I know the wait has been unbearably long, but here finally comes the next chapter, with more than twice the usual length! It might take ages for me to update, but unless I say otherwise, I will continue working on this fic, and currently I see no reason to stop doing so! But enough of my ranting, here comes what you've been waiting for!
Enjoy!
Oh and don't mind the single zeros (0) that separate some of the text, they don't have a deeper meaning. I just needed something to repair the formatting that was crippled by the uploading process, and even the most basic symbols would be erased again. So just ignore them. Maybe I'll be able to fix this at a later day...
Chapter 12
(Lance' POV)
"So how do we get in?" Lilly asked, pointing at the opening in the mountain. "We are down here and the entrance is up there, ten feet above us!" She fidgeted. "Well, I might be able to climb up there by myself, but what about you three?"
"Yeah, right…" I muttered, examining the rock surface, which was as smooth as polished marble in this section. Either it was man-made, or the Psynergy blast may also have grinded away the natural roughness of the stone. Either way, the wall was rendered impossible to scale even for a spider.
Will however was already working on a solution. We watched as he knelt down in front of a ledge which stuck out of the mountain, saying: "Growth." Seconds later, a vine started spiraling upwards, forming a substitute for a ladder.
"That's very nice, Will, but the entrance is over there!" Kara pointed out. Indeed, the ledge was in close proximity to the entrance, but the gap was still to large for a jump. You'd even have to jump around the corner! Aura said in my mind.
"I know." Will said to her, smiling as he put Root on standby and returning her to Lilly. "Now we need somebody who knows Move."
"That's my cue!" I said, stepping forward. "What shall I move?"
Will pointed left of the entrance. I looked closer and saw the rock was slightly off color in one place. When I walked towards it, I realized it was a pillar of rock standing in a crevice! "If we move this below the entrance, we can jump from there and get in." Will said.
"That's easier done than said! Move!" I focused my Psynergy and pulled the pillar out. It was pretty heavy, but I had often practiced this move at home, so it wasn't a problem. When it was out far enough, I proceeded to push it below the entrance, still using Psynergy. I continued until it was right in front of the hole leading into the mountain.
"Great!" Kara said. "Now let's do some exploring!"
"Just a sec!" I said, feeling slightly drained. "I want to replenish my Psynergy before I go in there." Quickly, I climbed back up the other vine and touched the Psynergy Stone. Instantly, I felt the effort from the previous exercise fade away. When I turned around to climb back down, I saw Will's head peer over the edge. "I need a refill, too. You never know what's inside a cave like this…" I let him pass and climbed back down. I had barely reached the bottom, however, when I was startled by a loud thud next to me. "Hehe… Sorry." Will said as he got up from the ground. Kara silently shook her head.
"Come on, let's go!" shouted Lilly, already standing in the passageway. "I want a legendary sword, too!" I watched as Will and Kara made their way to the entrance before I climbed up the vine, too. Looks tricky… Aura commented when I paused to look at the narrow pillar's surface. I'm so glad I'm not going to get hurt if you miss!
Gee, thanks! I responded sarcastically. Still, you get to feel my pain if I fall down, so you had better hope I make it!
Gulp… Okay.
Mustering my courage, I took a step back and jumped. But my worries had been unfounded; my feet landed securely on the small space as if I had been doing this for years. Quickly, I stepped inside the entrance. "Okay, here we go!" Will said and we moved on into the sanctum.
(Lilly's POV)
It was dark inside the cave. Shortly after the entrance, the way turned into stairs which led sharply downwards. "That was pretty easy!" I said to Kara, referring to the entrance puzzle. "Are all the puzzles like this?"
"It was easy." Kara agreed. "But only for us. It was enough to make sure nobody without Psynergy can just walk in. Further inside, there might be more difficult riddles."
