Chapter 14 - Secrets Revealed
Author's Note: First up on my comments at the beginning: If you own a Sony PSP and would like to read Golden Sun DS: Part I at your convinience, feel free to e-mail me with your request and which chapters you would prefer. This offer also applies to Love Bites.
Speaking of Love Bites, many of you who have me on Author Alerts got a nasty suprise when I posted the rest of Kyarorain's Love Bites. To clarify what was going on, I had originally offered to repost Love Bites for Ky after it was removed, and had misplaced the files for a time. I found the files when digging in my PC, and uploaded en masse.
Finally, don't be suprised if you see me begin to write Lunar fics in the near future, as Lunar: Dragon Song is slated for a late summer/early fall release at Gamestop as of yesterday. Given that this is the first true DS RPG to be released and it is from a respected series, I might begin work on Lunar fics. I will try to continue to write this, but it might slow a bit. Then again, I have slowed QUITE a bit since I started. Oh well. You do not really care about me, do you?
IMPORTANT NOTICE: After reviewing this chapter for content, I have come to the conclusion that this chapter CONTAINS SUGGESTIVE MATERIALS THAT SOME MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE. SUCH REFERENCES INCLUDE SUGGESTED MATING, HINTS OF PHYSICAL CONTACT, AND ATTRACTION TO THE OPPOSITE SEX. IF YOU FIND ANY OF THIS OFFENSIVE, DO NOT READ. THERE IS, AND I REPEAT!NO! EXPLICIT DESCRIPTIONS OF ANY SORT, AND IS COMPLIANT WITH THE "TEEN" RATING THAT THIS FIC HAS ASSIGNED TO IT.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. DO NOT ACCUSE ME OF ANYTHING UNJUST, AS I HAVE COVERED MY BUTT ON THIS ONE.
Disclaimer: Psh, if you REALLY think I owned Golden Sun or Nintendo, do you think I would tolerate the lack of a third GS game? Heck, if I DID own Golden Sun (but I do not), I would include cast from the Golden Sun series in a possible DS version of Smash Bros. But now, to the fic, as this is REALLY taxing the word count...
Ever since it was first constructed, Anemos was always changing. Sometimes it was the addition of a new tower to enhance telepathic contact over vast distances, or an antenna to allow for mass teleportation consisting of multiple, large objects.
More often than not, however, was the constant growth of the memory crystal banks.
It was a peculiar oddity, one that even the Anemians, with their nearly-limitless knowlege, could not decipher. The crystals were used to store gained information and data from any and all psynergetic beings. When this was first realized and put to use, no one, not even the crystals themselves, could tell. Despite this, the crystals were linked to psynergy itself, and somehow (through means not quite understood) converted them into information that other beings with psynergy or psynergetic beings could absorb. If one wished, they could view the world of Earth as it was during the launch of Project Weyard, or how it changed in appearance countless years after Weyard took off with much of the world's elemental energy. One could gain insight on how to cure plague, disease; one could even extend a mortal's life nearly-indefinitely without becoming a psynergetic being.
The strangest thing about the crystals, though, was that they grew as the knowlege itself continued to pour in. The crystals original location was deep within the foundation of Anemos, encompasing the main reactor that held it afloat in the sky. Over centuries, the crystals grew out of their original housing, somehow coating buildings, towers, even tiny wires with the crystals, storing data.
And the sources of knowlege were from virtually anything; knowlege came from plants relating to whether or not the ground had food; pets transmitted information on when they were being petted in just the right spot; humans transmitted storable data when they mated, making for interesting studying material.
It was this last sector that drew her attention, though by pure accident. Having returned to Anemos after ordering the minions of idiocy around, she was trying to find any data on the whereabouts of Terra and that half-wolfman thing. Wherever they were, he was too, right?
She found information on them, all right. But from the last place she expected to gain it: Setsu himslef.
Also known as Alex of Legends Past. Why bother calling him by that crappy name the "free traders" gave him, seeing as it hardly defines the person. This was ALEX, the very soul who fell into her ploy to rekindle the Lighthouses, thereby enhancing the collection of elemental energy, thereby powering up Weyard for what she and Anemos were planning.
