Alexditto: ::is cracking up, thinking: I've made up a swear word and people are cursing with it!:: Oh, yeah: Ivan's coming, soon enough.
Empress Dotdotdot: Actually… it was the name for Math's hole. It was in Sheena's perspective and so instead of calling it "Math's Hole"… um, yeah.
It's actually fun to write the arguments! It makes me remember an ad for a movie: "A classic romance movie… of two people who can't stand each other."
No, Xander's pretty much safe. Ok, fine, maybe not, but there won't be any lasting damage. His getting caught by the barrier while Warping is mostly subplot development.
WildfireDreams: This fic sounds familiar… Was it Adventures in Adept Training or something like that?
Avari, wind seer: I spent around half an hour staring at my GBA, so I'm very glad you think so.
MiraiEvo: (1) The pairings are coming! has a sudden mental image of a guy on horseback galloping around, yelling: "The pairings are coming! The pairings are coming!" Two more on the way and then (possibly) two more after that!
Boy, if the Lemurians thought the Weird Al songs were odd… The song'll pop up in the scene after the "random conversation".
It's not so much as "indifference" as that emotion that makes you say: "I'll tear your guts out with a spork if you so much as come near me" combined with a little, teeny, tiny, iddy-bit of attraction.
(2) The "whole thing"? As in from chapter one to chapter 18? is suddenly hit by an inexplicable need to edit
TemplarofNi: For the sake of subplot, let's just say that you can.
Zero-no-uta: Sorry for the long wait.
Potato Man: Breakfast is good. And the Lighthouse didn't blow up, it was just lit; the earthquake resulted from the power of Venus being unleashed.
Vyctori: Clichéd is never good, but I think the way I brought Menardi back was. That's one of the reasons why I'm working so hard on avoiding it now.
You're probably going to think I'm nuts, but the Warp concept was brought into being when MiraiEvo commented that it was a good time for Xander to Warp, but she guessed he couldn't. And then I went off on several dozen tangents and came up with it.
Ack! Typos, where?!
Sorry for the long wait.
DarkIssac: Thank you, but I don't think it is.
The 8BTFreek: ::cocks head to the side and rereads first sentence:: Really?
And I'm making you confused? Have you read your own fic? And if you think "Found a Peanut" is weird, just you wait for the song of this chapter! ::raises mug of Mug root beer.::
Ookami Kage: Thanks and sorry for the long wait.
End of Response Section
Sorry it took me a month or so to update, but there is a reason. I write this fic on a laptop, you see. And the laptop broke and had to be send far, far, away to get fixed. But now it's back, so things are good again. I'm hoping to get the next chapter up soon, but I also really want to edit some of the previous chapters.
8/28/04
Previous chapters have now been editted, and let me tell you, it took a while! For those of you who don't want to go back and reread the whole thing looking for variations, I'll clue you in on a couple things:
(1) Math is no longer Math. I decided to ditch the nickname and just call him by his full name; I was thinking of renaming him Fred or Felton, but this far into the fic it would be rather weird. Anyway, when you read this chapter, I want to be aware of how many times you see the word "Matthew". Multiply that by about 15.
(2) Oliver Crest is a father. (His daughter's name is Melana.) There are plot reasons behind this.
(3) The "Pops" nickname is also gone, replaced by "Doc" as it made more sense. Don't worry; Xander's still Xander and I put in a reason for it.
(4) Sheena/Sheba and Hua/Hama are no longer in contact with each other. Therefore, Sheba and Sheena don't know about Hama's prediction.
(5) There is no #5.
Disclaimer: Rallalon does not own Golden Sun or any of its characters, items or locations. Nor does she own eggs, ivy, pillars, statues, a certain song, the sound thud!, conscious decisions or fools(once again with the exception of herself).
………
I don't like him. I really don't like him.
And the arguing tactic wasn't going too well. Instead of getting one of them ticked off from losing, the debate went on and on. Then there was how it wasn't really one of those topics where you can get angry while arguing:
"…could've gradually evolved," Sheena explained as the pair jumped across the pit, "all forms of it hatching from eggs and then, after thousands of years of this, the chicken evolved." They were going down the other, slightly longer(?) path.
