Reviews:
Cerise- To answer your question about Picard and Conservato, I say simply this. Politicians talk. And in Conservato's case, he was just trying to intimidate Picard by trying to throw around his power. Hydros of course would of never let Conservato banish Picard. Spoils of a king! Thanks for reviewing.
Master of Reality- Yeah, that scene was pretty fun for me to write. At first I was a little uneasy about writing a scene like this with an an eighteen year old boy making out with a fourteen year old girl, but then I realized stuff like this wasn't as shunned upon in medieval times. Which Golden Sun basically is, so I kept it. As usual, thanks a ton for readin' and reviewin', and you're doing an excellent job with the novelisation!
Gilly-Glad you like it! So here's some more.
Disclaimer: I think I've said this quite enough, so I assume I'm safe from the lawyers....for now.
Chapter X
- An Audience with the King -
The waves rolled gently against the hull of the Lemuria-bound vessel as the beam from Babi Lighthouse shone brightly through to the land beyond the mists. Two ships followed the luminance, one in silent pursuit of the other, the pursued ship in question completely unaware.
"Make it obvious Briggs," a voice whispered with a crisp and placid tone. "Make sure you don't sink the ship, but make the signs of attack obvious."
"Do you want us to leave the bodies on board?" the pirate asked with a grin.
The man instead returned him a menacing frown. "If you had heeded my last words you wouldn't of asked that question."
"I'm sorry sir," Briggs apologized. "But I promise you that by the time my men get through with that ship, it will be so stripped and damaged that anyone who passes by will have no choice but to shudder."
"You fool!" the man said suddenly raising his voice in frustration. "If you plunder the ship it will look like the work of common pirates! You will leave the valuables intact, battle damage only!"
The two stared at each other and after Briggs nodded his head in submission, the man disappeared out of sight.
"You're growing soft," a lean boy of fifteen remarked to the pirate king.
"Bah, he has us by the throat," Briggs replied in disgust. "But, we will do everything he wishes until he gives us those cannons, and after we have them, no one ever again will tell a Champa what to do. Are you ready, son?"
"I'm more than ready," the boy answered while looking at the strange light glowing a couple leagues south of Babi Lighthouse. "I don't know what it is about this place, maybe something in the air, but for some reason I feel stronger here."
"Don't let your confidence in being the predator of a defenseless prey interfere," Briggs urged to his son. "Just use your two attacks and destroy the rows."
"Got it."
"Full sail and all hands to the row deck!" Briggs shouted as the boy ran to the front of the ship. Eoleo began to clear his mind so that his psynergy could flow freely and unhindered by the weights of his other thoughts. A commotion could be heard brewing across the water for apparently the other ship had been alarmed by his father's shouts. Just as planned, the ship that was currently being led by an eastern wind, immediately sent some rowers to help put some distance between them and their pursuers. Little did they know, however, was that this move would seal their fate. If only they knew that no matter how hard they tried, they could never outrun a Champa flagship. Maybe if they knew, they could of focused on defending the ship instead of scattering the men in a hopeless effort for agility. No matter what they could of done, tactics couldn't save them now. They were all going to be killed.
The rows of the fleeing ship moved frantically in unison. Eoleo quickly memorized the timing of when the oars entered and resurfaced from the water. His psynergy only allowed him to make two spires before he would become completely fatigued, so, he waited patiently for the opportune time to make his assault.
With a splash, the oars crashed against the ocean as the wood submerged heavily beneath the surface. Gasping for air, they quickly reappeared from their watery encasement only to have their breath swiftly taken away by the sudden impact of an earthen spire colliding violently against them. One by one, the oars snapped as the rock plowed unmercifully through them. The port oars completely reduced to shreds, the second spire made quick work of the starboard side.
Eoleo watched in satisfaction as a drop of anxious sweat trailed down his brow. With his palms still extended toward his target, a tingle vibrated at his fingertips.