Alex. Ho, did she remember HIM. She had thought that she had disabled the one called "Setsu;" sending him into that river would have killed any other being. But no, this was ALEX, his mind told her. Yet why did he not go by that name? Was it out of fear that someone might associate him with the horrible evil-doer of lore, or was it because Setsu had a more obviously dark tone to it?
Or was it that he did not wish to bring unpleasant thoughts to Terra?
Being made of pure energy and only becoming solid when she chose to, she rarely ever found true humor in anything, and yet this being, this Alex, the damned obstacle that threw her plans back generations upon generations, worried over petty things such as mortal emotions.
Pathetic.
True, she herself had given into mortal pleasures, both physical and psychological. More often than not she used her abilities to put the chess pieces where she deemed they need be, and seduced men of power to get access to otherwise inacessable materials and info, even for a being like her. Yet never did she bother with the conscern for the well-being of such pathetic creatures.
The fool even kissed the girl, for Anemos' Sake!
Yet knowing that he had allowed himself to succumb to such weaknesses made him all the more succeptable to her efforts to stop him, and made Terra one juicy target, one that offered so many options as to how to handle. She could always kill the Imilian, but that was too clumbsy; death was a tragic thing, but as emotional as it could be, outright death could not bring such suffering and pain as other options.
She could always nurture their relationship, get them as close as possible, then take control of Terra and have her attack Alex, ensuring that he would have to kill her to save her, and bring suffering to him. She could always form a wedge between them, a river of bad blood, if one wanted to view it as such. Certainly it would be easy, given that he was Alex.
Then agian, being subject to emotions, Alex might tell Terra himself. And THAT would either stretch their relationship or bring them closer. The latter possiblility was unacceptable; sure, having them close could be useful, but only if she was in control of the events that created the situation.
Scanning the data, she considered Yul. The damned fool wanted "Setsu's" help in ridding Tolbibi of its current leaders, who, as he viewed the situation, were going to ruin the grand Empire. Were it not for the Nulmen, she could care less. Yet the Nulmen were key to her plans, and as such securing their survival if even for a brief time was paramount.
Of course, Yul might have his uses. From what Alex was thinking, and therefor transmitting, Yul seemed to have an attraction to Terra, one that might prove useful. Then there was that dog, no, wolf man, Inubaka. Though he had no real physical ties to Terra, his conscern for her could be a useful toy when the time came.
But dealing with Alex was only half the battle. The other two damned opponents in her game were constantly hounding her, and had been doing a great job of keeping Alex from her. If it was not for the data crystals, she would not have known where he was. They were a problem, one that she might be able to streach to her advantage.
Damn, she mused. Somehow, those two irritants were not linked to the data banks. How that was, she did not know, nor did she really wish to conscern herself with it. Odds were that being sealed for so long led to their finding ways to make themselves immune to her searches, and in doing so, to the crystals.
Probably not and highly unlikely, but there was no better explination, now was there? And if THAT was so, how and why was Alex sending data? Puzzling, this was, and she did NOT like puzzles.
Turning her focus to the conversation between Terra, Alex, and Yul, she observed the temporary truce, with Alex securing Yul's help to unlock the Heart of Weyard in return for assistance in restoring the Tolbibi Empire.
She allowed herself a rare emotional burst for this fact, a smile forming over her features. This could actually turn to her advantage; nevermind the problems of Alex and Terra for now, if Yul assisted them, then all they needed was a Fire Adept, assuming that someone knew of Inubaka's windy heritage.
And once the Heart was opened...
Another burst of pleasure washed over her. What fun it was, knowing what her foe knew, what he thought. It was rare in her entire existance for such an opportunity to happen, and considering that it was the one foe whom had always proved to be a problem, it was relishing.
Especially since it was not only Alex she was dealing with; it was a three-way victory: There was Alex, of course, with not only the third irritant that was trapped in the Wise One, but the descendant of the fourth one, with the power of the Stone of Sages even.
Exitment filled her; this would be far to easy - just as she liked it.
THIS chapter might raise a few irritating questions in your minds, no?
In any event, sorry for the small delay in this chapter, but I've been a bit busy and have not had time to write for this. And if I get the job at Gamestop for full time, don't expect anything less than a weekly update. That aside...
Read and Review, as your opinions fuel this fic. Thanks for reading, by the way.
Mikaa