"But the chicken could've been born without the egg for years," Matthew countered badly, still slightly sulky that he didn't get to be Pro-egg, "and then was finally forced to adapt to lay eggs. Move," he added, arm outstretched toward yet another pillar. A giant, pale hand appeared, mimicking that of the Adept. Matthew mimed pushing the pillar and the hand copied perfectly. After repeating this on another pillar and pushing both into position, the pair, with Sheena in the lead, continued onto the next room.
"Wait, are we talking about chicken eggs, or just any old kind of egg?" Sheena inquired, losing her train of thought as she took her turn pushing a pillar that was about her height. It wasn't very easy to push something that big and keep a steady flow of Psynergy to her light bulb. In fact, doing so was starting to get very wearisome.
Matthew pushed the other one and Sheena darted up the stairs and jumped across, more than ready to cast Whirlwind despite the darkness that would occur. Unfortunately, the thick ivy was stubborn and forced her to use the move twice, extending the period of darkness. Embarrassed, she tried not to look at her unwilling companion as she stepped back for him to push the uncovered pillar to the area below.
"Just chicken eggs," the young Venus Adept replied as if it were the most stupid question he had ever heard. Had he heard any of his own arguments?!
After a little more pillars shoving, they were onto the next room.
It was a hallway, actually. There was a section where the familiar pit was on both sides, leaving only a decrepit path, full of breaks, wide enough for one. Matthew went first and for once Sheena had no complaints. The footing was poor and the golden design that had magically, er, Psynergetically kept them from falling off in other rooms had been worn away. She cautiously dipped her foot over the side over the side to test her unpleasant theory.
Yes, here they could fall.
The panic that she had been trying to suppress once again reared its ugly head. The light flickered uncontrollably. If she wasn't killed in a cave in, she'd fall down the pit onto spikes or break her bones and starve there. Or she could fall and trigger a cave in and be crushed to death even as she fell. Or –
"At Mercury Lighthouse, Picard, Menardi, Saturos, and Kraden's incarnation had to walk across a pathway made of light," Matthew commented nonchalantly as he walked, Flint whispering something into his ear. "Picard said that when he first tried to step on it, his foot sunk through. I think he would've compared it to thick jello if he had known what jello is." Matthew hopped over a break and then another before speaking again. "Seriously, Alex Warped me up to the top and we saw it. Less than an inch thick. You're on the metric system right? It might've been about… two centimeters."
Sheena followed wordlessly, not trusting herself to speak. Oh, flude, she had to jump!
"And you know what? They all made it. Even Doc, you know, Dr Crade, Kraden's incarnation. The Lighthouse wanted them to light it so it made sure they got across. Apparently, Picard and Crade talked to it and it understood. I never thought a building could be that smart."
Just a small jump, a small jump, a small jump, a small jump…
The light bulb was wavering, adding to her fear.
You can do it, Sheena, it's okay.
Breath's right, this is easy. We're all here for you,
Sheba, could you…? If she wasn't the one that had to move her body, it would only be a good thing.
Gladly.
The next thing she knew, Sheena was across. Blinking, she looked up at Matthew, confused. That was fast. Not only had Sheba gotten her across in one piece, she had blocked out her experience of it.
You're welcome.
Thank you… She felt as if her knees had disappeared and desperately wanted to sit down.
"Are you alright?" Matthew asked, eyebrow raised, as he noticed her wobble.
"Fine," she snapped, harsher than she had intended. He had been trying to help her with his talk of the path of light. For some reason, the thought angered her even more. He shouldn't be trying to help her! He should be mean and an idiot and easy to hate!
But at least they were making progress and would soon be with the main group. Then they would be with people they actually wanted to talk to. With people they weren't supposed to fall in love with. With people it was ok to like.
"Are you coming, or do I need to carry you?"
"I'm coming, Jack."
Matthew just shrugged. The insult didn't seem to even faze him anymore.
Upon entering the next room, Sheena was glad to see that a golden pattern was on the edge of the ledge; they wouldn't be able to fall off even if they tried. Unfortunately, that left them with a bit of a bother regarding the three worn stone blocks. They decorated with pairs of "L"s partially enclosing rectangular dots. Strangely enough, the black designs weren't painted on, but were part of the rock.
Peering over the edge, Sheena inspected the set of scales attached to the wall. "I think they're still workable. Ether?"
