Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun, and I'm in no way being payed to say this. looks at briefcase full of money Er... you didn't saw that.
Episode 13: Magma Rock
Joe had been travelling for two days now. He knew that his destination lay just over that last cliff. He climbed it, going higher and higher with each step. Until, finally, down there on the valley, was...
"Dragon's Den!" said Lise. She climbed a little higher to see better, but instead she tripped, and rolled all the way down to the city's gates, where Joe was already talking with one of the guards.
"Your name, please" He said. Lise quickly stood up.
"My name is Lise" She said, "and I'm a djinn hunter, sir"
"I see" said the guard, un-impressed. "So, you're the famous djinn hunters. May I ask what brings you here?"
"We're here to see King Shinryu on behalf of King Raniel of Vale" said Joe "And also, I'd like to buy a new sword".
"A new sword, uh?" said the guard "Well, I recommend buying one from the shops closest to the palace" He motioned to another guard, who gave the signal to open the gate. "Those bastards down there will sell you iron at mythril price if you let them".
Then, another guard gave him some sort of chalkboard. The guard wrote something in it. Lise noticed that the letters dissapeared as soon as He wrote them. Seconds later, the letters reappeared, although the handwriting was different.
"Let's see, Joe and Lise. Djinn hunters. King Shinryu will see you first thing tomorrow. You must go to the palace at sunrise. Better be careful, you two".
The giant gates opened. What they saw was truly amazing. There were fires practically everywhere. On top of the houses, on the walls... and they made a good job to lit the city. Lise hadn't noticed that around Magma Rock, the sky was red like blood. The street lamps were quite admirable: A large, hollow ruby, about the size of a fist, with a burning fire inside it, that gave the streets and the buildings a red shade. Joe and Lise walked directly towards one of the Inns, but Joe stopped along the way to buy a new sword. He didn't like any of them. Lise pretended not to notice, but it was obvious that She wanted to buy one of those weapons, if only for the fact that they had all kind of gems mounted on the handles. Finally they reached an Inn called "The charred lizard". They entered.
The people of the Dragon Tribe were tall, scaly, and they had sharp teeth. Most had red hair, although a few had black or even yellow. Joe and Lise went to the corner of the Restaurant/Tavern, that was in fact the other side of the business, and ordered some food.
"Listen to me, Lise" said Joe very seriously "You must behave when in front of King Shinryu. He is wise and honorable, as all members of the Dragon Tribe. But they are also impatient and quick to anger. One little mistake, one little offensive word and He'll kill you. It doesn't matter if you didn't mean it".
"B-but..." She said.
"No buts" said Joe "Remember: Let me do the talking and don't speak unless spoken to. You got that?"
"Don't speak unless spoken to". She repeated, clearly frustrated. Joe nodded.
"I may be younger than you" she said angrily, "but I'm not a little girl, you know?"
"In their eyes, you are." Joe said. She frowned.
"How old is he?" She said "I don't believe those stories. Maybe He is the grand-grand-grandson of the Original Shinryu".
"Here are your orders", said a tall and youthful waiter. He seemed the same age as Lise.
"Thanks" said Joe, "excuse me sir, would you mind if I ask you a question?"
"No, not at all. good sir"
"Could you tell us how old you are?" He asked. The waiter blinked a few times. Then he smiled, as he looked at Joe.
"Very strange of you to say that, Sir Joe. I remember when you asked that, almost seven years ago". He smiled "I'm seven hundred and forty seven years".
"Thanks" said Joe, while Lise looked at the waiter with complete disbelief in her eyes. "I'm glad your brother still cooks as well as always".
"Most gracious, sir"
"T-that..." said Lise, after the waiter left, "That's... This must be some kind of joke! That guy looks my age!"
"As you can see" said Joe " The people of the Dragon Tribe are nearly inmortal. King Shinryu's age is a mistery, as no one that asks him survives to tell the tale".
"Maybe you're right" she said, quietly " But then again, He shouldn't be like that! How can you kill somebody just for asking your age?"
"We'll never know" Joe answered "But remember: One little word..."
"And He'll kill us. I know".
"Good" He said.
Suddenly, there was a conmotion at the other end of the restaurant. Someone tossed a bottle, and soon the fight reached the whole place. Ocassionaly items were thrown at their corner, but either Joe burned them, or Lise frost them.
"I'll get you, you.. you shtupid rat!"
"Well, come on! I ain't gonna wait forever!"
The fight became more and more violent, but they continued eating calmly until some drunk guy fell on their table. Luckily for Joe, He had already finished his order. Not so much was Lise, whose food was thrown violently to the floor. She stood up.