The stairs turned out to go on for quite some time, with turning points between the separate flights. Torches on the walls were emitting warm red-yellowish light. "I'm surprised to see torches here." I heard Will say. "I've gotten used to seeing them in games, even though it makes me wonder how they never seem to expire, but in reality? I don't believe somebody comes here frequently to replace them…" Lance stopped to look at one of them more closely and I did the same. "Psynergy." he said. Indeed, the torches seemed to consist of crystals imbued with Mars Psynergy. The flames were real, the heat radiating from them assured me of that. "Don't they ever run out?" Will wanted to know. Lance shrugged. "Probably after several hundred years. Then they cast lots and lots of Mars Psynergy on them to recharge them. These crystals store the light and heat of it, I suppose."
We walked onwards. After the fourth set of stairs, the path turned once more and then became even again. There were no more torches, but the walls and ceiling were glowing with a soft, golden light.
Suddenly we found our path blocked by an enormous granite block in the shape of a statue. It fit seamlessly together with the walls, it was impossible to tell whether the path continued behind. "Dead end." I said, turning around to face the others.
"Hmm… This looks like the statues in the other Sol Sanctum!" Kara said, examining the obstacle. "Let's try and push it forward."
Working together, it was surprisingly easy to move the massive obstruction. As we pushed it forward, an opening on the left was revealed, but instead of a corridor there was only a small alcove. We just drew level with it when there was a thump noise and the statue stopped moving.
"What the…!" Lance tried using his Move Psynergy to push it further, but to no avail. "Looks like it's stuck!"
I looked around, trying to find something to help us. Hey, look at the floor! Root's voice suddenly echoed in my mind.
Huh? I looked downwards. At first glance, the floor seemed to be perfectly normal, but when I looked in the opposite direction, I realized the tiles we were standing on were slightly lowered. In the corridor behind us, the path was about an inch higher, creating a small step which probably prevented the statue from being pushed from the other side. That's it! The statue isn't supposed to be pushed forward…It must be moved sideways! A quick glance to my left confirmed my theory: the alcove was included in the lowered floor section.
"Lance, can you pull the block back out?" I asked and he nodded: "I guess so, the floor is pretty smooth here."
We stepped back to make room for the granite slab that was slowly but steadily moved backwards by Lance. "When it's all the way back, move it into that opening!" I gave him further instructions. Lance looked at the floor and nodded, his face brightening up in understanding. Sure enough, when the block disappeared into the crevice, the pathway became visible behind it. "Pretty good!" Lance admitted reluctantly. "Apparently there's more to that talk about your brilliant mind than I initially thought…"
"I'm going to take that as a compliment…" I said dryly.
Lance grinned. "Oh come on, you didn't expect me to say 'Wow Lilly you're so great, I couldn't have figured that one out on my own!', did you?"
"Not really, to be honest. But I did figure it out after all!" I pointed out.
He shrugged. "I would have too, eventually. You were just faster than me. Who knows," he added as an afterthought, "I might just have been holding back for your sake…"
I snorted, about to shoot back a witty response, but I was interrupted: "Are you two coming!" Will and Kara were standing a good deal ahead of us in the hallway which led into a room further ahead. Will was shaking his head and Kara was tapping her foot impatiently.
Looks like you were quite caught up in your -ahem- conversation… Root commented.
"Geez, do you have to be so impatient!" I yelled. "This is important! Being able to sort out differences is vital for a proper relationship! Right Lance!" Not waiting for a reply I grabbed his hand, dragging him along as I ran to catch up with the others.
Relationship, so so… Root said thoughtfully. Don't you think there are other things that would belong into your so-called relationship? Things you're sorely neglecting…?
Are you in this with Gas or what! I snapped. You know perfectly well I only said that to shut them up!
Oh, Gas thinks so, too? Root asked innocently and I mentally slapped my forehead as we ran on.
Suddenly something clicked beneath my feet. A trap! The thought flashed through my mind. I stopped on the spot, but kept gripping Lance' hand tightly so his momentum spun him around. Quickly, I put a hand on his shoulder, ensuring he was staying behind me, and turned around to face the source of the grinding noise I heard.
