Kyarorain: Tell the OBHL that they're going to have to wait if they want to kill Oliver: he's needed for the plot.
8BTFreek: That's for telling me about the repeat; I fixed it as soon as you pointed it out. The Lemuria Company Theater Troupe? Hmm, I could have fun with that… But that's an idea for another fic. For your question of "And what would he have to gain by having to stay up there?" Answer: Nothing. That's the entire point, Freek. Picard is trapped up there, and he can't even manage to get down, let alone accomplish his goal. Unless they think of something, they are stuck. As for Makrina being the girlfriend of Agatio's incarnation, I've read a few Menardi/Agatio fics and tried to see if I could work that in. I know it's unfair to Saturos and Satornil, but it makes for an interesting sub-plot.
Alexditto: hypnotized I will update… I will update… I will update…
MiraiEvo: Hmm, could Xander warp? That might come in handy for later chapters…
Potato Man: Yeah, the fic probably would make more sense if you played the game. Too bad I've thrown in a whole heap of spoilers. Sorry about that, Potato Man, but, then again, Picard himself is a spoiler of a sort.
WildfireDreams: (Review #1) I can relate.
(Review #2) Sorry, as long as the story's in progress, Oliver is not to be killed and/or mutilated. Once the fic's over though…
Evil Bob: I know how annoying it is to read a fic that keeps shoving a pairing that you don't like in your face again and again and again, so thanks for continuing to read the story even though you dislike Lighthouseshipping.
AmandaZgreat: A girl sits down to check her email, wondering… Yes, a review! The girl begins to read, and by the third line, she is torn between grinning broadly and wondering if someone had read a masterpiece and reviewed her fic by mistake. Unable to choose, she does both. By the beginning of the forth paragraph, instead of grinning, she is glowing with pride and instead of wondering if the review is for someone else, she is nearly praying that it's for her. She reads the line "I actually have so many questions… all of which will make me sound EXTREMELY stupid if I ask them" and thinks, "Hmm, exactly like Spanish Class." Then she reads on and is stunned, for she has spotted the word "flashbacks": the review is for her! Grinning no longer can describe her expression.
She continues on to the fifth and final paragraph… and frowns. She immediately opens up the file labeled "fanfic" then another labeled "Reincarnation". She selects this very chapter and begins to type her response:
Amanda, you and I have something in common: when it comes to our own skills in writing, we have very low self-esteem. With your vocabulary, you'd do very well on Fictionpress writing the kind of poetry that needs no clever couplets or proper measure, but instead requires someone with something to say it and a very artistic person to say it. Plus, when you finally get the idea that screams "Write me!", I have no doubt that the fic will absolutely awesome as long as you apply yourself to it. Don't be afraid of asking questions; they show that you're interested. Not that you need to prove that; there was already more than enough proof of that in your review! And don't you dare think that your opinion doesn't matter! I'm a strong believer in Freedom of Speech, so if you want to say/type something, I'll listen/read and give you my feedback if you want it. After all, this is a Response Section.
End of Response Section
Wow, eight reviews for one chapter; that's nearly a record for me! But I'd need at least nine reviews for that… (hint-hint)
Disclaimer:Rallalon does not own Golden Sun, any of its characters, places or items. Nor does she own migraines(who would want to?), hold ups, smooth round objects, archeologists, blue-haired characters or half a dozen metaphors relating to water.
………
Picard certainly was taking a long time to light the beacon, Spring realized from her comfortable perch on Jen's shoulder. What was going on? The rumble meant that he had reached the Aerie, so why the hold up? Being attuned to Mercury, Spring would've felt the increase of Mercury's power had Picard succeeded already. If only she could communicate with him.
Oh, she remembered, I'm on Standby for Picard, not Jen; I can still talk to him. It would be strained and would require a bit of energy, but this was important. [Picard!]
No reply.
[Picard!!!]
Still no reply.
[PICARD!!!!!!]
………
[PICARD!!!!!!]
Without warning, Spring's voice rang out in his mind with the intensity of a migraine.
