Disclaimer: To see the full disclaimer, see the prelude. Golden Sun belongs to Camelot and Nintendo. This is a fanfiction, written solely for entertainment.
"We do not so much need the help of our friends as the confidence of their help when in need."-the Vatican Sayings, Epicurus
Chapter 3. RESCUE
"I will find her," a young man laughed almost hysterically as he dragged his worn body out of the waters. He almost collapsed as soon as he reached the sandy shore, his body exhausted after a bitter fight against the storm. "What will I do if I cannot find her?"
Isaac slowly lowered his body, despite his mental urging to keep searching. He ached all over, and his body was shaking, no matter how hard he tried to stop. He had reached his limit. If he did not stop to rest, he would kneel over and fall face first into the sticky mixture of the wet sand. A tremor ran through his body. Although he knew he could move no further, his heart was racing. If he did not find her, his heart would not be able to stand it. Hot tears roll down his face, to only fall among the millions of tiny grains of sand, unknown and invisible among the raindrops. Unknown and invisible. Just like his feelings to Mia. "Mia…"
For a brief second, the sand seemed to give off a very faint, red color. Isaac turned his head to see a dim red glow in the sky. Although far away, he could make out the outline of a fiery Psynergy attack that he knew belonged to Garet. He could also feel the slight warm brush of Ivan's mind as Ivan searched for him. Garet and Ivan… they were out there in the storm, as well, trying to help him fix the mess that he had started. He could not believe his eyes when he suddenly saw Garet standing besides him, pulling him up, giving him a small smile of support. Ivan stood before him with a teasing smile on his face as he pointed towards the forest, motioning for Isaac to go into the forest and silently assuring him that he will find Mia.
Isaac could feel some of his strength return to his body, as he stumbled to the forest. He turned around only once. The words "Thank you, my dear friends" parted from his lips as he entered the forest. The images of Garet and Ivan disappeared into the night.
* * *
The trees in the forest could never understand humans. For one thing, most seemed to have a strange distaste for the rain. They didn't appreciate the refreshing taste of rainwater when it was sucked through the roots. As soon as rain started to fall, the humans always ran for cover, especially if there was a booming noise in the sky.
Today, however, a strange fellow was wandering in their forest. He had long, white and blue hair. Although a male, he had a certain liquid grace that caused him to flow more than he walked. His very essence screamed water. They were delighted that a human was enjoying the blessing of rain, until they realized that he did not seem to share their joy. He was mumbling and shooting dirty looks toward the sky. He appeared delighted when he finally reached the edge of the forest and left. The trees decided that he was just another unfortunate fellow who got stuck in their forest during a storm, and left it at that. Yet, humans were strange creatures. The man was so happy to leave that the trees were shocked to find him enter the forest again within a few minutes, this time, dragging a girl that was strikingly similar to him. She did not look any happier than the man did, although she shot her dirty looks at the man, instead of the sky. Humans, who could understand them?
"Alex, let go of me," Mia growled as she tried to wrench her hand away from him.
Alex merely ignored her as he tightened his grip around her wrist, pulling her deeper into the forest.
"Why are you dragging me through this forest?" Mia demanded as she continued to twist and turn her arm in all sorts of different directions. It was apparent, however, that Alex was simply not paying any attention to her questions. Mia rolled her eyes as she gave him a firm kick.
"Ow!" Alex snapped as he halted to a stop. "You don't need to be so hostile. I simply wanted to talk."
"Then talk," Mia said, folding her arms to her chest, keeping her hands out of his reach.
"I do not want to talk here."
"Why, afraid the trees will listen?" Mia scoffed.
Alex merely sighed. "Fine. Mia, you must stop pursuing me and trying to prevent the lighting of the lighthouse."
"Is that all you brought me here for?" Mia laughed. "Do you expect me to abandon my quest, then, now that you requested I stop? Do you take me as a fool?"
"It is for your own good. You must return to Imil," Alex insisted.
"I have stopped listening to what you had to say a long time ago," Mia answered coolly, staring coldly into Alex's eyes.
"Mia, please, you have to go back," Alex pleaded desperately.
"Why should I? You have betrayed our clan and went against our code. I am the only member left of the Mercury clan, and I will avenge our people of your misdeeds that had tainted our good name."
