Pikachu: Hi. Sorry for the way too slow update.
Vokteren: I've started writing on something that I plan on being a real book so I must ask you to be as critical as you can in your reviews.
Pikachu: Here come the review answers.
Evan: Thanks for liking the chapter. Sorry for the long delay.
Icy-chan: Sorry for the confusion. I hope this chapter clears things up a bit.
Mercury: I hope that you don't have anything against that pairing, because that is the main pairing through the entire story.
Pikachu: Vokteren, have you heard about the new system is testing?
Vokteren: The NAF list? What about it.
Pikachu: I just wish that our story was on that list.
Vokteren: Don't be like that. If people like our story then they'll try to put it on the list. If they don't like it then we'll just have to be better.
Pikachu: Another thing is that when we write up our conversations, we use script format. Do you think that's okay?
Vokteren: I hope so. I don't know what else to do.
Pikachu: I think we better get on with the story. "We do not own golden sun or pokemon. Any claims otherwise are completely fake and is in no way connected to us."
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Garet woke up only to find himself in a burning inferno. Fire blazed all around him, yet he felt no heat. The flames left no mark on him or his clothes. Garet smiled at this, yet he was still worried about Torchic. He was sure that she was in his arms when he walked into the center of the chamber he had seen in his dream. Garet looked around to see if he could see anything through the fire. He was just about to give up when he saw a silhouette that looked just like Torchic.
Garet ran as quick as he could, yet it seemed as if he didn't move. Garet looked down and sure, his feet were moving, but it seemed that he still didn't move. It suddenly hit him that when you move you usually push yourself away from a different object, but since he was floating in midair the effect would be minimal since air offered very little resistance.
Garet stopped trying to run and instead tried to do breaststrokes. This went slightly better, but he still felt that he didn't move quickly enough. To make matters worse, a strong wind began blowing, pushing him away from the silhouette of Torchic.
"You won't stop me from getting to her." Garet shouted angrily at the wind.
"And what makes you so sure?" A mocking deep voice answered.
Garet didn't expect any reply so he was very surprised. "Who are you?" He shouted towards Torchic. "Show yourself."
"Pathetic fool. Who are you to think you can disturb the purification of the fire spirit?" the voice boomed from everywhere.
"Her best friend, that's who, I demand that you show yourself at once." Garet was furious and did nothing to hide it.
"You asked for it." The voice thundered.
Suddenly red, green and blue flames appeared all around him. The flames melted together into something that seemed similar to a human. However the beast had four arms instead of two and was almost twice as tall as Garet. His legs were made out of green flames. His head consisted entirely of the blue flames and his chest and four arms were made of red and orange flames. Brown flames swirled below Garet and when Garet tried to step on it, it was just like stepping on earth. The fire creature landed before Garet and grasped his two upper arms around the hilt of a sword made solely of fire.
"Prove yourself in the art of mars if you want to pass." The beast said as it towered before Garet.
"You are going down and you know it. I'll show you what happens if someone dares to be mean to my friends." Garet's voice was shaking with anger as he grabbed the hilt of his own sword.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"What is it with Shadow?" Spirit asked worriedly.
"He is dying." Rainbow gasped out. "I found him unconscious with a gaping wound in his chest. I-I couldn't do anything about it. Spirit, I'm afraid." She said with a shaking voice.
"Don't worry. I'm sure that I'll be able to do something. Where is he?" Spirit asked.
"Down there." She said as she pointed towards a clearing in the forest below them.
Spirit grabbed Aspen and Rainbow's hands and leapt out of the cave. With perfect accuracy he landed smoothly on the ground next to the shape of Shadow. Spirit tried to pick him up, however when he touched him he felt as if all his strength was drained away. He weakly let go of Shadow, and as soon as he no longer touched shadow, he felt his strength returning.
"Is this what happened to you?" He said as he looked at Rainbow. "Your strength got drained away as soon as you touched him, right?"
"No. I haven't touched him, but I tried to heal him with my own powers, but as soon as the energy beams touched him they just vanished." She replied.