"Oww!" What?!
[What's with the hold up?]
What!?
[What's with the hold up?]
Picard winced. We've run into some trouble! We're stuck!
[On the Aerie?]
Yes! And we can't get to the beacon either!
[I know you haven't had breakfast, but this isn't the time to be worrying about bacon! It's the beacon that's your problem!]
That's what I said!
[What?]
The strain was too much for these small results. Get up here! The less distance between them, the easier the communication.
[What about the Jens, Felix and Matthew?]
Just get up here!
[Coming!]
Picard felt the Djinni switch herself to another Adept. Explaining the situation, no doubt. She wouldn't be able to switch back until she was closer and quieter, and for that Picard was thankful.
The King of Lemuria sat down on the cold stone and rubbed his temples. There was only so much of this one guy could take. Maybe a little more, but not much.
[The sooner we can figure a way out of this predicament the better. Now, what do we know about getting off of a Lighthouse?] Shade prodded.
We need the elevators to get down. We need the beacon to be lit to activate the elevators. We need to get over to the main part of the Lighthouse Aerie to light the beacon. We need the floating stepping stones to start floating to do that. So, by the Law of Transitivity, we need to get the stepping stones to float in order to get down. But we already knew that.
[So how are we going to manage it?]
Jump, I suppose. It worked for Felix and Sheba once.
[No, how are we going to get the things to float?]
Maybe if the beacon's lit... No, we can't light it from here.
[Maybe I could light it.]
Worth a try, I guess.
The Djinn went to Standby as Picard explained his plan to his three (or five, depending on how you counted) companions. He received incredulous and doubtful looks, but his plan was better than anything they had come up with. Anyway, the Proxans simply wouldn't be in favor of any plan that involved Djinn.
Picard handed the Elemental Star, mithril bag and all, to the creature of Mercury. Fate, please let this work.
………
[So I've got to do and help him,] Spring concluded.
"Alright," Jen replied. "Good luck."
The Djinn didn't leave her.
"What?"
[I just realized that the easiest way up to the Aerie would be to fly up from the outside.]
Annoyed, Jenna took control. "You mean we could've just summoned something that would've gotten us up to the top?"
[I don't think a summon would stick around long enough for that, and I wouldn't want to risk it. The only ones that don't leave after about thirty seconds are Daedalus and Coatlicue, and they couldn't lift up anything. Unless you'd like Daedalus to blast you up to the top.]
"Fine, I'm not that desperate." Jenna thought about it and reconsidered. "Although, with Coatlicue to heal you…"
"It's still a bad idea," Felix finished. It might have been Matthew, but he had been even quieter than Jenna's brother, impossible as that seemed for the talkative boy and the silent man.
The poor boy was so confused that Spring wondered if she could cure his bafflement. Probably not, she thought, only to have those thoughts interrupted by some sound. Although the Djinn had no ears, she had exceptionally good hearing. Now what was that sound?
Voices. Where from?
From outside the Lighthouse. [We're getting close to the exit,] she told the Jens. [Oliver's talking with some people.]
"Then you should probably hide. Set."
A blinding white light filled Spring's eyes and left as quickly as it had come. When her vision returned she was gazing out through Jen's eyes, but inside Jenna's mind.
Shade thought the soul was where a Djinni rested when Set, but Spring knew otherwise. They both knew it couldn't be the heart, for that was too noisy, but Shade would never accept that they were set to the mind. For some reason, that was one of his endearing qualities. Spring didn't know why; it just was.
One of these days, Spring would accept one of Breath's invitations to go on a double date with her and Echo. Spending time with Echo wasn't something any sane person would look forward to, but with Breath to keep him in check and with Shade along… Anything with Shade was bound to be fun.
[Come on, Jens. Let's get this over with,] she encouraged.
………
Shade gingerly set the mithril bag down, wary of dropping the contents or setting it down too hard. The Djinni didn't think the Elemental Stars could be broken, but it never hurt to be careful. Plus, if handled too hard, some of its Pysnergy might come out and blast him. He wasn't quite sure about the latter, but, once again, it never hurt to be careful.