"That is because you simply do not understand!"
"I do not understand?" Mia laughed bitterly. "You're right, I do not understand. I do not understand why you, the one person I looked up to, would do this to me and my-"
Mia stopped as she heard a rustling that sounded like someone was running through the undergrowth. Someone pushed through the bushes and gasped, "Mia!"
"Isaac?" Mia exclaimed joyously.
"Mia, you are all right," Isaac said, relieved, as he hurried towards her and embracing her into his arms. He pressed his face into the soft, blue wet hair as he tightened his hold around her waist, afraid to let her go. "I was so afraid, so afraid that something had happened to you. If something had happened, I did not know what I would do."
"Isaac…" Mia said softly, touched.
Isaac shifted his head and loosened his grip when he finally caught sight of Alex standing before him. His eyes glared possessively, shifting from their normal blue warmth to something colder and frightening. Alex could not help but to take an involuntary step backwards, stunned by the demonic look within Isaac's eyes. He had never seen such eyes, eyes that held so much hatred, anger, and a fierce thirst for revenge. "Alex…" Isaac growled.
"Isaac," Alex forced himself to reply coolly, masking the fear that was coursing through his body.
Isaac removed himself from Mia as he stepped menacingly towards Alex, drawing his Gaia Blade from the sheath on his back. "You were the one who summoned those hands that snatched Mia from the ship, weren't you?"
"No, I did not!" Alex protested firmly. "I did not summon these 'hands' you talked about. If I wanted to abduct Mia, I could simply appear on your ship, grab her, and then -poof- leave just like that. Why would I go through the trouble of summoning some kind of hand?"
"Really?" Isaac said as he moved closer to Alex, sword pointed straight at Alex's neck. His eyes glittered dangerously as a twisted smirk came across his face, daring Alex to continue with his story. "Then who would 'go through the trouble of summoning some kind of hand'?"
Alex gulped as he tried to move away, only to find that he had backed into a tree. "Do you know where you are?" he asked, trying to distract Isaac as he thought of a way to escape. If he showed the slightest inclination to teleport, he knew that Isaac would slice off his head immediately. He figured that the possibility of losing his head was not worth a gamble. "You have wandered into the territory of the Champa. They are said to be frightful people, according to the girl with the herbal shop in Lalivero. It appears that some of their people possess the ability to manipulate water."
"And what would their incentives be in kidnapping Mia? Would you have something to do with it?" Isaac asked predatorily, a playful smile tugging his lips. The smile was about as comforting to Alex as a smile from a cat would have been to a mouse.
"I really have nothing to do with it. I did poof by the ship today because I wanted to talk to her, but when I saw the watery hands grab her, I went to the village of Champa to find her. When I left, I found her lying by the shore, washed up by the waves." Alex praying from the bottom of his heart that Isaac did not suddenly possess the ability to read minds. Then Isaac would have found out that he was planning to abduct Mia in order to talk to her if someone else hadn't gotten to it first, and he would soon have no head left to see what Isaac's next move would be.
"Hmm…fine then," Isaac said.
Alex sighed in relief. He was off the hook.
Suddenly, the blade of the sword was sticking out from the tree right next to his head, much to the tree's dissatisfaction.
Alex held his breath. Not off the hook yet.
"You expect me to believe that?" Isaac began as he pulled the Gaia Blade out of the tree.
"Isaac, wait!" Mia pleaded as she grabbed Isaac's right wrist.
Isaac looked shocked as he turned around. "Mia?"
"Isaac, don't hurt him," she said as she stood in between Isaac and Alex.
"Mia, why?" Isaac asked, hurt.
"Isaac, you are not yourself. Please do not do something that you will regret. You of all people I do not want to see suffer from a mistake made in the past."
"I see then," Isaac said softly as he turned to leave. "Unfortunately, you are too late. I have already made a mistake."
Mia felt tears come to her eyes for the third time that day, and each time the tears were caused by him. How could this one person who brought her so much happiness cause her so much pain? She could sense Alex shifting uneasily behind her. "You can leave now, Alex," Mia said bitterly.
"I just…I just wanted to thank you," Alex began.
