Disclaimer- I don't own Golden Sun.
Sorry for the late update. Hopefully, my new Sony VIO will ensure more consistent updates in the future.
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The Might of Mars
The snow pounded relentlessly against the Lemurian ship, keeping the adepts beneath the deck for the remainder of the night. Nothing but soft sighs of sleep could be heard from the resting adepts, their minds completely at ease in the maelstrom surrounding them. Not a one expected that one Mercury adept would sneak onto the ship.
"Humph," Alex uttered to himself, being sure to keep his voice low even with the pounding winds. He advanced slowly below deck, remarking to himself about the absence of guards. "Those fools didn't even set a watch."
He slinked through the corridors quietly, coming upon a single door and stopping. "This must be Isaac's room," he muttered and reached for the handle, carefully opening the door slightly and peaking through the crack. Inside, he could see Isaac sleeping soundly in his bed with a certain other Mercury adepts snuggled against him under the heavy blankets. Silently, he reached inside, pulling Isaac's bag from the conveniently located table.
Cautiously as to not wake the pair, he closed the door and started rummaging through the bag, looking through its many pockets, searching for something. A look of success quickly crossed Alex's face when he produced a small red orb, glowing with the power of Mars. 'I have it!' Alex stifled his urge to cry out as he grinned smugly. Sapphire light surrounded him as his psynergy charged up, the powers of teleportation whisking him away from the archaic ship in an instant.
---
"We will head in to town soon," Felix started his warning, the only one really familiar with the area, "so be sure to remain inconspicuous."
"We know already," Garet sighed loudly, feigning boredom. "The world will be devoured by the time you get done with your warnings."
"Let's go," Felix turned and started down to wooden plank, listening it creak under his pack's added weight. The adepts left out on this light note, all eight walking down onto the solid snow beneath them. They gave their ship a final farewell before they started their trek northward.
---
The snow-strewn paths of Prox were completely silent as the adepts entered the tiny village. There was no sound of children playing or of gamely laughter, only the haunting quiet of a ghost town. All of the wooden houses were covered in a heavy layer of snow, the only pieces showing the doors.
"Cheery place," Ivan's teeth chattered, his voice unheard through the wind, marching through the knee-deep snow towards the first of the houses, intent on finally ending his quest.
"Where do we head first?" Isaac's thoughts were aligned with Ivan's as he asked Felix, wondering where to go.
"Follow me," Felix ordered, leading the party up past the foremost buildings to the back of the town.
---
A small group of heavily cloaked figures stood at the town's exit when they arrived, the warmth of many torches lighting the path as the adepts approached. A single man stood out from his coat, ignoring the cold long enough for him to watch the north sky. His face held the same dark color as the rest of the Proxians as he watched unceasingly.
"Puelle, old friend," Felix called, catching the man's attention as he ran up to the Proxian and shook his hand heartily. "How have you been?"
"Horrible," Puelle answered politely in a deep voice, shaking the listening adepts. "Karst and Agatio have yet to return from the Lighthouse, and it still is not lit. I fear for the destruction of Weyward if it is not lit soon.
"Why would they head up the lighthouse without the corresponding Elemental Star?" Ivan asked aloud from the group, raising a good question.
"They had the Mars Star with them," Puelle explained, "They reported that the other three lighthouses were lit with little trouble."
"That's impossible," Isaac thought aloud, already digging through his bag, searching for the red orb. Slowly, the realization dawned upon him as he search turned up nothing. "Felix, did you take the Mars Star with you?"
"No, Isaac," Felix shook his head, already guessing what had happened. Though the identity of the culprit was unknown, he already knew that it had been stolen.
"Isaac?" Puelle repeated the earth adept's name, turning towards him questioningly. "The same Isaac who defeated Saturos and Menardi."
Isaac cringed at these words, apologetically stuttering as he tried to covey the circumstances. Puelle did not move to kill him however, his face remaining impassive as he turned from the group. "Head up to the lighthouse if you want, maybe you will be able to succeed where our best has failed."
