried blows with one of the men. A one-on-one battle was simple, but Ivan could hear the swishing sound of another sword swung from behind him. He threw a glance back and dodged to avoid the swing, but the man in front of him used this to his advantage and attacked again.
"Damn it!" Ivan swore as he saw the blood that were starting to ooze out of his upper right arm. He was in a bad position, caught between three men and the railing of the ship.
Garet saw the desperate position of the Jupiter Adept, and tried to reach him to lend his aid, but out of the corner of his eyes he saw a silver streak. He immediately pulled out his own sword, Muramasa, to block a giant battle-ax. His knees buckled under the pressure of the impact, and he had to use all his strength to make a stand. He summoned all the strength he had within him and knocked the ax back. When he turned back to Ivan, however, he saw that his way with blocked with four other men.
"Move it!" Garet growled. He could feel his heart beating wildly, his fear overwhelming. There was no way he could make it in time to help Ivan. Before he could even move, however, Garet heard a familiar howl.
Within Ivan's hands, the Kikuichimonji started to glow as it howled. A faint whispery cry that sounded like "Asura" could be heard as a mysterious human-like apparition appeared in the sky. Several times larger than a normal human, this Asura stood before Ivan with blue billowing robes and long white hair. However, the face was always hidden from Ivan and Garet. Perhaps it was a frightful face with piercing red, glowering eyes, or perhaps it was just ugly; it was a face shown only to the enemies. The apparition knew that his master had been in danger, and he silently attacked, lunging forward with a swift stroke of his sword. After attacking, the apparition lingered before disappearing into the night. Ivan silently thanked the sword's mysterious guardian because Asura's presence allowed him to take the chance to anoint some of the green Potion onto his arm. A cool, reinvigorating feeling overcame him as he stood up, prepared to fight again.
The sudden appearance of Asura had shocked the men around Garet, and he took the opportunity to knock the ones around him aside as he rushed to Ivan's side. He thought the fight was about over, but he was surprised to see that the men Asura had attacked were still fine, only slightly stunned. Even the ones he managed to shake off of him quickly recovered and lunged towards him once more. Although Garet normally had the energy to fight for hours, he was already exhaustive by his previous attempts to keep the ship lit and by standing in the rain for so long. He was tired of fighting, and decided to end the fight quickly.
"PYROCLASM!"
A flash of red lit up the dark sky once again, surrounding Garet like a phoenix's flame. Myriad fireballs formed and dotted the sky like the stars that appeared on a clear night. Ivan whirled around as he heard Garet's call and immediately ducked, narrowly having his hair torched by the flaming balls of fire that streaked by him. The two Adepts watched as the fireballs flared towards the eight men.
"EXTINGUISH!" one of the men called.
Suddenly, despite the already cloud-filled sky, more gray clouds rumbled as they appeared above the ship. A blinding blue light filled the air, allowing Ivan to catch a better glimpse of the eight men. They had dark hair of various shades of brown and black, but their eyes were deep cobalt blue. Then, the light faded. The clouds crashed into one another, causing a big explosion of rain. The rain shot towards the fire, like an arrow shot towards a target, and put out the lights one by one, leaving nothing but smoke.
"What!? How, how could that be?" Garet exclaimed, involuntarily taking a step back.
"That blue light… They must be Adepts of some sort as well," Ivan said. "From their Psynergy, they must be Mercury Adepts."
"Mercury Adepts? Then what are we going to do?"
"TEMPEST!" Ivan called, causing the sky to be lit with purple. Anyone not knowing better would have thought there was a firework display in the sky.
Columns of whirling, raging wind formed on the ship's deck, growing in height to touch the dark clouds that hanged in the sky. Bustling towards the men, the winds gathered strength and speed. Rain also collected in the whirling tunnels, and caused the droplets to spew out like shooting bullets. Such ferocious winds were like beasts that opened their mouths and exhaled deeply, prepared to eat their preys.
"TYPHOON!"
Wind fought with wind as a new storm appeared aboard the ship. Tornados and violent storm clouds collided. The storm with its strong wind and rain devoured the wind columns, engulfing the columns easily amidst its own winds and water.
"They are not human!" Garet exclaimed.