Shade looked over to where his human companions were waiting, unable to fly across. What a drag it must be to be human. Picard never complained about it, as was his nature, but Shade had felt his earlier sentiment. One could only enjoy humanity for so long. "Alright, Shade," his vessel instructed. "Now open it."
The Djinni rolled his eyes. He knew what to do. Using his tail, he untied the pull-strings, a remarkable act for a being without hands. So maybe humans did have something to offer.
Then he needed to unpull the pull-strings, or simply pull the bag open by biting one side of the bag and using his tail to push the other side away from him. The second seemed to be the best way.
Now the bag was open. There was still a problem, though. How does a handless creature hold a smooth, round object? Answer: Very badly.
He tried sticking it in his mouth. No good. We should've brought big mouth Echo along; he could do this.
Now that he thought of Echo, it occurred to him that he should ask Spring out for a single date before she decided they would double with that Venus Djinn and Breath. It'd be embarrassing, but better by far than spending unnecessary time with the talkative Earth elemental.
Shade!
[I'm working on it!]
All right, the mouth wouldn't work. Could he wrap it up in his tail and make it stay? Maybe. Maybe… Yes! Wait a sec… Uh-oh!
Tail = bad idea, Shade decided. At least he had stopped the thing before it rolled off.
Maybe if he tried to hold it between his legs… No, he couldn't even get a grip on it. That wouldn't work.
Maybe a combination of the two. Hold it between his legs so it couldn't go sideways and fasten it with his tail to stop it from going forward, back, or worst of all, down.
Hm… Uncomfortable, but… Yes! It would work! Now if it would stay as he floated up to the beacon… Yes! Now to light it.
How was he supposed to do that?
"Either throw it in or toss it up!" For a Mars Adept, that girl was strangely perceptive when it came to his dilemma.
Shade tried the former with no result. So he tried the latter and let the ball drop.
The sound of the Star bouncing off the inside of the beacon echoed up, but no big ball of light. That wasn't supposed to happen.
[So now what?]
Maybe it takes an Adept to do it.
[Great. So all we have to do is to get one of you over here and get the Star back up here.]
You start retrieving, I'll start thinking.
………
Gary let the man keep talking. So far he had learned that he was a minor actor by the name of Oliver Crest, that he had a son named Piers and was friends with and archeologist by the name of Dr Jim Crade.
The only archeologist Gary knew of was named Dr Crade, and he was missing. He was also a link to Gary's girlfriend, also missing. If by some strange and twisted chance, Jim Crade turned out to be Crade the librarian…
Eventually, Mr Crest's companions would have to come out. Then Gary would either find his girlfriend and solve his father's case, or he would feel rather silly and go on with the plan of exploring the tower.
He hoped it would be the former.
Still, Mr Crest was a pretty good storyteller. He had given them a summary, but at Ian's encouragement, he had gone on to reenact several of the scenes from his play, The Mariner King. May, Xander and Ian were quite an attentive audience, bursting with excitement for the action scenes and laughing at the quick and witty come-backs all the major characters seemed to have tucked up their sleeves. Maybe it was the plot line that did it, or maybe it was the man's skill. Over all this didn't matter, for even Gary, waiting for some sign of Jen, couldn't help but snickering at a few of the lines. Although Mr Crest was playing a Senator instead of the narrator, Gary was tempted to see the play himself.
"And so," Mr Crest continued, "Lunpa was amazed at the sight he received as he waited at the docks. There, coming around the bend in the water-filled tunnel, was the Seamist! Lunpa stood agape, for the ship, she had gained wings!" Even as he gestured to emphasize how remarkable this was, the man took on a look of surprise and amazement, much as Lunpa would have. "Picard, spotting his old friend's expression, laughed, and then, with the aid of his magic jade, he pulled the ship aloft!" His expression changed to stupefied awe, nearly conveying the awesomeness of the mighty vessel to his four person audience using only his posture and tone of voice.