Aspen had abandoned the discussion and instead tried to see if there was anything she could do to help Shadow. The gap in his chest was big and deep, yet there was no trace of blood anywhere on his body. Aspen got on her knee to look more into this when she touched something with her right hand. She looked down only to notice that the object she was touching was Shadow's hand. She turned to his chest again when a glimpse of black and white caught her attention. She turned Shadow's hand and on the backside of his hand she saw a strange sign. A black line crossing a white line in such a manner that it looked like a cross. Almost mechanically she put her own hand over Shadow's hand. She felt a quick rush of energy through her body and in her mind a word appeared. Truth.
"Spirit. Hurry back to the cave and fetch the box containing my gems. No questions. Just do it." She said with a firm steady voice.
Spirit and Rainbow stopped talking. Spirit looked from Rainbow to Aspen and then back to Rainbow before he took off to the cave. Half a minute later he returned with the casket safely in his arms. Aspen took the casket out of Spirit's hands and placed it beside Shadow's hand. With one arm she grabbed the green emerald she earlier had hated and feared, and with the other arm she tightly hugged the sign onto the smooth surface of the emerald. "Show me what you really are." She shouted up in the air.
Green light from the emerald fused with black and white light that was emitted from Shadow before racing into Aspen's chest. When she opened her eyes they had a determined look Spirit and Rainbow never before had seen. "Heal this boy from the soulless poison that tries to turn him against what he is and what he stands for." She said with a deep yet female voice that in no way belonged to her.
Green light from the emerald flowed over Shadow. Around the edge of the gaping wound, dark purple bubbles appeared and a fizzing sound was heard as the bubbles burst. After that, black liquid poured out of the open wound and got devoured by the green light. When the poison had gone, the wound closing leaving no mark of what had happened earlier.
"He is no longer in mortal danger, but now he needs rest. We should take him back to the cave so he can rest and regain his strength." Aspen said with her own voice.
Spirit picked Shadow up in his arms before carrying him back to the cave. Rainbow and Aspen walked after him.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Garet was locked in a staring competition with the fire beast, both of them waiting for the opponent to make the first move. Suddenly the beast shot out a fireball from one of his hands. The attack took Garet by surprise and hit him right in the stomach. The pure force of the blast was enough to knock Garet far back. He quickly got back on his feet and retaliated by firing an inferno towards the beast.
The beast just stood still and absorbed all the fireballs into his body, and as the fireballs hit him, his body grew bigger and bigger. When the attack ceased the beast was three times as tall as Garet. Garet tried to attack with pyroclasm, but where only able to produce an extremely tiny stream of lava around the beast feet.
The beast laughed as he absorbed the lava into his body. "You'll never beat me." He mocked Garet.
"We'll see about that." Garet shouted back as he tightened his grip around his sword, "Aqua Sock."
The water column struck the beast straight into his chest and covered the area in thick mist. However the beast emerged from the mist, seemingly unharmed. With two hands he brought his sword down on Garet who were barely able to parry the attack. The impact of the swords clashing knocked Garet back into a wall of fire the beast had summoned.
Garet got out of the fire, but the heat still stung him. He gripped hard around his sword and sliced at the beast's leg, however the sword just passed through without doing any kind of damage. The beast brought his own sword down on Garet. Garet narrowly parried the blow, but the impact knocked his sword out of his grip.
The beast picked up Garet's sword and plunged it into his own chest. Garet's face grew into horror when he saw the sword disintegrate inside of the beast. "What happened?" Garet gasped.
The beast only smiled wickedly and grabbed Garet in a crushing grip. "Be happy. You just got selected to be my new source of power." The beast laughed as he pushed Garet into his own chest.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
"How long have they been gone?" Ivan asked Isaac.
"I don't know, do you?" He asked Mia.
"No, I don't either, what about you?" She asked Skitty.
[No idea, try Vaporeon.] She answered.
[I won't even guess, but perhaps Pikachu...] Vaporeon couldn't even finish his sentence before Pikachu erupted.
[Okay, that's enough. I don't know about you, but I'm certainly not going to just sit here and ask about how long they've been gone. Anything is better than that. I still think that we should follow after them.]
The others were surprised by Pikachu's outbreak, but Isaac didn't take long before answering. "We've been through this Pikachu. Garet wanted to do this alone. If he wanted our help he would have said that we were to join him when he walked into the center of the room. I know that you must be upset, but I know Garet and I have full trust in him. He can do anything he sets his mind to and he works best alone. I'm sure that Garet did what was best." A small tear appeared in the corner of Isaac's eye.