But instead of narrowing corridors or wall segments moving to reveal spikes, the sound came from the granite statue we had just moved a moment ago. Apparently it was being pushed back to block the path again. "Phew…" I sighed, my body relaxing slowly. "I thought it was a trap…"
I turned around again to Lance, who was looking at me strangely. "Were you… covering me?"
"What makes you think that!" I said sarcastically. "Of course I was going to jump away last second, if something had been coming at me!" I snorted in amusement. "Covering you… as if!"
His expression however remained as we walked on. "Hmm…" he muttered. "Maybe you're not so bad after all…"
(Kara's POV)
At first I was simply overwhelmed by the magnificence of the room I was entering. It was a some sort of huge entrance hall, with a domed ceiling that seemingly went up as high as the sacred peak itself. While the floor was purple like in the other Sol Sanctum, the walls and ceiling were exclusively covered with those large golden tiles. The familiar soft glow lost and gained intensity in a slow, steady rhythm, almost as if indicating the heartbeat of the very sanctum. On the other end of the hall, directly in front of us was a large stone slab with lots of writing on it. On either side of it was the crest of Sol Sanctum, slightly raised out of the floor. Two large sets of doors to our left and right led deeper into the sanctum; at this moment however, they were closed. They were both decorated with plenty of reliefs, but each in its unique way: the left one had warrior-type motifs like heavily armored knights fighting monsters, and some of their gear. The set on the right featured mages throwing fireballs or summoning bolts of lightning, wizards' staffs and thick books which were probably supposed to contain arcane magic rituals.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Will whispered next to me and I nodded: "Almost makes you forget you're belowground …" Slowly we started heading deeper into the room to take a look at the stone tablet when Lilly decided to celebrate her arrival in the lower Sol Sanctum with some well chosen words to add to the solemn atmosphere.
"WOW, this is NEAT!" she exclaimed, taking in her surroundings. "I bet those golden panels fetch some good coins!" She went on looking around, perfectly ignoring Lance who let out a groan of despair. "And look at that chest over there!" She pointed at the Sol crest left of the stone tablet. "I'm finally getting my legendary sword!"
Unlike the right crest, which was empty, this one had a large chest on it. "That chest looks vaguely familiar…" Will muttered as Lilly started walking towards it.
"Could it be because we just BATTLED one of these!" Lance said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. He quickly grabbed Lilly's arm, stopping her from repeating her mistake from earlier on. "Heck, do you always go around touching everything like a little kid!" Lance wanted to know. "At least let us have a look at this place before you wreak havoc on it!"
Lilly angrily shook his arm off. "This one's different!" she protested. "It looks like it is made of stone!"
Indeed, the chest was colored in different shades of grey, even the (supposedly) metallic parts.
"That doesn't mean it won't come alive the second you touch it!" Lance said. "Care to look at that panel over there?"
Only now I realized it wasn't completely empty. Small bits of rock indicated a scuffle of some sort had taken place there.
"What do you think has been standing there before someone came along, their curiosity got the better of them and they tried to open it!"
"You mean someone woke it and then it climbed all those stairs to wait for us outside?" I asked.
"I don't know how it got outside," he said, shrugging, "but I'm pretty sure the chest we just defeated has been standing on this panel not too long ago."
"Let's have a look at this tablet." Will suggested. "Maybe it says something about the chests."
"Maybe it's a Summon Tablet." I said as we walked past the huge, lifeless chest. "The letters on it look like in the game's animation…"
"You're right, it's the same letters. Will agreed as we gathered round the inscription. "But I'm not familiar with the ancient Weyardian tongue and I don't think you are, so who's gonna read it?"
"Maybe our scholar-wannabe knows?" Lilly said, nudging Lance. But he shook his head. "This looks all gibberish to me."
Will however bent close to the tablet, with a look of intense concentration on his face. He stayed like this quite some time, his blue eyes travelling over the ancient letters. When Lilly tried to question him, I motioned her to be silent.
"I think I can read it." he said at last, tearing his gaze from the stone.
"How?" Lance asked, dumbfounded.
Will shrugged. "Dunno. I just kept looking at it, after a while it started to make sense…"
"Really!" Lilly sounded excited. "Let me try!"