"No, do not thank me," Mia said harshly. "I did'nt stop Isaac to save you. I was saving him for the agony he would feel later on from killing a worthless person such as yourself."
Alex flinched as he heard Mia's sharp words stab at his heart and watched her run after Isaac, now disappearing from his life forever. He brought his fingers to his lips, and kissed the tips as a gesture of bidding farewell. "And so I bid you adieu, my lovely Mia."
* * *
"And the sun was shining so brightly, too," Garet muttered. "How could I have had such a rotten day when the sun was shining so brightly?"
"Garet, shut up," Ivan moaned as he leaned his head against the pillar that he was tied to. "You have been saying that ever since we got here."
"There has got to be a way for us to escape," Garet insisted as he tried to wrench his hands free from the blood-constricting binds.
"Garet, knock it off," Ivan protested. The two were tied so that any wiggling one might do, the other would feel it. With Garet trying to tug himself away from the pole, Ivan felt himself being crashed into the pole.
"If you don't like our situation, who told you to give our capturers this wonderful suggestion of having the entire village exact revenge before we are killed?" Garet hissed.
Ivan merely rolled his eyes. "I have already been humiliated, kicked, slapped, punched, and spat upon by the villagers. I do not need to suffer from your abuse as well."
"And who got us into that situation as well?" Garet wondered sarcastically.
"Do you remember, Garet, that you told me to make the best decision that I could? You told me that was all I can do, and that was all you would expect me to do."
"And this was your best decision?" Garet sneered unkindly. "I expected anything but this."
"I know that you never completely trusted me until lately," Ivan continued speaking as he closed his eyes. "Even recently, I can tell you were still unsure about me. After all, I am the boy that can read minds, but you cannot read mine, or my intentions. However, that time on the ship, I can sense that you have fully placed your trust into me, like the trust that you have in Isaac. Garet, for the sake of all that has passed between us, I beg you that you place your trust in me once more."
Garet sighed as he leaned his own head against the pillar. "I… feel indignant about our situation, I suppose. I guess I am just a little confused about your decision. But if you ask me to place my faith in you again, I'm afraid the answer is no."
Ivan lowered his head, blinking back tears. He had always expected this. He knew that he would always remain as the frightening boy that could read minds. The villagers in Vault always whispered nasty comments about him behind his back, about how he wasn't normal, about how he was a monster. He had grown accustomed to such comments, but this blatant confession from Garet tore at his heart. This time it hurt.
"The answer is no because I have never lost faith in you."
Ivan snapped his head up, shocked.
"Ivan, I never stopped trusting you. I never stopped believing that you were doing the best that you could. The reason for that is because you are my friend, now, Ivan, and I know that you will never betray me. So even if I end up dead, I died without any regrets of trusting you."
"Thank you, Garet," Ivan said with a small smile as he watched several drops of water dampen the dirt by his feet, glistening drops that beaconed like lights of hope.
* * *
Isaac and Mia trudged side by side, silently, towards the general direction from which Isaac had seen the red lights of Garet's Psynergy. The incident from before was still playing in their minds, but neither were willing to talk about it. Neither of them could strike up the courage to say anything to each other; each of them was too preoccupied by private thoughts and fears. They settled for saying nothing, and an awkward silence lingered between the two. They remained this way as they left the forest, walked along the shore, and finally neared their ship, separated by only the seawater that was between them and the ships.
Isaac frowned, but "Hmm…" was the only comment he was willing to make.
"The ship looks awfully quiet from here," Mia said, voicing Isaac's concern.
"Garet and Ivan should be up there," Isaac said doubtfully.
"Only one way to find out," and with saying that, Mia walked out into the sea.
Isaac watched bewildered as Mia continued to push her way further out into sea. When far out enough, she dived into the water and started to swim easily towards the ship. Catching onto Mia's meaning, Isaac quickly hurried after her. However, he was unable to swim as quickly and as smoothly as Mia did, and his exhaustion, both mental and physical, was taking its toll on him. When he finally approached the ship, slightly out of breath, he found Mia waiting for him.
"Is there something wrong?" Isaac wheezed out.
"Do you have some rope?" Mia asked. "If you do not, we will have to think of a way to board the ship."
"I don't have any. Someone aboard will have to throw us a rope. Garet! Ivan! Are you up there?" Isaac shouted.
