Alexditto: Wow, twice in a row! You weren't kidding about liking this in your first review! I like Picard Piers. Yup, I like using Piers for his last name. I never realized how much of a feedback I'd get from the short hair! True, it is an essential part of him. You're the second person to threaten me with a mob and/or OBHL.
Vyctori: It's true about the Felix/Math thing and don't worry, I couldn't figure our how to write the accent. Oh, and Breath isn't the only one with an illusion going on. More on that in later chapters. (I should stop hinting at things, shouldn't I?) But he does have a permanent residence. (Guess where. C'mon, guess! Yup, you got it: more on that in later chapters.)
hyliansage: It's mostly Picard Piers but all the other characters are in it. Eventually. This might sound weird, but Felix was only in the first chapter. Still, he'll pop in soon enough, along with several others thanks to the Djinn and several other things.
End of Response Section
Yes, I actually did research for this; I'm not sure if that means I'm dedicated or just obsessive. Prorva is a real town between the Caspian and the Aral Sea. "Da" means yes in Russian and "Nyet" is no. Satornil is a real name according to Paul Goldschmidt's Dictionary of Russian Names. I haven't decided on what Menardi will be called so you can vote on:
Makrina, which means "dry." Kind of suitable for a fire adept.
Mana, which means "attract." I don't really know why I picked this one, but she is pretty (depending on the picture).
Mavra, which means "dark." Menardi isn't really dark, but she's cool in a kind of dark way. (Until GS:2, then she'll cool in an overall way!)
Memeika. I don't know what it means.
Mertvoi, which means "dead," or in this particular case, "of the dead." Still kind of fitting for what happened (stupidly and unfairly) at Venus Lighthouse.
The first name with two votes wins. I'd go up to three but I don't think I have enough reviewers to wait that long. The next chapter won't be put up until Menardi gets her name; she's in there a lot.
Disclaimer Rallalon doesn't own Golden Sun, any of its characters, pay or cel phones, flannel sheets, the month of April, Russian accents, zippers that don't work, archeologists, the student exchange program, or the phrase "It's complicated".
………
"Matthew! Time to wake up!"
Matthew rolled over with a groan. It's summer! I'm supposed to be able to sleep! I just got back from school! He stuck his head under his pillow, having kicked all the blankets he would've hid under off the bed.
"You'll have to adjust from the jet-lag sometime! Get up, Matthew! Your friend is on the phone! Hurry, it's long distance!"
"What?!" he yelped and bolted out of bed. To immediately find his sheets. "Ouf!"
Which is how his mother found him, laying on the floor, being strangled by blankets that should have been put away in April. "Can you hang on for a sec? He's fighting with the flannel."
"Mom!" He shook off the cloth and grabbed for the wireless. "Hey, who's this?"
"Who do you think this is?" inquired a man with a thick Russian accent from the other end.
"Satornil! How are you?"
"Very bored."
"Miss you, too."
"Never said I missed you. I said I was bored." Typical Satornil. "Just wanted to let you know I'm going to be in Idaho this week."
Woohoo!!! "That's cool," he said nonchalantly. "What for?"
"What else? School trip."
"In the summer?"
"Da, collage all year means I get out sooner," was the logical reply. "We're going to be visiting a couple of museums, one in your area, I think. The one with the finds from Chamber of the Sun?"
"Yeah! The Valley History Museum. So when are you coming?"
"In – Oh, drat! One sec . . ." Matthew could hear Satornil asking something on the other end in Russian. He abruptly switched languages and started talking rapid fire. "I'm out of change for the pay phone. I'm at the airport right now. The plane'll get in at –" He was cut off by a dial tone.
Danggit! He pressed the Line 1 button, ending the call on his end too.
Ring ring ring!
"Ah!" Matthew nearly dropped the ringing phone. He pressed the button again.
"The airport in American your tomorrow morning," said Satornil.
"Uh, what?"
"The plane'll get in at the airport your tomorrow morning. What exactly about that is causing you to question me? Oh, shoot, my zipper's stuck. Hang on . . . Stupid bag . . . "
"About why you hung up –"
"Because I was out of change. Cel phone now. Don't think I can be on for very long, though. Eight o' clock's when we get in. Friday morning, not tonight. Got to get off soon; she wants her phone back."
"Her?" Matthew teased.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just keep your mouth shut when you see her."
"Kind of you to order me around. Let her have her phone back if you care so much. Maybe you could tell her how you feel while you're at it."
"Nyet! Other than annoyance, there is no feeling!"
"Please!" he scoffed.
"Quiet you. Remember your little compositions for 'Miss Violet Eyes'?"
"Shut up! Those were in my journal!"
"Under the bed, in the shoebox, wasn't it? Vine pattern cover, right?"
"Why the heck were you looking in there?!"
Satornil was about to respond when he heard "Sorry to break up this conversation, but I want my phone back now," in the background.
"Oh, uh, sorry. See you soon."
"Bye." With that, he pushed Line 1 and jumped back into bed. Sleep . . .
"Wakey, wakey, Matthew!" Danggit!
………
"Isn't this so great? All of us getting back together again?" Jen's mom asked her.
"Mom, we saw Aunt Debbie and Uncle Phil last month," Jen replied from the passenger seat, still sulky she wasn't the one driving.
"And you're not excited about seeing your cousin again?"
"He's back?!" Sweet! I wonder if he picked up the accent.
