I don't own Golden Sun.

Isaac-Sprite: Nope. And neither do I.

Flint: Or Me!

Chapter 1: Terrorizing the Tourists

I was having a very powerful and dark nightmare, that night. I was in some sort of labor camp. There was a definite sense of hatred and resignation in the air. There was a strong scent of something burning in the air. Garet, Felix, some others that I didn't know and myself were supposedly moving bricks the size of tables onto some sort of self-moving cart. The air was thick with smoke, and I could hardly breathe. Our overseers I guess you could call them probably didn't get up on the right side of the bed that morning. They were whipping us with flails, cursing at us, and threatening to shoot us with some sort of rod that shot out fire. I would know. They shot Felix when he finally had enough and stopped. He was dead; I knew it. Another thing about them was the weird symbols they wore. It looked like a windmill with four blades that were bent.

The work was very tiring, and I already felt very emaciated, though I didn't know why. I collapsed. One of the overseers walked over to me and started kicking me, probably to revive me. Throughout all my adventures, I still had not felt as much pain as I did then. I had no breath to scream, nor energy to move. He stopped, and muttered something in a language I did not know to another guy. I didn't know what was happening. The other guy came and picked Felix and me up. I was surprised at how effortlessly he handled me. I had probably lost a lot of weight already working at wherever I was, though I was pretty light in the first place. I managed to look back. Garet was looking back at me with an expression of loss and great sadness, like he was never going to see us again. I still didn't know anything. The man was taking me into a large building which had the majority of the smoke I saw earlier gushing out through the chimney. I wondered what they could be burning inside. I didn't want to find out.

But I did. As we came into the furnace, I saw everything. There were human bodies in the fire. With a quick flip of an arm, Felix's dead body and I joined them. I was being burned alive, but I had no energy to move. The searing flames felt a thousand times stronger than any spell Saturos or Menardi could cast. My flesh felt like it was being ripped off of me. I looked next to me into the clear brown eyes of a small child next to me. I saw my own pain and despair reflected back to me.

I shot up out of bed with that image imprinted in my memory and the burning pain still engulfing me. I never did figure out where I was nor what had happened. I don't think I ever want to know, either.

After about five minutes of deep breathing exercises and reassuring myself that it was just a horrible nightmare…that felt very real, especially the fire, I went to get dressed to try to take my mind off things. I looked into the closet and stepped back in shock. Inside was a completely new set of clothes, most of which I have never seen before. There were many blue and white pants that I later learned were called 'jeans', lots of short-sleeved shirts with pictures on them (T-Shirts), and some white shoes that I thought were made of rubber (sneakers).

I automatically assumed the obvious conclusion that someone had come into the room while I was sleeping, and changed the contents of the closet with these clothes. Cautiously, I reached for probably the only things I thought were semi-normal, for me anyway. That was a white button-down shirt, with black shorts reaching past my knees, and brown sandals. Of course, I had to wear my yellow scarf, that went everywhere. What surprised me was that all the clothes were my size. Since I'm… unusually thin, it's hard to find men's clothing that would fit me. I sheathed my Sol Blade on my back (because it was so big, the sheath only consisted of three, thick leather straps) and pocketed the teleport lapis. I decided maybe I would start out at Madra and go through Osenia first before I go into the Western Sea. I opened the door and, to my surprise, it lead out onto the aerie, which seemed different for some reason. I proceeded through the doorway only to be flattened by a crowd of people.

Once I could see clearly, I saw I was in a group of people, wearing similar clothes to what was in the closet. Naturally, my first thought was how did these seemingly ordinary people get up here in the first place, when psynergy was required? My next thought was to gag. The air was definitely contaminated by something, though I didn't know what yet. One man next to me noticed I existed and started to talk with me.

"Hey kid, I didn't see you in our tour group when we left. How did you get here?" Tour group? I'm going to have a bone to pick with Faran if he thinks he's going to turn this sacred tower into a theme park.