Shoving Will aside, she positioned herself in front of the tablet, her expression turning into a scrutinizing stare.
"It's not a Summon Tablet, although the letters are the same…" Will said, intrigued. "It looked more like some sort of prophecy to me… '
"A prophecy! Wow, that is way cool!" Lance exclaimed. "What does it say?"
"I don't understand a thing." Lilly was disappointed. She stepped back from the tablet. "A prophecy, you say?" she said sceptically . "I don't believe in such things… … … …but let's hear what it says anyway. Maybe it's good for a laugh."
"I don't believe this sanctum was built for amusement." Lance said dryly. "Can you read it to us, Will?"
"I'll do it." Will said. "But don't interrupt me or I'll have to start concentrating all over again!" With that, he focused his gaze on the inscription once more:
0
0
"When the sacred peak is bathed in golden light,
When an ancient power is split,
When one seeks to possess what belongs to all
and nobody at all
0
When that time comes,
the Knights of legend must return
Inseparable like darkness and light
their bond works wonders for all to see
0
The Sages will join them in their quest
One who never backs down
One who never gives up
Together they shall overcome any obstacle
0
The heroes from two worlds must unite,
raise the ancient spirits from their slumber
and wield the Crops of Alchemy
to match their adversary's strength
0
But in the end their efforts will be for naught
Eternal darkness will face the worlds
The only way for the light to succeed
is the power of four hearts beating as one"
0
0
The words were greeted with a stillness so absolute that I thought I could hear my heartbeat echoing off the walls of the huge room. Finally Lilly broke the silence:
"This is just great… When I left Lunpa three days ago I just wanted to visit some relatives. Now, the town they lived in doesn't exist anymore, instead I'm more than one hundred feet below the ground and I just found out I'm the victim of some stupid prophecy!"
"Victim…? Most people would call that being chosen…" Lance pointed out. "But what makes you think this means you? It says 'heroes from two worlds'; this includes Will and Kara of course, but the other two could be anyone from Weyard, couldn't they?"
"I have a really bad feeling about this. Even if this prophecy doesn't specifically mean us, we're in this one way or another…" She sighed. "I'd like to put it off as nonsense, I really do, but there is no denying that Will and Kara come from a different world… And these last four lines make it pretty clear to me that this won't be a walk in the park."
"Uh… did you just read that thing!" Lance asked. Lilly stopped short. "You're right, I can read it now!"
"Me, too!" Lance said. "When you just pointed at that passage, I could read it, too!"
I looked at the tablet again and to my surprise, the strange characters seemed to shift into familiar words and letters! But in between the verses of the prophecy, there were various parts that remained unreadable.
"I guess by reading it to us, you somehow unlocked the message for us." I said to Will. "But what's with those passages?" I pointed at the cryptic parts.
"Dunno." Will said. "I couldn't make sense of them, so I left them out and went on with what I could read. I wish we could copy it down, then maybe we could decipher it later…"
Suddenly, the light coming from the golden panels seemed to dim, plunging the room into some sort of murky, yellowish-brown darkness. Then, a voice rang out in my mind:
Holder of the key between worlds,
step forward and unlock this slate!
The original brightness of the room returned just like it had gone seconds ago, gradually but fast. The four of us looked around in confusion, but noone except us was to be seen.
"The key between worlds… what could it be?" Lance asked.
"My GBA brought us here," Will said, "but I don't think it could unlock anything…"
Lilly bent down to look at the bottom part of the tablet. "There's a hole at the end of the inscription." she said, pointing at the lower right corner of the last verse. "That must be the keyhole."
We knelt down to look at it. It was the shape of a narrow rectangle. "The GBA doesn't fit in there, but…" Will browsed through his pockets, pulling out a GBA cartridge. Looking close, I could make out the words on the label: 'Golden Sun: The Wise One's Legacy'.
"Technically, it was this thing that brought us here. Let's see…" He plugged the object into the hole. "Fits perfectly." Quickly he stood up and stepped back from the stone. Lilly, Lance and I followed suit.