That's odd, he thought to himself. He usually only felt that tingle when he was about to use psynergy. Never had he felt it directly after, fully exhausted. He had exhausted himself, hadn't he? His body was telling him no, for usually when he had launched both the spires, his legs would almost always buckle beneath him in weakness; yet this time, he was standing steadily without an ounce of fatigue. A smile erupted on Eoleo's lips as he looked excitedly upon his hands. With a malicious smile, he slowly looked up at the damaged ship before him. The sail still provided his prey considerable speed, of course not enough to escape his father, but still enough to make this hunt longer then it needed to be. With his eyes locked on the mast, he thrusted his palms forward once again. To his surprise, two additional spires much larger than the previous ones materialized from his hands, both throbbing and brimming with a psynergetic glow. Eyes wide open in delight, Eoleo launched the spires powerfully at the mast, and with a loud snap, the sail plummeted destructively to the deck below.
Briggs and his men boarded the now inanimate vessel. The crew resisted, but a group of common sailors and a diplomat were no match for a battle-hardened mob of pirates.
Eoleo's blissful smile slowly faded as the screams of the crew members echoed over the water. He had learned to ignore these screams over the coarse of an entire lifetime looting with his father, but never had he felt such remorse, and such resounding shame. It was because of him that the crew had no chance to survive and no chance to even fight. But that was the way of the pirate, he said in his head over and over again. To gain whatever dirty advantage you could possibly take.
It just seemed, however, that he was becoming that sole dirty advantage more and more. The same filth that continued to defile a world trying so hard to be pure. The fact that he was beginning to enjoy it sickened him even more. To make matters even more depressing, he didn't even feel tired from his amazing new feat of psynergy. It seemed that his body, or his mind rather, was starting to get used to playing a part in ending people's lives. And he was getting stronger while doing it.
"There must be something in the air," he muttered as he sadly walked to his cabin, the strange light beside Babi Lighthouse shining magnificently on the horizon behind him.
------------------------------------
Never again, Felix vowed to himself as struggled to maintain his balance on the soft grass beneath him. His head was throbbing madly as he pictured all the pieces of his brain organizing incorrectly into oblivion. Looking to the others, he noticed similar expressions of discomfort, most notably Adrian who looked like he was about to hurl.
"You alright there?" Felix asked the disorientated boy.
Adrian nodded as a rumbling sound came from his stomach suggesting otherwise.
Picard looked to the boy with a smirk. "Big lunch by any chance? Sometimes the reformation process has a little difficulty reforming foreign objects in your body. So with a full stomach, the food tends to pop up all over the digestive tract, from all places of the digestive tract."
In addition to the graphic illustration Picard has just mentioned, along with his stomach churning
from who knows what being inserted there, Adrian found no difficulty in letting loose. Felix backed away from the boy as things that never should of came out of a person's mouth dropped to the ground.
"That's really disgusting," Felix said to Picard. "You could of said something before we teleported you know. We could of bought him a doggy bag before we left town."
"Speaking of leaving town," Isaac interrupted as he put a consoling hand on his son's shoulder, "I really don't know why we came here. I guess we have a lot of catching up to do."
"Indeed."
As the party walked slowly through the grassy fields surrounding the main city of Lemuria, Isaac spent the entire stroll explaining their motivations for journeying to Picard's homeland. He told the Lemurian about Sheba's prediction about the newborn adept effect, his travels to Suhalla confirming her prediction, their prospect travels to Imil and Contigo to consult Mia and Ivan about the phenomenon, their detour to Lemuria in hopes of Picard mastering teleportation, and finally their bringing along Adrian to see the healers there.
"And you say every single child in Suhalla under six years of age, is a Venus adept?" Picard asked amazed.
"Yep," Isaac replied in a comparatively dryer tone. "The same effect happened for the youth of Lalivero a year earlier. Every child under seven now is an adept as well."
"How could this be happening?"
