Posted: 5-7-05

Chapter 2: The Parting of Ways

AN: You know, when I originally wrote this, I didn't know that you could teleport on the World Map to other towns. I kind of feel like a moron for it, but hey, I think these things will still make sense, and I redid that part as best as I could. Oh well, I don't own Golden Sun.

Thanks for the reviews! Eventually I'll start replying to them... (has been really busy and uploaded this chapter a long time ago)

Five days later, they had once again met in their usual fashion, and though the ones they had in the last few days were light hearted, this one had another somber feel. Since Piers, Mia, and Sheba were leaving in two days, they decided that the time had come to split up the gems that gave them special Psynergies so whoever would have the most need of that power would have it. The seventeen items were piled in the center of their grouping. For a few moments, they looked them over and thought about what each power did and what the possibility of needed each one was.

"I suppose we'd better get working on this," Isaac said after a long silence. "There are enough for each of us to get two, and someone will get three."

"Well, Grind can only be used by an Earth Adept," Felix said. "I might as well keep it and we can spilt up the others evenly, like he said."

Everyone agreed to this; they didn't really care about who had three as long as everyone got the powers that they needed. "We should start with the people who are traveling," Isaac continued. "Once you're gone, it will be kind of hard to switch. I think the four of us will be able to manage with whatever's left over, don't you think?"

"As long as we aren't stuck with the ones that are only useful in certain places," Garet replied. "Like Halt. What's the point of making something stop around here?"

"You'd be surprised, Garet," Jenna answered. "I'm sure every one of these will be helpful to us in some way."

"Whatever."

"Continuing," Isaac interrupted, "it would be best if we let Mia and Sheba get theirs first, then Piers since he'll probably come back sometime, and then Ivan since he's leaving later, and the four of us can spilt what's left."

"We should give Hover to Piers," Ivan suddenly said. "He'll definitely be on the boat and without it he can't make it fly."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you're right," Isaac answered, surprised by this sudden outburst. "Are there any other ones that will make a difference on future travels?"

"Teleport," Felix replied. "Ivan should probably have that. For one, there's a teleport pad that we know of in Contigo, and it would help him go anywhere he may need to, since not much is in Atteka, no offense."

"And he can visit us without a boat!" Jenna exclaimed excitedly. No one else reacted quite as greatly as she did, so she quickly calmed herself down and entered an embarrassed silence.

"Exactly," Felix answered, laughing a little at his sister. "Well, actually he could just use that to get to Contigo! Why didn't we think of this before?"

"I'd much rather stay with you guys as long as I could," Ivan quickly replied. "Plus, Teleport's only fun so many times, you know?" The others nodded in agreement.

"So Piers gets the Hover Jade and Ivan gets the Teleport Lapis," Isaac said, handing out the jewels. "What next?"

A thoughtful silence followed. It wasn't as heavy as expected, though; this was a lot more fun than they had originally thought it would be!

"Sheba should probably have Douse," Ivan finally said. "She's right by the Suhalla Desert and if I'm not mistaken, we found that very useful while we crossed it. I don't know if there are monsters in it anymore, but if you ever want to come back up here it would be a good idea. And plus, it's so arid there that it would be nice to get a little rain!"

"Good point," Sheba replied with a little laugh, grabbing the Douse Drop but still having the strange look that she wore five days earlier.

"Weren't we going to figure out what Mia needed, too?" Garet asked. "I haven't noticed any one jumping on that idea. Do you have any thoughts?"

"Uh, not really," she answered. "I mostly healed in Imil, but with the Fountain of Hermes hopefully still flowing, I don't know what we'll need there."

"How about Burst?" Jenna suggested. "You might need to break some ice or something up there. Maybe Force would be good, too."

They looked at each other for a moment to see if anyone else would comment. "Well, if no one's going to complain, I'll just take those two and consider it good. I'm not really worried too much about my Psynergies right now."

"Okay, we need one more for Sheba and for Piers," Isaac said with excitement, as though he were exchanging trading cards. "Then we'll give Ivan his last one and figure out what to do with the rest! This is working really well!"

"Lash," Piers suddenly said, surprising everyone. "In case I need to do some work on the boat," he added to stop their wondering.

"Do you know what else you want, Sheba?" Jenna asked. "There are still a lot left."

"No," she answered. "I guess... maybe Lift could come in handy. I'm not sure why though, something tells me I need it..."

"Then it's yours," Jenna replied, handing her the Lifting Gem. "I've learned not to doubt your feelings on things!"

"Thanks," Sheba said softly, still not looking herself and entering a period of deep thought.
"So, one more for Ivan," Felix said, looking over what was left and obviously trying to make some decisions of his own.

"Well," the Jupiter Adept began, "since there are those ruins in Contigo, I might be able to use Scoop. I'd probably get more use out of that than any of the others."

"Great!" Isaac exclaimed. "So that leaves..."

"Can I have Halt and Pound?" Jenna interrupted.

"Um, okay, I guess," Isaac answered, handing her the Halt Gem and the Pound Cube. "Why do you want them?"

"So I can keep you three in line," she replied, grinning. Felix, Isaac and Garet looked at each other in fear for a moment.

"I get Cloak!" Isaac exclaimed, grabbing the ball much to Garet and Felix's disappointment. "Who wants what's left?"

"I don't care!" Garet exclaimed. "There's nothing good left, anyway."

"Garet, I told you that..."

"Is it okay if I take the Catch Beads," Isaac interrupted. "I mean, they were from my mom..."

"Sure, that works," Felix replied. "And since Garet doesn't care, I'll take... Cyclone and... Frost. You get Carry and Tremor."

"Great," Garet answered sarcastically.

"If you wanted something else, you should have spoken up," Jenna said.

"Well, what's done is done," Felix replied. Silence followed this, as none of them were expecting this to go so quickly.

"So, what do you want to do now?" Ivan asked with enthusiasm. "Hey, Sheba, let's see if you can actually beat me for once, that should cheer you up!"

Sheba's strange look was broken with an excited smile. "What do you mean if I can beat you for once?"

"Just be careful, you two!" Mia said. "You remember what happened last time you tried to Mind Read each other!"

"We put the tents back up," Ivan answered with a slight air of annoyance, "and you can't even tell that grass should have been growing there anymore."

They ran off to find a safe patch of ground while the others started talking about past adventures that they had gone through.

The day had finally come. That morning, the occupants of the seven tents had awoken early and set off for where the boat was docked on the ocean. They spent the majority of the journey talking about their usual happier subjects, trying to avoid the inevitable. As evening approached, they reached the shore and loaded the boat.

Goodbyes were said, tearful in Jenna's case, and the three prepared to set off.

"Goodbye!" Mia called from the side of the boat while everyone was waving and Piers was steering.

"Good luck!" called Felix.

"Come and visit us sometime!" Jenna exclaimed.

"Yeah, don't forget about us!" Garet added.

"We won't!" Mia answered with a laugh.

"Thanks for everything!" Sheba suddenly called.

"Stop or we'll be here all week!" Ivan exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh. A few more goodbyes were called and the boat disappeared over the horizon.

AN: lol, maybe this wasn't as bad as I thought it was... Oh well, making shorter chapters makes me feel better, although many of my reviewers liked them long. Sorry, it's my new thing! Cause this fic is nice and new! ...Yeah, I'm being weird... Review, okay!