The unbelievable tale was so realistically told that Gary could've sworn that he heard Picard laughing. Come to think of it, it was rather odd that a blue-haired character in a play would so closely resemble the blue-haired teen Gary had met in the park. Everything down to the golden eyes and even his name…
"Jen! Math!" Gary's thoughts were interrupted by Ian's surprised greeting.
What?! There, standing the doorway of the great structure was Jen, laughing behind her cousin.
"How…?" Gary muttered dully. He had thought about this happening, but the actually occurrence of his daydreaming had caught him off guard.
He was stupefied even further when a small blue beast sprung out of his girlfriend with a blinding white flash. Dimly, he noticed that while the flash made it hard to look at Jen, it lit up none of her surroundings.
As the beast zoomed up the side of the azure structure, Jen stifled her laughter and said, "A little over the top, Lord Crest?"
Mr Crest, uh, Lord(?) Crest looked a bit embarrassed. He shrugged. "Where are the others?"
For a reply, Jen simply pointed up.
………
Makrina was bored. Bored out of her mind. She was stuck up on top of a Lighthouse with nothing to do. Except wait. And think. And try to figure a way to make this work.
And the Ukrainian Carol was stuck in her head. And she didn't know why. And it was getting annoying. And she was both bored and annoyed out of her mind.
Oh look: here comes another one of those…things. By no means were either Proxan fond of the Djinn, helpful as they might be.
The Djinni placed itself on Standby to Picard. The old king's eyes widened. "We've been found by two friends of Jen's and a pair of Mercury Adepts." He grimaced. "That means one of them is Alex. And I had so hoped he hadn't come back." The last part the muttered quietly to himself.
Unfortunately for him, nothing was too quiet for a Proxan. Saturos shrugged Satornil's shoulders, and spoke in "defense" of the irksome Water Adept. "I admit he's annoying at times, but –"
"He tried to take over the Earth. Weyard. Whatever."
Menardi raised an eyebrow. "The world was called 'Whatever'?"
Picard gave her an amused look before laughing a rich, pleasant laugh. "Maybe someday it will, but right now I have the beginnings of a plan."
Let's hope it's better than the last one, Makrina remarked, careful not to express this sentiment aloud. After all, she hadn't come up with a single course of action, let alone a good one.
"Right now we've got two Djinn that we can use to summon. No summon stays for long, and our only options are Mercury and Nereid. A pair of Mercury might be able to blast one of us across the gap, but it would be painful even if that Adept was to get to the other side. And if they didn't… As for Nereid, she might be helpful if she'd lend us her turtle for a bit." He paused, slightly doubtful. "I think that thing can fly."
"No way," Satornil responded instantly. "There's got to be a better plan. Anyone know that it is?"
There was complete silence, save for the wind.
………
Gust was lost. Gust was totally and completely lost. Zephyr was the one with a sense of direction, and he had left Gust stranded.
Gust examined his surrounds for the umpteenth time. Nope, still clueless.
The Djinni suddenly felt an Adept calling him and it wasn't Picard. The Adept had to be Jupiter for only Jupiter allowed for this type of communication to stretch great distances, and the presence of this Adept was practically on the other side of the world.
Hello?
Gust? Is that you?
Um, yes,he replied, confused. Who is this?
This is Hama.
And her reincarnation Hua.
Gust's mood brightened considerably. Greetings, Hama. Nice to meet you, Hua. Would the two of you like me to join you?
Could you instead go to the airport my brother will soon be departing from and follow his plane?
It seemed that not even being dead could change Hama's down-to-business attitude. If I can find it, I will,Gust promised.
Thank you. It also seemed Hama's modern counterpart had a little more people experience than Hama did. I'm sending you the… Well, I guess you could call it the address.
And so it was! Gust had somehow received the knowledge of where Ivan's plane was and where he was in relation to it. Now if only he could have a sense of direction like this for everything…
The Jupiter Djinni shook the daydream off and set out to rejoin with his vessel.