Nothing happened for a short while. Then the tablet began to vibrate and the letters briefly glowed purple. There was a noise like breaking rock, and suddenly the letters were floating in mid-air, two inches away from their stone counterparts.
This looks familiar… I thought to myself as I watched the suspended letters rise high above our heads. Maybe we do get a summon after all…
Will seemed to think along these lines, too; he turned around and raised his hands above his head, mimicking Felix' gesture. The letters flashed twice before they started moving, forming a single line which moved right past Will and into the game cartridge.
He maintained his pose for another two seconds before his arms slumped down. "It chose a piece of plastic over me!" he wailed. I put a comforting arm around him. "Don't be sad, Will. Maybe it was for the better…"
Will wasn't convinced, however. "What could be good about a dud game cartridge receiving such a power instead of me!" he lamented as Lilly bent down and removed the cartridge.
"Why don't you try sticking it into that 'GBA' thingy or however you call it?" she asked, handing the object to Will. It looked exactly the same as before the modification.
"Last time I did that, we ended up here!" Will said, getting serious again. "I suspect it might also serve to bring us back, but the first crossing completely drained the power of the batteries."
"Still, it might do more than just open a gate between worlds." Lance said. "Go on and try it already!"
Reluctantly, he inserted the cartridge. I put a hand on his shoulder, just in case, and he turned on the power.
There was no white flash like last time; instead, the power bulb glowed with green light and the screen turned black. I bent closer, trying to see something on the display, but the dim light was not enough to make out details.
"Wait a sec…" Lance said, raising his right arm over our heads. "Watch out…" he warned us as his hand was suddenly enveloped in a thin layer of fire. The three of us backed away, startled at the sudden source of heat. "Don't worry, it won't burn you. Let's take a look now, shall we?"
In the center of the screen, clearly visible now, was the 'new' GS logo: the traditional Golden Sun caption combined with an image of the Wise One, the ' o ' being replaced by the single eye. "Looks like some sort of title screen…" I said, stating the obvious.
"And what does this 'title screen' do?" Lilly asked curiously.
"Well, that's where you go before starting the actual game. There, you can change some settings and pick your file…" Noticing Lance' questioning look, Will explained further: "The game keeps save files to monitor your progress within the game. Usually, there is more than one save file, so several people can play without having to start over each time."
"But this doesn't look like the usual options." I pointed out. "There is only one choice, and it says 'Prophecy'."
"Hmm…" Will muttered, "I guess that means…" He pressed the (A) button. The logo vanished and text appeared on the screen which we recognized as the verses of the Prophecy right away.
"It's a copy of the Prophecy!" I said, looking over Will's shoulder on the display.
"Hey, I wanna look, too!" Lilly was squinting, trying to read the upside-down words. Suddenly she was holding the electronical device and Will was staring at his empty hands. Only an ever so faint swishing noise and a weak draft of air indicated the swiftness with which the 'transaction' had taken place.
"Wow, and translated, too!" she exclaimed, scrolling the text downwards. "Thank Venus, those letters made my head hurt…"
"Erm… Lilly, would you mind giving that back?" Will asked, exasperated.
Lilly ignored him and went on reading. "Whoa bummer, there are still those gibberish parts!"
Will sighed and I cautiously stepped back. He then made a swift slashing motion with his index and middle fingers, his hands moving past each other in opposite directions. Two wind waves appeared out of nowhere, traveling on an imaginary line between Will and Lilly. The GBA was knocked out of Lilly's grip and Will caught it with the hand he had moved backwards. The wave that moved towards Lilly hit her left wrist without doing much more than ruffling her clothes.
"Hey!" Lilly complained, her hands suddenly empty again. Will smirked: "I'd prefer if you asked me when you want to look at my things."
"Hmph… If you insist…" Lilly grumbled. "What use is at text anyway if nobody can read it?"
"Well, the parts we know already ARE readable…" Will pointed out. "As for the rest, maybe we can get someone to translate it for us." He checked the display again before turning the GBA off and pocketing it. Lance extinguished the fire surrounding his hand.