"Thank you, Puelle," Felix walked out of the town last, thanking his friend before following his companions out into the cold.
---
The daunting tower that was the Mars Lighthouse rose up into the sky, poking into the domain of the gods arrogantly. The adepts looked at the ornate dragon designs surrounding them, their eyes catching each mural and examining its detail. Small bursts of invisible energy pulsated from the lighthouse as the adepts approached, the energy of fire seeping through the very cracks beneath the adepts feet as if it was anticipating its own lighting.
"Wow," Garet and Jenna exclaimed as they reached the main entrance, the Mars energy ripping through their bodies, empowering them instantly. This power had a completely different effect as the other adepts entered however; Felix and Isaac felt a slight vibration of power before it faded while Ivan and Sheba were unaffected. Piers and Mia slumped downward the instant they entered, both shrinking to the ground under the heavy weight of the Mars energy.
"Mia!" Isaac reached her quickly, pulling her up into his arms and focusing his energy into a cure well. Slowly, she came around, her sapphire eyes gazing softly into Isaac's. "Are you alright?"
"I feel weak," Mia groaned as Isaac helped her sit up against him, waiting for the spell to pass. "This lighthouse's energy is more imposing than the others."
"Perhaps that's why we went here last," Felix observed from where he was healing Piers, focusing his own Venus power into curing him. "The imbalance of elements might make the Lighthouse more powerful."
Time passed by slowly as the two Mercury adepts recovered their strength, adjusting to the unrelenting power around them. Eventually, they were strong enough to walk with help, and the party continued up the lighthouse, Garet, Jenna, Sheba and Ivan leading while Isaac, Mia, Felix and Piers followed slowly behind, the Venus adepts helping their friends along the way.
---
"Amazing," Garet exclaimed as he looked up to the two colossal orange dragons, frozen in a giant block of ice. He reached out carefully, trying to touch them when his hand was suddenly snapped away.
"Don't mess with them until the others catch up," she warned, shaking her fist at him.
"But Sheba and Ivan are touching it," Garet complained, pointing at the pair. "Nothing happened when they messed with it."
"You break everything you touch, though," Jenna sealed the argument and started walking off, unaware that Garet's attention instantly refocused of the ice the minute she left.
"I'm going to find the others," Jenna started heading towards the entrance to the gray room, unaware that Garet had just found a switch. A giant steel gate crashed down the instant she reached the door, sealing the room shut before she could exit. "What did you do Garet!" the room reverberated with Jenna's scream of rage, the person in question recoiling in fear, backing up against the ice.
"I accidentally pushed a switch," Garet pointed to the looking to Ivan and Sheba for support, just to see them cheering Jenna on. "I didn't mean to!"
"Didn't mean too..." Jenna advanced slowly, growling as she seemingly towered above Garet, glaring down upon him from a low vantage point. Suddenly, her staff imbedded itself in the ice beside Garet's head, creating a rift several inches wide and deep into the ice.
"Ivan," Sheba whispered softly as the ice cracked further, splintering all the way to the top of the titanic block. A loud crash echoed throughout the lighthouse, followed by two mighty serpentine roars.
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Reviewer's Responses-
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libby- Thanks for the review.
The 8BTFreek- Felix is probably feeling a mixture of all those emotions, but I wouldn't know I'm the author, not the character. I definitely would regret making Karst mad, that is if I lived long enough to regret it.
Q: Why isn't your C2 displayed in the GS area? I checked and it didn't show up.
Thanks for the review.
Princess Viv- Wow, you gave me three reviews and lots of questions for them. I'll try to answer them as best I can.
1. To clear up on Isaac's dismemberment, you might want to check out my original fiction, Alchemy's Elements (in my bio). This also answers any relationship questions. This chapter isn't technically a beginning; it's more along the lines of a continuation.
2. This was written after both games came out. I wanted to do a continuation that still followed the original group through their journeys.
Thanks for the compliments, adding my story to your C2 community, and the three reviews.
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Seeya later.