"We figure it has something to do with the lighthouse," Jenna answered. "The psynergetic light emitting from the aerie must be in some way manifesting its energy into the people within its sphere of influence, causing all newborn children to be elementally gifted."
"And the sphere of influence seems to be growing rapidly," Felix added. "We left New Vale to discover whether or not the same effect is happening in Contigo and Imil."
Picard turned his head to him as a stroke of realization popped up in his mind. "I believe I have the knowledge you seek in Imil."
"Can you see into the future as well?" Sheba asked him with a sarcastic smirk.
"I'm afraid not, but I did visit Mia not to long ago."
"And?" Isaac inquired insistently.
"I remember distinctly that she told me that the save few newborn children in her village all possessed Mercury abilities. Because so few children are ever born in that town, she thought it nothing more than a coincidence, as did I."
"One down, one more to go then," Isaac remarked as he turned to his wife who also looked relieved as well.
"Yes," Felix said sharing similar relief. "All that's left is Contigo, and I know Picard has been there before, so, we can teleport. We will be finishing this quest in record time."
"Hopefully, but we probably should of just headed to Contigo directly from Tolbi," Isaac told the party. "We do have our good teleporting friend now, so we probably could of hit Lemuria after all the investigating was done. Now that I think about it, we probably should just head to Contigo right now."
"The Healers will need much time in examining your son," Picard countered. "We will ultimately save time if we drop him off at the Sanctum while we investigate Contigo in the meanwhile."
Isaac and Jenna looked at each other nervously, but both nodded their heads in eventual agreement. Adrian would be safe here. There was no need to worry.
"Is that alright with you?" Jenna asked her son who was already looking disappointed.
"I guess," he replied sullenly. "I kind of wanted to see Naomi, but I won't mind only if Picard can take me to Contigo at least once before we head back home."
The couple turned to Picard who was smiling at the boy. "You drive a hard bargain, young sir, one of which I have no choice but to concede to."
"Fine by us," Isaac consented as the party approached the first signs of a road leading into the mystical city of Lemuria. The scene before them was much the same to their previous recollections of their last visit. Isaac had visited Lemuria shortly after the lighting of the four beacons, as he never had a chance to see the city in his quest with Mia, Garet, and Ivan. The buildings all retained their ethereal design and structure, stone and marble walls lined with the occasional colorful tapestry. As the adepts walked the main streets, they took notice of a few shops that did not exist before. Stands adorned with exotic pottery, plants, and jewelry instantly caught their curiosity.
"Those don't look Lemurian-crafted," Felix said pointing to some crude pottery decorated lavishly with many colors and designs.
"They aren't," Picard replied quickly. "They came straight from the Apojii Islands. Of recent years we've had quite a few merchant ships try to make their way to our city. Babi Lighthouse helped them hold their course through the currents and mists, but seldom few ships were able to navigate the Sea of Time. The products you see here are the results of the effort and bravery exhibited by those merchants who did make it here."
"Are there any merchants here now? Jenna asked as she looked longingly on a pair of emerald earrings.
Before Picard could answer, a group of Lemurians passed the party all directing glances of pure disgust toward them. Whispering among themselves, they walked away raising their hands in the air right when they were out of earshot of the adepts.
"All the merchants were asked to leave for the festival tonight," Picard answered ignoring the rudeness of his people. "It is a sacred tradition that no one besides those native of this land should attend. This is why those Lemurians weren't to thrilled about your arrival."
"What's so great about this festival that no one besides you guys can participate?" Felix inquired.
"The Festival of the Heavens is much more than a recreational event your kin are used to outside Lemuria. But instead, this festival marks a great cultural anniversary where our history is recounted and looked fondly upon. None but ourselves are permitted to hear it, for the knowledge belongs to us and us alone."
"So does that mean we are intruding then?" Jenna asked semi-occupied with examining the jewelry in the palm of her hand.
"Of course not," Picard replied. "You are all much more then merchant outsiders."
"Yet that is ultimately for King Hydros to decide."