There was a moment of silence, but before someone could ask: "What now?", the lights dimmed again and the mysterious voice rang out in our minds:
0
Gather the Crops…
Wield them to grow
both their strenght and yours…
Two rest with Sol, two with Luna…
One on either side of you…
One sleeping in the heart of the earth…
One restlessly drifting across the nighttime sky…
Use the key… young ones…
Life… Wealth… Power… Skill…
Grow them well… the Crops of Alchemy…
0
More silence. The room gradually regained its former level of brightness.
"The Crops of Alchemy?" Lance wondered. "What does it mean? Life, Wealth and what?"
" 'One on either side of you', it said." Lilly repeated, taking the more pragmatic approach to the riddle. "I figure this chest contains one of these crop things! Which in turn means Lance is carrying another of them!"
Lance let out a whistle, impressed with the swiftness of her chain of thoughts. "Makes sense… That means we already got two of them!"
"If you disregard the fact that one of them is still in that chest, you're right." Will rectified. "But personally, I don't fancy battling another of these things…"
"We don't have to!" I cut in. "It said something about using the key, didn't it?" I approached the panel where the huge chest stood and examined its lock.
"Come here, Will! Look at this!" Instead of a normal keyhole, there was a rectangle-shaped hole like that on the stone tablet. "I see…" Will said, taking out the GBA and removing the cartridge. "Be careful not to touch it directly!" I warned him, as well as Lilly and Lance, who had come over to watch, too. With a nod, he plugged the cartridge in.
"What the…?" Will frowned. "There seems to be some resistance…"
"Push harder." Lilly advised. He looked at me and I gave him a nod of encouragement. Using both his hands, he pressed the 'key' into the lock.
Suddenly, the same screeching noise we had heard on the backside of Mt. Aleph reverberated throughout the chamber as rainbow colors flashed across the surface of the chest. Will recoiled, letting out a cry of surprise as the massive container burst into purple flames.
When the noise and the fire had died down, a pile of gold, a sword and the GBA cartrigde was all that remained on the relief of Sol.
"Wow… I just wasted several thousand experience points…" Will muttered as he picked himself up from the floor.
"You're probably right…" I said, joining him in examining the treasure. "But it serves noone if we lose our lives trying to rack up some quick levels."
While Will was busy shoving the coins and some small bars into the pouch and dividing the larger bars into four portions, I decided to take a look at the weapon and removed it from its sheath. It had a sleek and elegant but yet deadly look. The blade and handle was made not only of the same material, a white substance that resembled both a metal and a crystal, but it also seemed to have been crafted out of a single piece of said material. The blunt sides had no edges and the tip of the weapon didn't end in a point, but in a curve. It was slightly warm to the touch and even in the dim light of the sanctum, the blade gleamed in a shade of light blue that could - for lack of a better word - only be described as holy. Being a longsword , it should have been quite heavy but I found myself able to effortlessly hold it vertically in front of me, using one hand only.
"Another sword?" Lilly inquired, dropping down on my other side. Lance wanted to have a look as well and followed suit immediately. I lifted the sword higher so they could have a good look.
"Ah, I remember that one…" Lance said, his look changing to one of concern. "Don't be fooled by its pure appearance. This blade is called Soulreaver; it is said to be driven by an unquenchable thirst for blood and to develop a will of its own in heated battles. According to the 'Weapons Monthly', only somebody pure of heart and strong of will can hope to control this weapon. …And no, I don't think that means you, Lilly."
Lilly, who was on the verge of saying something quickly shut her mouth again.
"Weapons Monthly?" Will arched an eyebrow.
"Oh, how should I explain this to you…" Lance said, thinking hard. "A guide for weapons the scholars of the golden age made for the common people... It's some kind of large thin book…"
"A magazine!" I interrupted.
"You have them too!" Lance was genuinely surprised. Will laughed silently in my head. "Anyway, the library at Prox has a rare copy of the first issue ever, featuring what they called 'the four crops'!" he continued, full of excitement. "I guess these are the Crops of Alchemy we're looking for!"