The Jupiter Djinni hovered about the scale, giving it a through expection, before chirping in the affirmative.
Matthew looked down at the scale, determining where the blocks would have to be dropped. "Ok, so two on the one closest to the door…" he mumbled to himself. "That's all it should take… but can it hold the weight?"
"Only one way to find out," Sheena pointed out.
Matthew nodded, taking the Carry Stone out of his pocket. Most likely listening to Felix's instructions, he held the gray stone between his hands. Before he sent a tendril of Psynergy into it, he lowered his hands so that he was holding it around waist level. Slowly, not entirely trusting the metallic rock to stay floating, he took his hands away. "Carry." Immediately, he brought his hands back and lifted, holding with his palms, his fingers stiff, his hands perpendicular to the floor; ghost hands formed and mimicked his action on the stone block, golden sparkles raining down. He gently moved the stone toward the edge before cutting the vine of Psynergy that connected him to the Carry Stone; the pale hands moved the block so that it was no longer hovering over the floor before letting it drop…
And drop…
And drop.
Not hearing the customary thud! Sheena looked over the edge once more. "You missed."
"What?"
"You missed," she repeated.
"What do you mean, 'I missed'?"
"I mean, you missed. You didn't push it over far enough."
"Well, we'll only need two," Matthew said, attempting to recover. "I was just warming up."
Thankfully, Matthew didn't miss again and after two more shows of sympathetic Psynergy, the pair was well on their way.
It was which way that was the problem.
So… Right or left? Sheena asked.
Left. Right just has a statue that's really a treasure chest.
"Felix says we should go left," Matthew declared.
Sheena tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes and failed miserably.
The next room was occupied by five statues, each with her own color. They were already arranged in a position that opened the door so Matthew immediately went on ahead, only pausing when he realized the source of light wasn't coming with him.
Sheena had stopped to study the tall statues that seemed to speak to her soul. They seemed alive in the pulsing light despite being made of stone and their inhuman height. When she raised the light to better see the face of the blue one, the other's eyes stared back, as if aware of her gaze. Who made these? And when?
"Are you going to stop and stare at something in every room?" Matthew asked impatiently. He seemed to be trying to make up for his earlier concern.
"How old are these?" Sheena thought aloud, bent on ignoring the Venus Adept. "They were here in Sheba's time and even before…"
"Very old. Felix doesn't even know what kind of rock that is," Matthew answered, laying a hand on the purple. "It seems to have been… grown."
"Grown? Like a plant?"
"Sort of…"
Sheena couldn't see his facial expression, but she could tell he was puzzled. It was a Jupiter Adept thing.
"Not that this isn't interesting, but couldn't you hurry up?" Flint asked. "Isaac says Alex has Warped off somewhere and they don't know where he is."
"Tell him we're coming," Matthew replied. "We can always come back here later; Doc'll want to check this out too."
Sheena nodded before realizing one of the pronouns Matthew had used. He seemed to have realized it too. Exchanging glares, they continued on.
Here was another hallway, this one fairly intact with a grand doorway, framed by a pair of green and yellow-gold striped pillars. Above the arched gold doorway was carved an eye-like figure, its color matching that of the arch. Before it on the ground was a mosaic of a yellow-gold tree within a dark green oval encompassed by a rectangle of a lighter shade. In each corner of the rectangle there was a triangle the same color of the tree.
This was the entrance to Venus Lighthouse.
"It feels like the museum room…" Matthew murmured.
Sheena had no idea what he was talking about but felt very out of place and tried to avoid stepping on the mosaic. She was more than glad to climb up the spiral staircase and be out from under the eye's watchful and creepy gaze.
The next room held two other doors and yet another mosaic, this one with purple oval and rectangle surrounding a pale green tree. The walls were purple with pale green lining instead of green with yellow lining.
Matthew darted across the room to the door on the far side of the room. Dashing up yet another spiral staircase, Matthew called out, "Guys! We're back!"
Sheena followed, close on his heels. She was going to meet them! She'd get to meet Picard and Jenna and Isaac and Garet and Mia and Saturos and Menardi! And Alex, if they ever found him, but he wasn't really that interesting, being evil.
You're going to like them. Not Alex, but the rest of them. I didn't really get to know Menardi or Saturos so this should be interesting for both of us.
"Hi, Sheba!"