The adepts all turned around to the new feminine voice sounding behind them. A young woman, whose blue silky hair fell down well past her shoulders stood before them wearing an expression of the utmost professional manner. Her composure seemed almost regal, as she stood erect and yet seemingly relaxed. She was about Jenna's size, her figure even sharing the slender, yet not fragile build Jenna had. The eyes were what struck the party most, for they boasted the shining Lemurian blue that complimented her hair while being highlighted by her pale face. Upon her body she wore the typical white gown found commonly on the women of the city, and on her arms and neck various exotic jewelry adorned her.
"And you are...?" Isaac asked confusedly.
"A messenger," the woman replied with a low and mature voice . "A messenger who brings the tidings of a king. You are to be summoned in the palace throne room immediately."
And with that, the woman began to walk away.
"Bree, wait!" Picard shouted to her. Bree turned around and looked at the Lemurian with an odd smile. Picard then approached the woman and leaned in to whisper something in her ear. With a nod, Bree again turned and went about her way.
"Okay," Felix said casually. "We just got here didn't we?"
"So how were we already noticed enough to be summoned by the king!" Jenna said finishing her brother's thought.
"Questions, questions, all these questions," Picard remarked jokingly. "As with all things, they will come to pass. The answers will come all in due time. But in the mean while, I will take Adrian to the Healers for it is you adepts of whom the King wishes to speak with."
"I'll go with you," Sheba said quickly walking to stand by Picard.
"Don't you want to hear what he has to say?" Felix asked looking at Sheba intently.
Sheba shook her head slowly. "I already know what he wants to say. Please don't ask."
Felix looked at her with eyes full of wonder and confusion. She had changed so much that he could barely put a finger on who she had become now.
"Alright then," Felix whispered. "Isaac, you ready?"
"Yes sir. Let's go see what King Hydros wants."
As the party walked through the city to the palace entrance, the structure was glowing more fantastically then ever. The stone composing the walls seemingly glittered as if pure silver, the banners of these walls flowing downward in a crimson cloak of majesty. Approaching the front doors, two Lemurian guards wielding large axes receded their weapons to allow the adepts to pass. Felix having more experience in the palace then his sister and Isaac, led the way across the decorative halls leading into the throne room. The doors were already open when they got there, so when the three were close enough to the entrance way, they immediately caught a glimpse of their summoner. The old King was conversing with a young woman and as the adepts drew closer they noticed that she was none other than Bree the messenger who had called for them in the first place. Both Lemurians hearing the footsteps of visitors, Bree retreated into a hallway while the King stood slowly to full height.
"Greetings adepts of Weyard," Hydros exclaimed almost dismally. "I prayed that I would never of had to seen any of you again. But, life is very long and I could never have hoped to outlive the conflict of this age. From your encounter with Poseidon I fear it has begun."
"Please excuse my bluntness, but we hardly consider a skirmish with an old enemy the conflict of the age," Felix said defiantly.
The King gave a slight smile that ceased as quickly as it had appeared. He then began to pace the room pensively.
"What do you know about the man known as Alex?" he finally asked the adepts catching all of them completely off guard.
"Almost nothing," Isaac replied not expecting such a question. "The only information or knowledge about his intent in our quest thirteen years ago was revealed by the Wise One atop Mars lighthouse. He wanted the golden sun."
This time the King's grin was unmistakable and did not fade right away.
"It amuses me to hear that misconception still being circulated among those who it direly concerns. A proper education is of great need here, but first, I will test your folly with what it true. Now please, tell me what Alex wanted with your...golden sun."
"Infinite power, everlasting life, you know, same old same old," Jenna answered casually.
"And did he get it?"
The adepts looked at each other. They had all assumed he had.
"It is safest to assume he did," Felix answered.
"Safest? How so?"
"We can only expect the worst from him, so by expecting the worst of circumstances, we can never be fully caught of guard."
Hydros fell silent and walked heavily toward his throne to sit down. His eyes that held so much authority all in an instant shifted into two fading stars that had long since been weary of all that they had seen.