"Neh, doesn't matter. Isn't it amazing, though? What those people who lit these did? I mean, we took the elevator, but they had to go through the entire tower! And that was way back when there were lots of monsters roaming the world!" Okay, okay. Way back when? Last time I checked there were still monsters roaming the world to this day. And you happen to be speaking to one of the people who 'went through the entire tower.' I think my travel plans might be a bit delayed…

Another thing I noticed is that most of the people weren't…in the best of shape. Most could afford to lose maybe 25 or 30 pounds. They reminded me of my Venus Djinn. I always complained about how chubby they were; they always complained about how skinny I was. I was always very thin and pale to the point that I looked sickly. It caused an argument more than once with my parents. I never really cared for food that much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not anorexic, it's just I never really had an appetite. Even among the eight of us, I always ate the least. Flint once asked how I got any energy at all since I never ate anything. I wondered that myself.

Just then, a man who appeared to be our tour guide stepped up. "Gather around the beacon, please! Gather around! Now, as you all know, the beacon is VERY dangerous, which is why we have a very sturdy fence around it." A fence? That certainly wasn't there last night! What's going on?

He continued. "You are looking at the Venus beacon, or earth beacon as some people like to call it. All of you should know the legend behind it, but let me remind you of it." A legend? Like how the tower was made? This should be interesting.

"This tower, along with the other three lighthouses, was built about five to six thousand years ago as, we believe, the major centers of a new pagan religion called adeptism." Adeptism? What the heck is that? And we aren't pagan! What nonsense is this!

"Adeptism, we gathered from ancient scriptures and runes, was based on a force called Sinergy. It was a mystical force from the mind that could be used to manipulate objects. People who wielded Sinergy were called adepts, from the religion of adeptism." I knew better to keep my mouth shut. There's no such thing as adeptism! And it's Psynergy not Sinergy!

"We know not to this day whether this Sinergy force was real or not. I personally think it's a load of hogwash. But, these people were so scared of this force falling into the wrong hands that they shut off the lighthouses about five hundred years after they were built, only to have them relit three thousand years later." Yes, Mr. Ignoramus, PSYnergy is real. And I'll prove it to you…

"The lighthouses were modified to have only the most skilled warriors make it to the top. Of course, there were elevators like the one you just rode, that led to the aerie where the warrior would light the beacon using some sort of device. But, the elevators were triggered to activate only when the beacon was lit. Documents tell us that the devices were called 'stars' though why they were called that is anyone's guess. No one knows what they really were, though it was said to be sealed away somewhere in Mt. Aleph." Okay, why is this story starting to freak me out? Because he keeps talking like stuff that happened RECENTLY as if it happened fifty thousand years ago? Exactly…

"It was said that when all four beacons were lit, the lighter would have infinite power. Two thousand years ago, as you all know, a group of teenage adepts lit all four beacons once again, and do we see anyone with infinite power? Have we heard of anyone with infinite power? NO!" Two…two thousand years…ago? Okay, I officially was in shock at that moment. Of course, I thought that this was just a mind trick by Ivan and Sheba to completely psych me out. They would do something like that. But then my mind wondered…what happened to Alex? Wasn't he 'supposedly' at Mt. Aleph when the Golden Sun was formed? Wouldn't that mean that he has the infinite power? If this really is two thousand years into the future, why hasn't he at least made himself known? It didn't make sense.

"Also a big key in adeptism was the djinn spirits. They were supposedly spirits that helped adepts by honing their powers. There are no known pictures of djinn today, but it is of course believed that they took on the forms of beautiful human beings, as it would only make sense…" I was mentally punching myself in the face for not bringing my djinn along. What was I thinking? I also didn't want to listen to Mr. Wrong anymore, so I went over to the edge (which was also fenced off) and looked out at the view.

Over the horizon.

It was at that moment that I decided that this was real. Not even Ivan or Sheba could mentally fabricate some of the things I saw., where Lalivero was, or is, were some of the tallest buildings I have seen. They literally touched the sky. They reflected the sun's light, so I figured they were made of glass. Large buildings made of glass? The air also was very polluted by something I still couldn't quite place yet. I looked down. I saw lots more of those self-moving carts that were in my dream. There were also many gray paths on the ground. It was too freaky.

I looked back to where the other people were, only to see them stare back at me in what appeared to be…fear? "Ummm…Hello?"