Pikachu sighed. [But still. Torchic is one of my best friends and I don't want her to go through this alone.] Pikachu sighed again. [I need some fresh air. I just can't sit idle any longer.]
With those words she jumped up the stairs, taking four steps at a time. When she reached the spiral stairs that lead up to the desert floor she had calmed down a bit and instead of rushing up the narrow steps she took her time. When she reached the top the sand under her feet was scorching hot and the sun was boiling over her head, but it were still better for her than being inside with the others.
She sighed to herself. "How are you Torchic? Are you all right? Does Garet take care of you? Can you feel the cold that we feel when we hold you? Please don't die from me." She said out loud, tears streaming down from her eyes.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Garet felt his strength draining away. He had been afraid that this might hurt, but this was only pleasure. He didn't have anything against giving himself to his master. He felt his body vanishing, becoming one with the fire that surrounded him. Everything was perfect, except for one thing. Two female voices in the back of his head, pleading him to not give up, doing their best to force him out of this pleasurable state.
¤Go away.¤ He shouted inside his head. ¤Leave me alone.¤
[Garet, please listen to me.] A strangely familiar voice pleaded. [Please get up and fight. I need your help. You are my only hope.]
[Warrior of Mars. You must aid us. I know that if you only try you may be able to grasp victory.] A strong female voice said.
¤No, I don't want to. I want to serve my master with everything I've got.¤ Garet insisted.
[Garet, listen to yourself.] The first voice said. [I thought that you were strong and independent. You promised me that you would help me. You can't break your promise.]
[Warrior, your friends still need you. You can't let this be your end.] The second voice commanded.
Garet struggled with himself. The two voices had reminded him about what existed outside his master's body. That he had friends and family out there. Mia, Isaac, Ivan, Jenna, Pikachu, Vaporeon, Skitty, Kay, Aaron, Torchic. As the names raced trough his mind he felt rage boiling up inside him. He felt his strength return to him and he felt a surge of energy from his hand. With a flash of red light, Garet blasted out of the beast and floated in midair, shining with a red aura and holding a sword of flames in his right hand.
The beast stepped back in fright and awe when he saw Garet towering in front of him. Before he could say anything, Garet pointed his sword at the beast and hollered, "Your time here is over. Prepare to be defeated." Garet grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands and held it high over his head. "PURGATORY."
Red fire appeared all around the beast's body. The fire tore and slashed at the beast and when it finally subsided, the beast were only a shadow of what it used to be. As the fiery inferno around them disappeared the beast mumbled a few words before facing Garet. "You defeated me this time, but this I promise you. One day we will meet again, and when that day comes, you will be mine for all eternity."
With a bright flash all the fire finally subsided and Garet found himself standing in a hall with marble clad walls and floors. On the walls, torch started burning, inviting him deeper into the temple. At the end of the hall he found Torchic on an altar of some kind. He rushed over to grab her up, but was stopped by a floating orb of orange light that appeared in front of him.
"I thank you, warrior of mars. If it hadn't been for you I would perhaps never been saved." Garet slowly adjusted to the light and saw that the shining orb in fact was a fairy with orange wings and hair that seemed to be made of fire.
"No problem miss. May I ask you who you are and whom I fought against?" Garet did his best to sound formal.
"My name is Bolero and I'm the guardian of the fire shrine and the keeper of the fire egg." She answered.
"The fire egg?" Garet asked bewildered.
"Aye. The fire egg is one of the sacred keys that will open the seal of true evil. It was made long ago by two children. Brother and Sister. They had existed from the beginning of time and do still exist and will be until the end of all time, because they are life." Bolero stopped to take a deep breath before she continues.
"A long time ago a great evil roamed the lands of Weyard, turning much of the world into darkness and despair. That was when a group of unlikely heroes summoned up these two to help Weyard. The boy and the girl made a set of twelve keys and gave two keys to six heroes. Three human and three from a different world, and with those keys they sealed the evil away. But now the evil is breaking free and the only way to stop it this time is to banish it to the uncreated. Yet I still fear that even chosen from two worlds is enough. I fear that two more worlds must help this time, but I have yet to know if that is true."