………
Picard paced back and forth, his way of relieving stress in certain situations. Sheba had once jokingly remarked that one day he would wear a hole in the floor; had she just been joking or had she actually predicted the state of the floor in his room? It was a good thing he preferred sleeping on ground level, for he had worn out his floor as water wears away at stone; slowly, but persistently.
Unfortunately, he didn't have much pacing room and he could tell he was getting on the Proxan's/Russian's nerves.
Clear your head, Picard, think! You can do this; all you have to do is think. Just not in the second person.
Now what would those "stepping stones" respond to? He had already tried getting the Djinn to lift them slightly, but they would always come down shortly afterwards. Why would the Lighthouse let them up without a way to accomplish the lighting process? It was as if Fate himself was plotting against them.
He had a way down of course, but it wouldn't be wise to mention it unless all else failed. That particular plan involved jumping off, getting clear of the building, and Teleporting away before they hit the ground. Risky, but possible.
But that's the last resort, for only if I can't think of anything. Which I can't. Any ideas, guys?
[Yeah, how about you try to lift those things yourself? They're heavy.]
[Why don't you just ask them to lift themselves up?]
Although sarcastic, the suggestions were as good as anything else he had thought of. Picard looked over the side and in Lemurian murmured, "Mercury Lighthouse, please help us in your lighting. Give us a way, Tower of Water. I beseech thee: show it to us."
Picard heard gasps from behind him as a familiar azure glow materialized before him, forming a path of light from the elevator to the main part of the Lighthouse. Doubtfully, Picard tapped it with his foot. His boot went through the light slowly, as if through a thick jelly. This was no good. "Mercury Lighthouse, please help us in your lighting," he repeated. "Give us a way, Tower of Water! I beseech thee: show it to us!"
The pathway glowed brighter, became harder. "Mercury Lighthouse, please help us in your lighting! Give us a way, Tower of Water! I beseech thee: show it to us!"
Crade too took up the cry and was followed by the Mars Adepts. None of them knew what they were saying and they were mangling the language, but one thing was clear: it was working!
"Mercury Lighthouse, please help us in your lighting! Give us a way, Tower of Water! I beseech thee: show it to us!"
But how well? Fate, please be on my side, Picard prayed.
He stepped forward.
………
"You're joking, right?" her red-haired cousin asked skeptically.
"We're not laughing," Gary's girlfriend replied.
But there was no way what they were saying was true. From what May had learned form Gary, the girl Jen and her cousin Matthew had been officially declared "missing". Between that sketchy information and Jen's story, May could piece together that the pair had most likely been kidnapped or something of the sort. This story was supposed to delay them so the kidnappers, who had been keeping them here for some reason, could escape.
At least that's what she thought before she heard a voice, familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, yelling something from above. It was faint, but May could tell it was another language. A musical sounding language.
Then more voices joined in. "Mirante Mercur, fari ayu'ny en gu blazi! Bestu'ny e rout, Rante ki Mercuren! Ye ipotun'te: ui pocam'ny! Mirante Mercur, fari ayu'ny en gu blazi! Bestu'ny e rout, Rante ki Mercuren! Ye ipotun'te: ui pocam'ny! Mirante –"
"– Mercur? The Rante ki Mercuren? You must come from a great place, Mia of Imil, to have lived by the Tower of Water," Picard said, impressed.
"Mariner, could you stop randomly tossing in Lemurian words when you talk?" Felix grumbled. "It gets confusing for people who don't know the language. Namely us."
Their parties had been together for over a week, but that was far from enough time to get over the wonder of knowing a Lemurian. A real live Lemurian. How could Felix manage his nonchalance? "So other Water Adepts know of Mercury Lighthouse? I didn't know this to be the case."
"The Lighthouse is a legend among my people, as my culture seems to be among yours." He grinned, highly amused. "What kind of tales do the Adepts of Imil tell of Lemuria?"
"Well, actually, they don't. We learned of Lemuria from a man named Babi. He was weird, but rather helpful…" Mia trailed off, spotting the expression on Picard's now deathly serious face.