"They are not there," Mia said with a shake of the head. "I have already called for them, but they have yet to reply."
Isaac felt his heart sank, but he struggled to stay optimistic. "Perhaps they are in the cabin, trying to stay out of the rain, so they cannot hear us."
He felt Mia place her hand on his arm as she continued to tread water. He turned to see her smile gently. "I am sure they are fine. Let's think of a way to board the ship."
"Why do we not just use Frost to form a column?"
"No, Isaac," Mia said with a shake of the head. "We are in the water, and we do not know how Frost would affect us. I do not even know if we could use Frost on such a large body of water. Also, it would be difficult to climb up on a column floating on sea water."
Isaac nodded weakly, agreeing with Mia's sound logic once again, as Mia turned away to face the ship. He watched Mia as she muttered all sorts of plans to board the ship, seeing the hope and determination in her eyes, the same hope and determination that had strengthened his heart whenever he was feeling low. He felt confused as the wide range of feelings pounded inside his head, the memory of Mia intervening to save Alex replaying over and over.
"Isaac?" Mia called, face turning slightly red. Isaac had been staring at her for a few minutes. She had been calling his name for a while, but he seemed to have spaced out.
"Huh?" Isaac said, blinking as he cleared his mind, each blink driving the incident from before and his own feelings deeper into his mind, letting them lurk there in his subconscious until they came to plague him again in his nightmares.
"I said that I had an idea," Mia began patiently.
"What is it?"
"Watch," Mia simply replied. She moved closer towards the ship as she placed one of her dainty white-gloved hand upon the wet surface. The water surrounding her gently began to swirl around her as she closed her eyes, emitting a soft blue light. When she opened them again, she called out in a strong, clear voice, "FROST!"
Baffled, Isaac watched as the blue light around Mia focused onto hand before shooting out from each one of her fingertips and crawling into the ship's hull. The blue lights wormed their ways all over the wooden surface, crawling like insects as they rushed to the top. The trail that the lights left behind glowed dimly before it went out, leaving a trail of crystallized ice. When the lights completely faded, a sleek, smooth covering of solid ice covered the entire side of the ship.
"Mia!" Isaac exclaimed in horror. "If you cover the side of the ship entirely with ice, how do you expect us to climb aboard the ship?"
Mia gave a small smile before she closed her eyes once more. "ICE MISSILE!"
This time, the blue lights remained in the sky, twitching and morphing into sharp, deadly looking icicles. The sky was soon filled with these dangerous icy blades, and when the last light formed into ice, every one of them launched themselves toward the side of the ship with a loud thunck.
Isaac peered from behind his hands as he watched the Ice Missiles lodge themselves firmly into the solid ice war, which prevented them from skewering the ship. To his amazement, every one of the ice remained firmly in the ice war, creating the path they needed to climb aboard the ship.
"Amazing!" Isaac exclaimed as Mia beamed happily.
"What are we waiting for, then?" Mia asked as she began to pull herself out of the water. "Let us go find Garet and Ivan!"
Isaac hurried after her as he started up on another path. The two of them, using the Ice Missiles as steps, quickly clambered up the side of the ship. Each of the Missiles stayed faithfully in the wall, allowing steady climbing and sure footing. In a matter of minutes, the two soon hoisted themselves over the railing onto the ship's deck.
A shock awaited them when they came aboard. Although faint and hard to tell, Isaac and Mia instantly knew that a battle had taken place while they were gone. The Lemurian ship was magical and was not easily damaged by Psynergy. However, small burnt marks and skid marks left behind some sort of tornado could be seen across the deck. The battle must have been fierce in order to produce such results. With such a terrible battle and the disappearance of Garet and Ivan, Isaac and Mia lost whatever hope they had left in finding their friends safe and sound aboard the ship. Putting two and two together, they could picture the worst.
"Maybe they were injured and they are resting inside the cabin. They must be really tired and have fallen asleep, so they could not hear us calling," Mia breathed her last optimistic hopes.
"I doubt it," Isaac croaked as he approached the cabin door. He stood face to face with the dragon that guarded the door, his hand stretched out for the doorknob. However, his hand trembled as he hesitated before opening it.
"Isaac," Mia said softly from behind.