"Jenna!" the older Jupiter Adept called back, momentarily taking control of the younger's vocal cord. "Mia! Garet!"
"I feel ignored," Isaac murmured in a voice just loud enough to carry.
"I missed you and Picard, too," she assured him. "And… hello, you two."
The Proxans nodded in acknowledgement.
Were they always that aloof?
Felix says it took a while for them to warm up to people. Rather odd, considering their Element. "Who are your friends, Picard?" Sheba asked as Matthew/Felix began pushing the statue into position.
Picard grinned. "Curious as ever, I see. This is Andrew Stormwind and Oliver–"
A soft click! was heard and the barrier ceased to exist. In the place of the four lightning-like things that had joined the two walls stood a teenager, appearing the exact moment the barrier left. He remained standing, limp, for but a moment.
He then came crashing to the floor.
………
"I hope they're ok."
"We left Echo with them; I'd know if something bad, er, worse came up. But you do realize you could've stayed with them, Jen?"
"Yes… But Mia and Alex need to work some stuff out."
"Oh, really?"
"Don't sound so amused, Matthew. And I don't think they're the only ones who need a little therapy; you've been acting weird. Really sarcastic. Kind of like Echo."
"I can be sarcastic if I want. And in case you haven't noticed, we're possessed; we're supposed to be acting a little weird."
"It's odd… I think we're more ok with it than Gary is and he's still 'normal'. I wonder why."
"I made a conscious decision when I reached for the Sol Blade. You made one when you reached for the Tomegathericon. Neither of us knew what would result from it, but we did do something to set it off. Gary might not have found something that would do the same to him."
"I can hear you, you know."
"That's nice, Gary; go away. Wait… Math, how did you know I reached for–"
"Felix."
"You're so polite."
"Humph. That girl puts me in a bad mood."
"Who? Sheena? So what if Felix and Sheba got hitched? What makes you think you'll end up the same way if you just try to be civil?"
"Everyone else is pairing up. Xander was nearly going out with May. Satornil and Makrina have finally gotten together; he's been trying to get her attention for months. Two out of four relationships have already started. Unless…"
"Ok, that's a scary look."
"Are you and Gary…?"
"Felix may have gotten a little sway when it came to who Jenna dated, but you're just a cousin!"
"My point is, I don't want to be ruled by fate or destiny or whatever."
"All right… So why won't you be civil?"
"Didn't you hear anything I just said?"
"Yes. But you could really prove fate wrong if you got to be friends instead. Alienating is easy, making friends is hard."
"Why aren't you resisting this?"
"Why should I be?"
"Don't you want to control your own life?"
"I am controlling my own life, Matthew. Anyway, think of the odds; even if a pair of us who got married in a past life went out, what are the chances that the pair would get married?"
"Pretty good, I think."
"Mattheeeeew …"
"You haven't sensed the rock in the tunnel ruins!"
"What does rock have anything to do with?"
"Plenty! The tunnel was torn apart by platonic forces hundreds of thousands of years ago. But the passage was reformed! What are the odds of that?!"
"Not good…"
"Exactly! I'm not taking any chances. Why couldn't the present day Babi have kidnapped her or something? I don't want to deal with her!"
"Did you say something about Babi?"
"Yeah, Picard. Why didn't he kidnap her or something?"
"Well, I supposed that would be hard for a corpse to do."
"A corpse?"
"Yes. Without the draught, Babi wouldn't have lived long enough to kidnap Sheba. Plus, even if the recent one was alive now, it wouldn't matter. He doesn't know about the draught and so wouldn't kidnap someone to build a tower to find Lemuria."
"Oh."
"Makes sense."
"So, Matthew, how does Echo say Xander is?"
"Well, that's rather random."
"It seems to me that this entire conversation is rather random."
"Point taken. Xander's still not up. Echo thinks it's like what you had; not dead, not asleep, not out cold."
"Then he should come back to his body eventually."
"That's goo– Oh. Echo's… singing."
"That bad? What song is it?"
………
"Stacey's mom has got it going on;
She's all I want and I've waited for so long.
Stacey, can't you see? You're just not the girl for me.
I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacey's mom."
The little Djinni seemed intent on cheering the both of them up. "Thanks, Echo, but you can shut up now."
Echo gave her a level gaze and just kept on singing.