This tone as well as his facial expression had changed to the opposite extreme. "Is th–"
"–at so?" Gary demanded. "You can't expect us to believe that!"
"I can," Mia said through May's mouth.
………
Picard was standing in mid-air. Correction, Picard was standing on a pathway of light that was thinner than paper. Now he was walking on it, slowly, slowly, very slowly as the others held their breaths. "Mercury Lighthouse, please help us in your lighting," he murmured on the off chance that this would keep the path from dissipating. "Give us a way, Tower of Water. I beseech thee: show it to us."
He kept repeating his chant and strongly resisted the urge to close his eyes or look down. There is no need for fear, he told himself, no need at all. The way is sturdy; the Lighthouse won't let me fall.
Somehow he wasn't doing a very good job of convincing himself.
Picard dashed across and skidded to a halt right before he hit the wall. That was easy. Now if he could only stop trembling.
Shakily, he turned around and with his voice sounding a lot more confident than he was (he hoped), said, "Anyone else want to come?"
Crade took a skeptic look at the path. "Maybe after you light it." A wise choice, but not everyone else shared the archeologist's sentiment.
"There is no way I'm letting you go first this time!" Saturos and Satornil cried competitively to Menardi and Makrina before dashing across. Apparently, it hadn't occurred to him that a walkway of Mercury might only let Mercury Adepts tread on it. Fortunately, this wasn't the case, and she/they joined Picard unscathed. Slightly annoyed, slightly amused, the other Fire Adept(s) followed suit, leaving Crade behind.
Picard started up the stairs while Crade was deciding if he wanted to stay on the elevator. Trusting the Prussians to take care of that matter, Picard focused on the task at hand and surveyed his surroundings. The gray-blue steps led up to a higher level, paved with blue-green tiles, a foot by a foot in size. There was a small railing, but it only came up halfway up to Picard's knees.
The way doubled back the way it had come and Picard noticed the symmetry of the Lighthouse, a detail that Mars Lighthouse had lacked. On the highest level was a large hole of unimaginable depth, roughly twelve feet in diameter at its lip and before narrowed down to six feet. Around the hole were arranged four statues, one on each side, and two behind it. All four were identical in shape and color to the one in the waterfall room below.
But there was one truly remarkable detail about the Mercury Lighthouse. It's older than I am. Old enough to make me feel young in comparison. He stood there, at the brim of the mighty shaft, soaking that unfamiliar feeling in. How old was the Tower of Water?
[Picard, focus!]
Right. Slightly embarrassed, Picard dug the Elemental Star of Mercury out of its bag. The Star glowed with a soft glow, responding to the beacon even while it was in his hand. Picard cast it in.
Water Psynergy suddenly flowed over him, around him, through him, crashing about him in a mighty wave. A giant sphere of Mercury Psynergy in its physical form abruptly filled his vision. Off balance from the shock of having his already overwhelming amount of Psynergy multiplied, Picard stumbled forward, his arms wind-milling. His hand made contact with the gigantic orb and was boiled, frozen, and drenched at once. The effect spread out to consume him, causing a deep pain.
The power of Mercury inside of him merged with the water element's true force, absorbed by the beacon as if it were a wet sponge soaking up even more water, pulling his mind along with it, wrenching and severing it from his body.
He was a drop of water in a lake, a sea, and ocean, completely lost among the deluge. He was a snowflake being pressed into a miniscule part of a glacier. He was bead of rainwater, trickling down a wall, merging with other beads as he went. He was a stream, eagerly cascading down a mountainside to join the greater, older river. He was a cloud, pouring himself out to the land below, losing himself in the downpour with every drop.
He had lost all feeling of being one person, lost all the sensations of having a body. It was replaced with the feeling of being part of everything, replaced with all the sensations of being all three forms of Mercury, liquid, gas, and solid. He was lost in the torrent of Mercury Psynergy, unable to find a way out, to even find himself.
And it was marvelous. Absolutely marvelous.