"Matthew's been back from Russia for two weeks now." Ah, so that's the reason behind this trip.
"And you didn't tell me?!"
"I told you; you just weren't listening. I thought you would've figured it out by now. School's out so there's no reason that the student exchange program hasn't ended too."
"Oh."
………
"I guess he couldn't come. I shouldn't be too surprised after yesterday's incident," the librarian reasoned. The man had been switching back and forth from intent questioning to evasive replies. Easy to say, it was getting on Shade's nerves.
The Djinni had been sitting on a table for nearly half an hour along with Echo, and the man still hadn't given any information. Not even his real name. Shade could sense the patience of the Lemurian seated behind him growing thin.
Picard spoke at last. Finally. "Excuse me, Mr. . . . ?"
"Doctor Crade."
"Excuse me, doctor, but you said you would explain a few things yesterday and so far I've gotten nothing but questions. Why exactly did you charge at Echo if you knew what he was?"
"It's simple," he remarked, sitting down on one of the very unstable chairs. "From my readings, I have heard that if one were to defeat a Djinni in combat, the Djinni would join the victor."
"I take I you would like a Djinni."
"Very much so. How is it that you happened into yours?"
[He wants and exchange of info,] Shade blurted into the mind link, stretched faint by Standby.
Then that's what he'll get.
[So long as he doesn't probe too deep.] Spring warned.
Got it. Out loud, he said: "Shade here found me. Echo was the partner of a friend."
"Not a very good friend if you took his Djinni," Crade commented.
"It wasn't like that!" protested Echo. Shade winced; it always hurt when Echo yelled. "He made me go with Picard when he died!"
"I remember you saying that 'Echo' was Matthew's Djinni?" He voice made a statement; his eyes formed a question.
"It's complicated. Why did you want Fe- I mean, 'Matthew' away from Echo?"
"For his own safety. And I believe you didn't answer my question."
[Don't tell him!]
((He'll think you're nuts!)) Echo agreed.
"Do you also believe in reincarnation?"
"You still haven't answered my question." He looked at Picard, studying him. Or at least trying to. Breath kept his hair and clothes normal in appearance, but Gust had a job too. No matter what, it would be hard to remain focused on the ancient Adept for long with what Gust had going. Even if anyone did notice him, in a small way at least, they wouldn't consider him too out of the ordinary. Shade didn't understand it, but he wasn't a Jupiter Djinni either. "Or are you saying I'd have to in order to understand what you're saying."
"Exactly."
"Tell me the story. Whether I decide to believe it or not is up to me."
At once a flurry of warnings and cautions from the Djinn swirled around in the Lemurian's head: {Don't!} After all the hiding, don't blow it like this![You want to be put in an asylum?] We can't make people forget what they've heard!((Fib! Fib like the wind!))
Despite all of the racket going on in his skull, Picard took a deep breath and began: "This is the condensed version of the truth. I don't even know all of it, but I'll tell you everything I know. It all started very long ago. Around here was a village by the name of Vale. That's where Echo's partner originated from. I believe relics have been found recently?"
"I was on that dig. I'm a doctor of archeology," Crade explained. "We thought the name of it was 'Valley'."
"Well, a vale is sort of a valley, so I can see where you went wrong. The village was at the base of a mountain. Mt. Aleph. They thought it was the center of the world. And it was. The world was flat then." Shade could've groaned; his vessel sounded like an imbecile.
Crade was wearing a "Do you take me for a fool?" look. Not good.
"Within the mountain lay Sol Sanctum, the resting place of the Elemental Stars. There were four, one for each element of Alchemy. Venus, Mercury, Jupiter-"
"And Mars. Get on with it." A blank look. Kind of better. I guess.
Against the judgment of the Djinn, he continued. "The Elders of Vale believed that the Elemental Stars, the keys to unlocking the full power of Alchemy were best left sealed away. The problem was that Alchemy was, and is, the life-force of Wey- I mean, Earth. Earth was dying, cut off from it's nourishment. A group of people eventually broke into the inner most room of the Sanctum to retrieve the Stars. My friend was one of them. In short, all four Stars left the Sanctum."
"Are you getting to the Djinn yet?" Crade prodded.
"The Djinn came into being because of their absence. One by one, they joined with different Adepts. Anyway, the group set about lighting special Lighthouses that would shine the Light of each element. Once all were lit, Alchemy was let loose upon the world, and instead of ending, the world grew and changed."
"As for the Djinn and Matthew?"
"I- well, Echo mostly, but we think that this 'Matthew' is our friend reincarnated."
The it was: the whole heap of insanity. Shade was completely ready for Crade to call 911 and ask for someone to take his vessel to the funny farm.
He didn't. "That's all I wanted to know."
I'm feeling like an idiot now.
{Good. You are one.}
The archeologist stood. "Could we resume this conversation later? How about at the VHM on Thursday? 'Round two?" What's the VHM? Oh well, we have all of tomorrow to figure that out.
"Uh, sure, Kraden." Picard raised himself slowly from his unreliable seat. "Set, you two." Once again looking out through his vessel's eyes, Shade rode to the door feeling rather relieved and uneasy at the same time.
Picard was nearly out, the door nearly closed, when the Lemurian was asked "Why'd you call me that?"
Picard Piers turned around, gave an amused grin and said "It's complicated" before darting out onto the side walk.
Let him chew on that, he told Shade. We've a lot of chewing to do ourselves.