"Garet, I am pretty sure we are not fighting against gods," Ivan said irritably.
"Now what do we do? They are Mercury Adepts, right? Use one of your electrical attacks!"
"Are you crazy?" Ivan asked incredulously. "It is raining and we are wet. There are puddles all around our feet. We risk being electrocuted if I use an electric attack!"
"I have a plan! Just do it!"
"Care to fill me in first?" Ivan asked.
"No time, just do it!"
"Oh my goodness, I cannot believe I am doing this," Ivan muttered, focusing his Psynergy.
"SPARK PLASMA!"
"FLARE STORM!"
As Ivan's great barrage of bolts attacked the men, purple electric sparks flying, Garet's incinerating flames appeared around the two Adepts, quickly evaporating the water near the flames, preventing the electric currents to reach them. The men's screams of agony could be heard as they withered, the water multiplying the shocking pain of the electric attack. Both Ivan and Garet averted their eyes from the painful scene before them, waiting for the flames and sparks to disappear.
When the last spark faded and the last flame put out, the eight men collapsed to the deck. Their chests still rose and fell softly, alive, but badly injured. Ivan and Garet sighed in relief. They had both just used extremely powerful attacks, and their Psynergies were about completely sapped.
"Damn, and the sun was shinning this morning, too," Garet pouted as he looked upwards into the dark clouds that were literally dumping water onto him, Ivan, and the eight fallen men around them.
Ivan could only turn his head and raise an eyebrow in amazement as he leaned against the cabin, trying to catch his breath.
"It is finally over," Garet sighed.
"Hold it," a voice growled.
"What?" Ivan exclaimed as he turned to see more men climb aboard the ships. "More?"
"Who are you?" Garet demanded. "What do you want?"
One of the new men bent to look at the injured. "They have harmed one of our brothers!"
"We must exact revenge!" another cried.
"They are weak now! We must kill them! Kill them! Make them suffer!"
"Wait a minute!" Garet exclaimed. "They attacked us first! We did not do anything!"
"KILL THEM!" the men chanted.
"Ivan, what do we do?" Garet whispered. "Our Psynergies are sapped, and we gave Mia all of our Psy Crystals!"
"Hold on, now it is time for my plan," Ivan whispered back.
"Kill us now, then," Ivan called out loud. "We would rather die here nobly, aboard our ship, then to be dragged to some wretched place as prisoners and spit upon by hundreds of people before being killed."
"What!?" Garet cried in alarm.
"That is a good point," one of the men spoke up. "We wish to avenge our fallen brothers. Their families should be allowed to watch and exact their own revenges before we kill them. Let us take them back to the village!"
"He is right. Let us take them as prisoners!" the rest cried.
"You will regret that you have ever said that to us, boy," one of the men laughed.
"Tie them up!" one of the men called.
Two of the men approached Garet and Ivan, but Ivan attempted to run, staggering over to the door. Several men quickly surrounded him, grabbing his hand away from the door and tying his hands together cruelly.
"Ah!" Ivan winced in pain.
"Get moving!" one of the men said gruffly, kicking Ivan forward to follow Garet, who was already being pushed into a small boat that was raised by the men. Ivan stumbled into the boat, sitting across from Garet.
"This is your plan?" Garet whispered.
"Yes, I am afraid it is."
"Now what??" Garet exclaimed.
Ivan did not reply as the boat was lowered, keeping his eyes on the dragon carved on the cabin door. He sighed when the door disappeared from sight, and sank into his seat. Two men, heading towards the shore, were slowly rowing the boat. Several other boats followed as they left the ship.
The rain continued to fall mercilessly, not caring who were taken prisoners.
~To be continued in Chapter 3-RESCUE
This concludes the second part, and hopefully you can see it makes sense. I started chapter 1 with Garet saying, "Damn, and the sun was shinning this morning, too," and now you have all seen this part actually taken place. Also, I had seen the Golden Sun ending again, and realized that Isaac's ship is not the same as Picard's (or Pier's) ship. Whoops. Since I know Picard's ship much better than Isaac's ship, I'll just go with that model (it's probably a newer model than the one Babi has anyway, and the best for my beloved Adepts!).