"No one messes with my food" She said "No one!" But nobody listened to her. The fight went on and on.
"All right that's it! Glacier!" She screamed. Suddenly, the drunks were covered in ice.
"Thank you, young lady" said the Inn owner, as He proceded to drag the block of ice outside.
"Usually they calm down after a while".
The owner of the charred lizard had joined them at the table. He seemed in his mid thirties, but they knew better. He was bald, except for the sides, and he had a long beard.
"Don't mention it" said Lise "Those guys were destroying the inn that we were going to sleep in. I couldn't allow that".
"Oh, about that" He answered "It's on the house for this night. Consider it a 'thank you' from this old dragoon".
"Dragoon?" she asked.
"Member of the Dragon Tribe" Joe explained. The man bowed.
"If you want anything, just call. Or if you want to buy something..." He said, looking at Joe " ...like a good sword, I can give you the address of a good friend of mine".
"How did you know that I was looking for a sword?" said Joe. The old man grinned.
"No adventurer or traveler leaves home without it". He said. He gave Joe a piece of paper with his signature. "Here. Show this and you'll get a discount".
"Cool!" said Lise "Can I get one too?"
"I'd rather not, young lady" He said "This friend of mine is a sword specialist. I don't think He'd want to make you a staff or a wand".
"I see" She said "Well then, let's go Joe!"
"Okay" he said.
Joe knew that the place would be a weapon shop. What He never thought is that the man that he was looking for was, in fact, a swordsmith. The finest in Dragon's Den.
They entered the shop, which was quite dirty, and full of swords of all kinds and shapes. Some were as big as them. Others were just one handed swords, or even katanas for the warriors of Xian. Lise grabbed a sword from the ground. Although full of dirt and quite old, it had obviously been made with great care, and was well balanced. Lise saw that there were many runes on both sides of the blade, and even on the handle.
"Well, if I knew anything about swords" She said "I'd say that this one is beatiful".
"Not only that, my young lady" said a man. He came from the backstore, wiping the sweat out of his face "It's also very powerful. It's one of my creations. I call it the Rune Blade".
"You must be Varla, the swordsmith" said Joe.
"Depends on who's asking" He said wryly.
Varla was a tall man, with red hair and black eyes. He was, like any other dragoon, covered in scales, and He had long, sharp teeth. His shaved face gave him a youthful appearance. He could have passed as a young man, slightly older than Joe. And yet, his eyes had the strength and depth that only the wisdom of many years could give.
He had long fingers and sharp red claws, but his hands were covered with the usual scars and bruises of the true master swordsmiths.
"My name is Joe, and I'm a djinn hunter. My sword was broken in battle, and I need a new, powerful sword to fight againstmy enemies".
"A djinn hunter..." He said.
Varla examined Joe with a single glance.
"Red hair and red eyes" He said "Clearly a Mars Adept. Agile and strong. Very powerful Psynergy. Hmm... Shield?"
"No".
"Good".
Varla seemed delighted. He began to look all around the store, collecting swords of all kinds.
"Here, here. Take this one".
Joe grabbed it. A quick glance showed that it had been used in combat before. He waved it around, and the room suddenly filled with a suffocating heat.
"No?" said Varla "Don't worry there are many others here".
He gave him another one. Joe swinged it around and sent a powerful wind current that blew many of the swords away.
"No?" said Varla again "How about this one?".
He gave him yet another sword, this one's handle was carved out of a single sapphire. Joe grabbed it and took a good look at the blade. He waved it around. But nothing happened.
"Wait" said the swordsmith "a Mars Adept. How about this one then?"
He gave Joe a a sword with a red handle and several rubies set on the base of the blade. He made a quick stabbing motion, and several fireballs swirled around. Joe measured it. It was perfect, as if made for himself.
"This one" said Joe "I'll take this one". Varla smiled.
"That sword is called the Burning Sword. It's one of the most powerful I have here. You have good taste, sir"
"Here" said Lise "a friend told me to give you this".
"Oh, I see" said Varla "Old Marlon's friends are welcome here. It comes to five thousand coins, sir".
A lot of money indeed. But Joe thought that it was well spend.
"The burning sword" said Lise "I hope it lasts".
They returned to the Inn. Joe's new sword sparkling with the red shade. And the following morning, they set out for the palace. To see the oldest and wisest of all living things.
(A/N): I've been working hard to rewrite the 'chapter guide'. Certain episodes were so short as to be boring, and others were incredibly huge. Thus, I had to rewrite the whole thing. Again.
By the way, I'm going to upload the next chapter just after I finish writing this. See you then.