"Excuse me, young man, but do you have a license to carry weapons? And why would you need to carry a sword, especially one so big…and…sharp?" The tour guide reached down into his pocket and pulled out some sort of black box thing and spoke to it. "Security! We have a teen up here that is armed and dangerous! Require assistance!"

"Geez, people, why would I attack you? Why can't I wear this sword? Give me one good reason."

"Well…we'd feel much safer if you put it down on the floor. Besides, why would you need it? There aren't any monsters here! And do you see anyone else in this world going around pretending they are some fantasy hero!"

I had to laugh at that comment, and so I did. "What? All you need to do is look out at the world! Look at all the monsters that have contaminated this world! The air is no longer pure. You have defiled the landscape with those ugly gray pathways. There're your monsters, right there." There was a very awkward pause as the tour group stared at me and slowly backed away. They thought I was psycho. But I knew I was perfectly sane, and even though I was completely new to this era, I knew how to push their buttons.

The elevator arrived with two men with some of those fire-rods I saw in my dream. Only, the rods were shorter, much shorter. I could feel no psynergetic power emanating from any of the people. In fact I could only sense the lighthouse's power. None else. The two men I decided to call "security" spoke to me in a gruff voice. "Please put down your weapon on the floor and turn yourself over on charges of weapon handling without a license or we'll be forced to shoot." Excuse me? Since when can't I carry a weapon? I can damn well carry a weapon if I want to!

"Not only that," the man I 'chatted' with earlier decided to butt in, "but he smuggled himself in! He wasn't with the tour group when we started at the base! He doesn't have the right to be here!"

"Then you'll also be charged with loitering and failure to pay the ticket of admission I have no idea what the charges would actually be called. But please put down the sword from your back. It would make things so much easier."

Now, normally, I'm one that respects authority and follows the rules. But, I wasn't going to let these normal people boss me around when I had the same if not more right to be here! I was a Venus adept after all. For some reason, I didn't care about these people. I actually felt what I thought was anger against them. So, since they thought I was insane, anyway, I thought I'd play the psychotic villain. Who knows? I might like it.

I started with my best imitation of an evil chuckle. Then I moved onto my suave yet diabolical voice. "I don't have the right to be here? I don't have the right to be here?!?" I started to advance towards the security guards with a malicious smirk on my face. They stepped back with fearful expressions on their faces. As I thought, they didn't know how to use their weapons. I continued. "Do you have any idea who I am? If you did, then you would have fled in terror the moment I was fifty feet from you!" I cast a quick Quake Sphere under my breath as a warning. The ground underneath everyone shook; the foundation seemed to quiver as well. All the tourists were knocked off their feet, most let out screams of terror. Who knew being evil was so much fun?

The fire-rods were knocked out of the security guards' hands. I ran up and kicked them (the guns) into the chasm under the beacon. "It's actually YOU who shouldn't be here. It's your fault Weyard has lost its shine. Therefore, I bid you all adieu." I took out the teleport lapis and held it up. I teleported them to the outskirts of Lalivero. Let the civilians walk back to get their self-driving carts! They could use the exercise!

I never realized that I could teleport other people, and not me with them before. Cool! Moving right along, I figured that making a big scene wouldn't be very prudent of me even if I was the last adept on Weyard, which I probably was. So, I went back to the bedroom, and put my Sol Blade underneath the bed. I figured that whoever lived here wouldn't mind that I put it there. I mean, they didn't mind my sleeping there for two thousand years, so I don't think they would mind keeping the weapon there for a little while. I figured the best thing to do was to read up on the history of the past two thousand years and then try to blend in somewhere while looking for the djinn and anybody I would know. Lalivero was probably off limits right now, but I remembered a very good library somewhere in Contigo. I should probably go there. It's just a shame that more people will be back tomorrow at this lighthouse. Too bad there's nothing I can do to stop that…

Bringing with me my bag of gold coins, they might be useful, I hold up the teleport lapis. The lighthouse fades away, and instead, I see more of those very tall buildings. I'm on one of those gray paths; now that I'm close up, I can see that they're made of some sort of rock. I look up to see a green sign with white letters on it:

Contigo-City LimitsPopulation: 7,543,298