"You could not begin to fathom the worst of circumstances," Hydros sighed. "But at the same time, do not be so quick to judge a man."
"Maybe you were not told," Isaac said, "but a year ago when we had dared to believe Alex was dead, or at least gone, Felix found himself at sword point by the fiend himself right in front of his own cabin."
"If me and Isaac hadn't planned on visiting him that night," Jenna added, "there would have been now way Felix could have fought him off."
King Hydros raised an eyebrow. "You fought him off?" You fought the beholder of the golden sun off, you say?"
Isaac was slowly but surely starting to get annoyed with Hydros 's mocking of their "folly".
"I do not know the exact power given by the golden sun, but I assume Alex does. All I know is that once Jenna, Felix and I had the upper hand in battle, he fled. Because of this, it is only logical that despite Alex's immortality, he is not invincible regardless of the power he gained at Mt. Aleph."
"You mean to say that in all of Alex's infinite power you still managed to repulse him?"
In spite of the fact that Hydros was being annoyingly persistent with proving his point, the adepts were beginning to wonder themselves how they were able to repel Alex if he had truly attained the power fear professed him to have.
"The facts are simply this," Hydros sighed. "Alex wants something but it's not any of your lives he's primarily after. He would have not put Felix at sword point unless he wanted the upper hand in bargaining. And unless you find out what he wants to bargain for, your efforts against him are misguided at best, and if victory were to come, it would gain us all nothing."
How could Hydros be so sure that Alex's main intent is something other than pure malice, Isaac thought to himself? However, it did make sense that they needed to find out what Alex was seeking. For one, it would be easier to track Alex down if they knew what he wanted, and second if they did find him and still managed to kill him without knowing his intentions, a great danger could be at large with no one knowing but a dead man.
"How can we find out what he wants?" Isaac finally asked.
"As I said before, an education is order here."
"Well," Felix said impatiently, "let's hear it." When it finally seemed that they were going to get some answers, the doors to the throne room burst open. A fat and elaborately robed man entered walking briskly toward King Hydros.
"Your Highness," the man squealed almost in indignation. "The Senate will be meeting in mere moments and you must attend, as planned."
"Peace Conservato," Hydros said raising a hand. "I was just heading out."
"What?" Jenna exclaimed in surprise. "But you were just getting to the part where you were going to let us know what is going on!"
"Ah yes, I was wasn't I."
"Your Excellency!" Conservato screamed again. "This is an issue of the defense of the entire State! We must go now!"
The adepts gave the King a quizzical look and then to Conservato who seemed intent on not looking at them.
"Unfortunately my friends," Hydros said standing up from his throne," this is a matter that will require my presence in order for the proceedings to run smoothly."
Conservato gave a very satisfying and distinct grunt.
"But, the good news is that you will hear everything you need to know if you choose to attend the festival this evening,"
"That's preposterous!" the fat man said angrily while his face scrunched up to form several wrinkles. "Visitors are not allowed to attend the Festival of the Heavens! Even you can not deny that this rule plays part into some of our most sacred traditions that were practiced for very good reasons."
"Times have changed, Conservato and now we have an even better reason to allow them to attend. It is by their knowledge and awareness alone that can bring triumph to the third age. The least we can do is offer our wisdom to guide their endeavors."
"The third age?" Felix questioned incredulously.
"I am needed in the Senate," Hydros said ignoring Felix's question. "But I expect to see all of you at dusk for the opening ceremony. Please take no heed with my roundabout explanations in our few moments together, for all will be clear before the sun' s first light tomorrow morning. Excuse me, I take my leave."
And with that the King and Conservato walked out of the throne room already talking furiously over what they were about to discuss in the Senate.
"I guess that's that," Isaac said giving Felix a mutual glance of annoyance. "Looks like we might as well burn sometime in Contigo before tonight."
"Right," Felix agreed. "Let's go find Picard."