Garet was stunned. From what this fairy told him things looked pretty bad. "What you say is truly incredible, but last night I had a dream that told me about how to enter this place. Did you send it?"
"I'm afraid that it wasn't me. It may have been Mero the fire demon that you defeated that did it, but I don't think that he was after you." She answered.
"He wasn't after me? But then who was he after?" Garet wondered.
"I believe that he was after your friend. Mero is one of the great evil's strongest servants and your friend is certainly a descendant of one of the original heroes. It is said that only the purest daughters of the six heroes can defeat the great evil once and for all. By bringing you and your friend here he planned on taking control over both of you. Luckily you woke up before he had completely control over her." She answered.
"Where is Torchic now? Is she all right?" Garet asked Bolero with a worried tone.
"She is in shape, but it seems that she is affected by my sister Serenade's curse." She answered.
"Your sister's curse?" Garet asked.
"Aye, we have placed a protection around the keys that we guard. I myself have placed a curse that makes everyone, except the one who should carry the egg, burning hot and full of anger. Only I and my sister's can break the curse, but in order to do it we need to be a place where the energy of nature flows freely."
"I see. But can you tell me what happened back when I was fighting this demon? Mero, right? I remember that he said I'd become his new source of power, then I remember that he put me into himself, then I remember hearing your voice. What did really happen back then?" Garet asked.
"In order to explain this it would perhaps be better if I told you what happened before you and your friend came. When the great evil still roamed the lands of Weyard, Mero was his strongest follower. The great evil set four of his underlings to rule over Weyard, and Mero was one of them. He controlled the northernmost sector, and he absorbed everyone who disobeyed them." Bolero answered.
"Absorbed?" Garet wondered.
"Aye, absorbed. That was what he tried to do with you, but your bond to your friends and the ones you love were stronger than his own. The sword you hold is the firebrand and only the warrior of mars can handle that." She answered.
"The warrior of mars?" Garet mused as he looked on the sword. "The attack that I used to defeat Mero, Purgatory, what was that?"
"The Purgatory is the place where the sinner seeking forgiveness is sent on his or her day of judgment. You summoned the purgatory and forced Mero to feel the pain he had caused to others. However, Mero is strong. He was merely weakened by you and can only be defeated when all heroes have been awakened."
"All heroes?" Garet asked.
"I cannot speak anymore. Time is up and unless you want your friends to die, you should hurry. I will get the fire egg, you must get your friend." She said before she flew up into the air.
"Wait." Garet shouted, making Bolero halt in midair. "Before the battle started, Mero said that he was testing me. What did he mean by that?"
"Perhaps he was testing to see if he could use you. I do not know, but I am sure that you may meet him again. I just hope that you are ready when you meet him again." With those words, Bolero flew out of sight.
He hurriedly rushed over to where Torchic lay and picked her up. When he turned around he saw Bolero holding a burning egg. "Quickly, take this. If you want to cure your friend head to Magma Rock. There I can cure her, but you haven't gotten much time left. Goodbye, warrior of mars." With that she vanished. The hall around Garet seemed to fade away and he found himself in the chamber where he had left his friends.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Pikachu felt a slight rumbling on the ground and went over to the empty lake to see what was happening. Deep down at the bottom of the lake, lava trickled out from cracks in the wall. Pikachu gasped at the sight. [I've got to warn the others.] She said telepathically.
"I don't think so." A growling voice from behind Pikachu said. Pikachu turned around to see who was talking, but before she could see who it was, she got hit in the head by something hard. The last thing she felt before blacking out were something point grapping her around her stomach.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Vokteren: Finally another chapter is finished.
Pikachu: We're really sorry for not getting around to writing this earlier, but since Vokteren has started writing a real book, it could take some time before next chapter.
Vokteren: I promise to write as quick as I can, but I have one thing to ask the readers. I want you to be as critical as possible. I really want to improve my writing, and in order to do that you must tell me what is good and what is bad. Thanks in advance.
Pikachu: It may be a bit hard for him to continue though. He recently got news that told him about the death of his foster child's mother, so don't be hard on him, just honest and careful. That is my request to you.