That song is… Mia began, unsure of the proper adjective.
A bit disturbing, I know, May replied, absentmindedly stroking Xander's temple, a habit of Mia's when she was worried about an unconscious patient. I wonder what Picard would think of it.
He might've heard it before, Mia realized, noticing May's memories of radios and music videos that Picard could've stumbled across had he decided to explore a Best Buy. But I wonder how he would've reacted to it.
I bet it was funny.
"Mia…"
May's hand jerked along with the rest of her body and Mia retreated, distancing herself from May's senses. "Xander? Your what?" May asked, kneeling over him, her voice full of concern.
"Stacey's mom has got it go–"
"Shut up, Echo." But it seemed that concern was a bit selective.
May, he said my name.
Oh. Both of them sounded oddly detached. So, that would make him…
Alex.
One of Xander's eyes opened slightly, but it was, without a doubt, Alex looking up at her/them.
She/they stared back at him/them.
It was eerily quiet; even Echo had gone silent, sensing the tension.
………
It had been very odd, struggling to get back to a body that wasn't his. And despite all his effort, he was certain that it was outside influence that had put him back in Xander's body. Xnader himself seemed to be floating about still…
But he would come back, that Alex was sure of. That was as certain as Mia hating him.
As always, the thought pulled at something inside of him, something that made him want to find that everything he had done since his first Warp hadn't really happened. That it had been a dream and no more. That he could still be content with a place. That Mia still loved him.
The list went on and on, but none of them were true. This too was a certainty that seemed to have impressed itself upon his very soul…
He was being very over-dramatic and couldn't bring himself to care.
But this was why it came as such a shock when he felt her fingers along the side of his face.
"Mia…" The hand jerked.
This was a dream, it had to be. There was no other way to explain it. Unless…
No, this was the dream. He would look and prove it to himself; Mia wasn't concerned about him. She wouldn't ever be again. That voice speaking unfamiliar words wasn't hers. Still, it took him a while to summon the will necessary to open an eye.
A girl stared back, leaning over him, black-dyed hair spilling over her shoulders. Not Mia. Similar, but still not Mia. No, this was her reincarnation although Mia was in there with her.
A familiar feeling began in his chest, the one he always experienced after Warping. It was as if something inside him was shrinking or deflating. Even though he had known otherwise, his heart had expected the impossible and once again it had managed to crush itself, squeezing out one of his few remaining shreds of hope. He had never had many shreds left over from Warping. The Golden Sun had been a long shot, a very long shot.
And now he paid the price.
He was dead and so was Mia; it was pointless to now wish otherwise. He had died early and she had gone on to love another. She would've had children as well. She would've aged, gradually gaining wisdom and losing her outer beauty, a redundancy when her inner was considered.
And he had never seen this. He had never lived long enough to witness her playing with a grandchild or even lying about her age. There was so much of his life that he had never gotten to experience, so much of his life he would've spent with her. And now he desperately wanted that life back, when it was too late.
When he had lost her so utterly and completely.
She backed away, still glaring, allowing him to sit up. He did so.
"What did you do?"
This was a very cold Mia, one holding her emotions at arm's length. Alex wasn't sure what reaction he had been expecting, but this wasn't it.
Somehow he got Xander's vocal cords to work. "We Warped. And the barrier caught us."
He could tell that neither liked the pronouns he was using. It was obvious that they prefer Xander to remain separate from him.
"Is Xander alright?"
Alex fought off a grimace. Of course they would be worried about Xander and not him! He'd have to be a fool to even hope otherwise.
He fully recognized himself as a fool. A fool who wanted the impossible. A fool who had thrown away everything he should have ever wanted in a search for what he had.
He'd give anything to see Mia smile at him again, to have her squeeze his hand, to hear her say those three words again with a slight blush spreading across her pale cheeks. He wanted to listen to her humming to herself and to see that small frown that always came across her face when she was worried about him.
Because that was his ultimate place. He was sure of it.
But he was also sure he'd never reach it. Mia hated him and it was his fault. Now he had to live… er, be dead with it. And stop whining about it like the idiot that he was.
"Is Xander all right?" she repeated.
"He's coming."
She looked relieved, as she once would've been for him. He might have lost Mia, but Xander had not yet lost May. His reincarnation still stood a chance.
Even if he didn't.