Disclaimers: I do not own Golden Sun. I do not own starbursts. I don not own skittles.
Author's note: Erk. Spelled Hammet's name wrong in the last chapter. (Kudos to Kd7sov for caching that. I can't spell for my life…) However, Hama seems to be spelled with one OR two m's… so I'm just leaving it as is 00;;. Names with m's in them do NOT like me…
I don't think we'll be seeing a lot of Alanna for a few chapters. She'll be too busy sleeping off the blood loss, and the fact that she totally abused her body past its breaking point. (Which is my sneaky way of keeping her in Kalay until Isaac, Felix, and company get there Mwahahaha.)
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand… REVIEWER RESPONSES!
Raseyu Dragon: When I make multiple chapters, I make them each as a separate word document file. You add them onto by first going to the 'document manager' and uploading the new chapter, and then going to the 'chapter manager' link on your login screen. (I THINK that's what you were asking about… was I any help?)
And muses… hmm, what exactly DO muses do, anyway? Hmm… (Starts thinking) Anyway, I'll be sure to read your story as soon as I'm done with this…
Kd7sov: Hmm… When I made this up, I sort of thought of the Light magic being like a primary element. Phoenix Clan secondary elements are Fire and Earth (since these are the only types of Adept that Vale seems to produce), while Dragon Clan secondary elements are Wind and Water. However, it is possible to have a different element, although it is very rare. (In Alanna's family, she's a Wind Adept, Laurel's a Water Adept, Heather is an Earth Adept, and Rosemary is a Fire Adept.) Does that clear things up for you?
GSGBARPG-girl, sam, Flora Jupiter Vixen, Spirit Seer, Shiny Milotic, Corycian Muse, and anyone else I might have missed: YAAY! I'm glad you like my story! (does a happy dance chanting "Seventeen Reviews! Seventeen reviews!) I'm so happy everyone seems to think Alanna's realistic. I've been nurturing this story for several YEARS now, so I'm glad everyone likes her!
By the way… any opinions on what color Sheba's eyes really are? I know the look sorta lavender in the game, but they're green in all the pictures of her in my guidebook for Lost Age. So now I'm confused. Opinions? Preferences? I need feedback here…
Chapter 3: New Quests
"Unh…" Sheba groaned, sitting up groggily. She felt leaden, weak, dizzy… and hadn't she been moving beams with her Psynergy? What was she doing in a bed? Unless… "Not another one…"
"You're awake?" Mia asked, relieved. "That's good, and I have some great news. We figured out what's wrong with you!"
"What?" Sheba asked. "Does Felix…"
"He, Isaac, and Garet talked with the Wise One. The Wise one told them that you can use some different Psynergy, he called it light and dark magic. We decided that it probably had something to do with Alchemy, since your problem didn't start until after the lighthouses were lit…" Mia babbled, clearly excited that they had found the root of the illness and could now cure it.
"Wait, wait… you lost me at the light and dark magic bit. Could you slow down and explain a little better?" Sheba pleaded. Mia blushed and went back to the beginning.
After about a half an hour, when Sheba could think of no more questions to ask, the room fell silent. Sheba felt… well, happy. Though she was a bit ashamed to admit it, she was actually looking forward to getting out of New Vale. Felix's parents hadn't been thrilled over their relationship, and were still having trouble accepting what they had done by lighting the lighthouses. In fact, many in Vale were still dubious that the eight travelers had done the right thing by releasing the power of Alchemy.
They'd never been to Prox. They'd never seen that black rift near the Mars Lighthouse. They hadn't felt the ominous energy pouring out of it, waiting to swallow the entire world. (Come to think of it, hadn't only she and Ivan been sensitive to that? Maybe it was a Wind Adept thing…)
They'd never been to Gaia Falls. They'd never looked out over the edge of the world and seen the endless sea of clouds that would have been their fate.
She was looking forward to getting away from the suffocating doubt that was pouring out of the small minds around her. And, she would be with Felix and all her closest friends. So even if their new quest failed, even if she died, it would not be alone in a sea of antagonistic thoughts, but surrounded by the friends that she held nearest and dearest.
Plus, there's always the off chance that I might FINALLY get some answers about my past! She thought. She had been very disappointed when she had found no clues to her identity whatsoever in the Jupiter lighthouse. Even now, she still burned with the desire to finally know where she really came from, and who her parents really were. Perhaps she was really a member of this Dragon Clan…
"So. We leave at sunrise," Sheba said, looking out the window of the newly completed inn. The sky was already brightening in the East.