Isaac inhaled deeply as he closed his eyes. He thrust his hand out and felt the knob in his hands. Before he could open it, however, something stopped him.
"Isaac, if you are listening to this, it means that you must have returned back onto the ship and found out that Garet and I are missing. I do not know if this message will work, or if it is very clear, but I must warn you that we have been abducted by mysterious people. Be careful, they are strong. We fear that they might be some ty-pe of M-m-mercury…"
"Ivan, hold on, where are you guys?" Isaac shouted frantically at the knob, tugging at it, as the message cut off abruptly.
"Isaac, what is wrong?" Mia asked, concerned, holding his arm still from its attack on the poor doorknob.
"That was a message left from Ivan. They had been abducted. We have to go find them!"
"Yes, but where did you want to start?" Mia asked. "We do not know where they are. How could we find them?"
"I…I do not know!" Isaac said as he sank down to the wooden surface, burying his face into his arms. "I do not know what to do. I can't do anything!"
"Isaac, that's not true," Mia said softly as she bended down next to Isaac.
"It is true, I can't do anything! I couldn't save you from those hands and I couldn't stop your pain when you saw Alex. You did not say anything, but I knew that you were hurt. Your eyes were cold yet sad. Instead of easing your pain, I made it worse. And now, I cannot even help my best friends!"
Mia was touched to hear these words from Isaac. It was one of his truest confessions that she had ever heard from him. Usually Isaac remained silent, and when he spoke, it was rarely to say how he was feeling. If they were not in a dire situation, she wanted to fall into his arms and comfort him, holding him close to her heart. Yet, she could not think of the right thing to say to comfort him. "Isaac…"
"Get up, Isaac," a voice called from behind the two.
Isaac and Mia turned to see Alex aboard the ship.
"Alex!" Mia exclaimed as Isaac growled from behind her.
"Don't be such a pathetic fool, Isaac," Alex scoffed. "Whimpering like a dog on the floor. Really, that is quite unlike you. Where is the Isaac that would have thought of a way to rescue Garet and Ivan?"
"Do not judge when you do not understand what is going on!" Isaac shouted.
Alex chuckled to himself as he lowered his head. Such ironic words. If only Isaac had heeded those words himself. "I know what I see, and I see that you are giving up."
"I am not!" Isaac said fiercely as he stood up.
"Do not make such assumptions, Alex," Mia said. "For how do you expect him to find them if he does not know where they are?"
"By asking for help."
"From whom?" Isaac laughed. "The trees?"
"Why, Isaac, I am hurt," Alex feigned as he brought a hand to his heart. "If you have not forgotten, I know where the inhabitants of this area live. Remember? The Champans? I told you that they were a fierce group."
"Why would you want to help?" Isaac laughed. "How do we know it is not a trap?"
"Simply because I owe you," Alex said. "You spared my life, I return the favor by giving you the chance to save the lives of your two friends. It is a matter of honor."
"Honor? And what do you know of honor?" Isaac spat. "You betrayed Mia and your own clan, your own blood! What honor would you have?"
Suddenly, Alex appeared in front of Isaac and smacked him squarely across the face, shocking both Isaac and Mia.
"Alex!" Mia exclaimed.
Alex grabbed the front of Isaac's shirt. "Listen, Isaac," he hissed. "You may think that you are some golden boy, but maybe you should listen to your own words. Do not judge what you do not know what is going on. Do you think that you can see through me, Isaac? Am I a glass doll open to display? Do not think that you understand me, Isaac, for trust me, you do not know a thing about me."
With that, Alex released Isaac, pushing him away. For a split second, Isaac thought he saw pain flashing through Alex's eyes. Isaac watched silently as Alex stood by the railing, brushing his white bangs away from his blue eyes. A strange sort of sadness emanated from them, mourning of loneliness and misunderstanding. Isaac wondered if perhaps he really was too harsh when Alex turned around once more, eyes cold and empty.
"Well, Isaac, what will it be? Will you trust an 'honor-less' man like me?" Alex sneered.
"Fine, I will trust you this one time," Isaac said, closing his eyes in admittance of defeat.
"Good."
* * *
Isaac and Mia remained hidden in the outskirts of the forest as they looked out upon a small clearing. In the center was a wooden post with a crossbeam at the top, looking similar to the gallows minus the noose. A pit was underneath the wooden frame and people were throwing firewood into the hole, and it was evident that the people planned to burn their friends by slowly lowering them into the pit. It appeared to be only a little before the sun would rise, but a few people were already in the clearing. Beyond the clearing they could make out a waterfall, the hiding place of the Champans. The two Adepts were nervous because they had rushed here without a plan. Everything will have to be done on impromptu. One careless mistake, and it would be the lives of Garet and Ivan that will have to pay the price.
It was always the darkest hour before dawn.
* * *
As the sun rose, and the first rays reached the edge of the clearing, a cry erupted from the people. Before sunrise, more people had gathered in the clearing, and the anger in their voices could be detected even from where Isaac and Mia stood in the outskirts. They waited impatiently for the death of the men that had caused their men to fall.
Suddenly, booing and hissing filled the air as Isaac and Mia narrowed their eyes to see the small figures of Garet and Ivan being dragged towards the center. Their wrists appeared to be bound as the ropes tied around their necks were cruelly pulled by two men. Isaac and Mia held their breath as they watched a man loop a long rope through Garet's and Ivan's bounded wrists. The rope was then tossed over the crossbeam and caught by several men that then proceeded to heave. Garet's and Ivan's arms jerked upwards, and Ivan let out a small cry of pain. The people laughed as the men continued to pull the rope until the two were dangling a few feet off the ground. A fire was started and even Isaac and Mia could see traces of the flames leaping upwards. The men then proceeded to lower the rope slowly.
"They are planning to cook Garet and Ivan," Mia gasped, horrified.
"Sheesh, what a complicated and slow process just to kill people," Isaac muttered.
"Isaac!" Mia hissed.
"Not that I would prefer them to kill Garet and Ivan in a faster way," Isaac continued hastily.
"Stop being so morbid," Mia scolded. "We have to do something!"
Then, to Mia's horror, Isaac charged out of their hiding place. Mia, shocked and unsure of what to do, followed.
"Intruders!" one of the people shouted. All eyes diverted from Ivan as they turned to stare at Isaac and Mia.
"This was your plan?" Mia hissed.
"Well, I did something!" Isaac muttered back, realizing why he had always thought things through before he took action.
"They are companions to the enemies!" a man cried out. "They are trying to save them! Kill all of them!"
"What!?" Garet exclaimed.
"NO!" Isaac cried as he saw the men loosen their grips on the rope.
"Garet! Ivan!" Mia screamed.
Isaac and Mia watched in horror as the two Adepts started to plunge toward the fiery pit.
"Garet! Ivan!" Isaac shouted.
"Release GUST!" Ivan shouted.
To the amazement of everyone but Ivan, a purple furry creature popped up onto Ivan's head. A great purple light was released from the creature as mighty wind gusts appeared, catching the two Adepts on its windy current and pushing them away from the pit. Unfortunately, the plan did not go smoothly as Ivan and Garet crashed into the ground.
"Ow, that was not fun," Garet moaned, rubbing his sore wrists.
Isaac and Mia had rushed to the two Adepts as soon as they saw Gust and figured out Ivan's idea. Mia immediately took on the role as a motherly figure as she turned the two Adepts around and around as she looked for serious wounds and injuries, chiding herself for not making sure that they were all stocked up with replenishing items.
"Mia," Isaac coughed, as Mia continued to preen over the two Adepts. "While I am sure that Garet and Ivan appreciate the check-up, I am afraid that we have a bigger issue on hand."
Mia looked up to see the crowd of angry people surrounding them.
"Do we have to fight them all?" Garet groaned.
"Even if you were in the best condition, which you are not, I do not think we can outlast them just by their sheer number," Isaac said, biting his lip.
"Now what?" Ivan asked.
"Anyone? A plan?" Isaac asked helplessly.
"Attack the intruders!" one of the people called.
"Praying sounds like a good idea," Garet suggested.
"This is no time to joke!" Mia said furiously.
"Well, if this is the way things are, we will just have to put up the best fight," Isaac said.
Before the Adepts could draw their weapons, however, a voice called out.
"Hold it!"
~To be continued in Chapter 4-CHAMPA