"Yes. You know, I feel oddly… giddy," Mia said. "I am truly looking forward to traveling again."
"So am I, Mia."
The two girls exchanged a grin before they dove across the room to go through their old things and find what they needed for this new adventure.
"That's not good enough, Raven!" Heather hissed into the receiver of the phone as she dumped yet another spoonful of sugar into the mix of soda, cherry flavored starbursts, and other sweets that her younger sisters had dubbed "Black Magic". None of them could stand coffee, which had led them to brew some rather… interesting substitutes, some of which tasted better than others. Heather took a sip and almost gagged at the overwhelming sweetness of the cherry-grape flavored solution, but the sugar concentration alone might be able to keep her awake for another six hours… "You do realize that we're going on forty eight hours since the Master disappeared? I want results, not excuses. Do not bother me unless you have something worthwhile to report," she snapped, slamming down the phone just shy of the amount of force required to do damage to it. Heather knew this from experience. She had broken many less durable pieces of technology like this before. The toaster. The microwave. The television…
"Laurel! Get your butt down here!" Heather shouted, forcing more Black Magic down her throat.
Thump thump thump…
"Any news?" Laurel gasped as she skidded into the kitchen, decked out in full battle armor, including her shortswords and her bow.
"No. Which is why I want you to go to New York and contact our father's brother, Marlo. I think it's time we started investigating from a non-Clan perspective. Get out of that armor and take your cell phone, and leave the phone on this time, Laurel. I need to be able to contact you in case we DO find Alanna."
"…my bow?"
"No, you cannot take it! Besides, if you run into anything more threatening than some street thugs, you know you can summon it. On second thought… leave your dragonmail on under whatever you do decide to wear for street clothes." Dragonhide was bulletproof.
"Mother would not approve of you using Dad's old Mafia connections," Laurel commented. The teen seemed amused.
"Well, Mother's dead, isn't she?" Heather snapped, annoyed. She glared at Laurel. "And she has been for four years now. We just do our best without her."
"Hey, I wasn't complaining or anything!" Laurel said, holding her hands up in mock surrender. "I'll go up and change and get leaving already! And… wait, that's Black Magic in the coffee pot! Gimmie some!" Heather growled and relinquished the pot.
"Just make sure Rose doesn't drink any. You know how prone she is to getting sugarhigh, and she has school today…"
"Luna's saving grace, that's the last thing we need right now," Laurel groaned, pouring herself a full-sized glass of the vile concoction. Heather shot her a disapproving glance, which Laurel studiously ignored. Well fine, it was her heart she was risking. 'Why don't you let her drop out the way Alanna and I did?" Laurel asked before chugging the thing down like a guy. Before getting an answer to her question (And still ignoring the Glare of Disapproval that was boring into her back) she tossed the plastic glass into the sink and dashed off to her bedroom.
Heather glanced at the microwave clock. 6:51 am. She had work in an hour, on top of everything else.
"How do I manage?" Laurel wondered with a chuckle, turning back to the pile of computer paper and old books that were strewn around her laptop. Alanna would turn up. She always did…
A pair of black eyes opened slowly. Every breath stung a little, in memory of the punctured lung she'd received from Alanna's little 'present'. Even with Psynergy, she would be slow in healing.
Liriel hissed in annoyance. She'd almost had that interfering brat's soul! So close… so close she could taste it…
And then she had been blasted by a spell she hadn't been expecting, right at the moment of her triumph. She had to admit, grudgingly, that Alanna was exceedingly clever. Liriel had not been expecting that attack at all, she had not even expected Alanna to pull off a one-handed block. Simply brilliant… if Alanna hadn't been the wielder of that so-called holy sword, they might even have been allies… they certainly shared some of the same beliefs…
But no, that would never be. Alanna was the wielder of the Sacred Sword. And that meant she had to die…
Speaking of which, where is that pest? She wondered, idly casting out her senses.
Nothing. No blazing, searing pain. Not even a prickle. But that was impossible! Unless…
Unless she fled to a different world, Liriel thought numbly. She sucked in a painful breath to issue a stream of curses. There were thousands of different worlds. And Alanna could be hiding in any one of them.
Gingerly, painfully, Liriel dragged herself out of the sick bed. It could take her years to track down Alanna. So, she might as well get started…
"Mistress Liriel! You musn't…"
Liriel didn't stick around long enough to hear what she musn't do. Before the doctor had had finished his sentence, she had already shouldered her scythe, Terminus, and vanished through the mirror that was next to the bed.