"Do you remember what it said about the other two blades?" I asked him, becoming curious myself.
"One of them had to do with gold…" Lance answered after a short period of thinking. "But I can't remember the last one."
"Why didn't they put the one with the gold here?" Lilly griped, but nobody took note of her.
"I think Will should have this one." I said. "Lance and I have good weapons already."
"What about you, Lilly?" Will hesitated.
"You can take it if I get the one that has to do with gold!" Lilly said slyly.
"I can't promise you that… But how about we take a short trip to Lunpa and buy you a really nice weapon?"
"Are you thinking about a certain Grievous Mace?" Lilly pressed on.
Will winced. "That would eat up our newly aquired fortune… But I promise you will wield that weapon before this quest is over!"
"Sounds good enough…" Lilly grinned.
Will divided our new riches between our group before equipping the new weapon. As he fastened the scabbard to his belt, he was briefly surrounded by a purple glow. I also noticed the weapon had changed to a platinum color. "What happened?" Will wanted to know.
"I think it adapted your element!" Lance excitedly looked at the sword's new color. "It seems that unlike other magical weapons, these adjust to the affinity of the user!"
"Did you get a new Psynergy, too?" Lilly asked him. Will nodded: "Yeah, but it feels kind of… dark… I don't know if it would be a good idea to change the sword."
"Well, tough luck." Lance commented. "You'll probably need to use both forms if you want to grow and use the Crop. That's how these weapons work, if I remember correctly. And if you ask me, the dark form will be the one to power the sword up…"
Will looked at the sword while considering the options. "Even though I was only playing games, I rarely used cursed equipment or other items which have some adverse effect on the user, and I never liked it, especially if I didn't have full control over it. Now I'm facing the same choice in reality, and I find that I don't like the idea any better."
"It's one of these crops which we're supposed to need to complete this quest, so it can't be that bad." I said.
Will scowled darkly. "I don't think the Wise One cares that much about the lives of his subjects, let alone their tender feelings..."
"You think we're working for the Wise One?" Lance asked, surprised. Will shrugged. "I guessed he has the monopoly on heroes and 'saving-the-world' stuff..." He looked at the sword once more, hesitating. "I guess I'll give it a try and see what happens."
"If I were you, I'd rather try it out now than in the heat of battle." Lilly advised.
"Well, that does make sense…" he reluctantly agreed.
"Here goes nothing!" Will concentrated for a second before he raised the sword high above his head in a determined gesture. Somehow, this doesn't look remotely as pathetic on him as it probably would on somebody else… I thought while watching him switch the blade to the to the left hand, its tip pointing at the ground. He raised his right hand and yelled: "Consume!"
Suddenly the blade hung in mid-air, hovering unsupported over some kind of runed circle that had appeared on the floor. Darkness gathered around the sword, encircling it in an aura of the same purplish-black color as the arcane symbol. The dark vortex stopped a moment later, the sword however kept hovering over the rune. When Will grabbed its handle, the symbol disappeared.
The Soulreaver now looked like it was made of black onyx, but a hue of Will's platinum color was still present in the sword. The dim lights cast crimson reflections on its surface. Will did a few practice strokes and examined it closely. "It looks like it's from the deepest pits of hell, but I can't feel a dark power or anything in it... There's a new Psynergy, but I won't try it now. It somehow allows to sacrifice someone's life energy to attack... or to strengthen the sword, I don't really want to know..." he shrugged, putting the sword back into its sheath. "I prefer if it feeds on the lives of our enemies, not ours."
"Do you actually plan on using it?" Lance asked in disbelief.
"I'll try it in battle and see whether it is safe to use. I'm rather confident that it is possible to control or reverse any adverse effects it may have."
"These speculations don't get us anywhere." Lilly stated. "Why don't we go in this sanctum and try to get some real info about this mission? We don't know anything about a threat, or who we're up against. Heck, we don't even know where to go after this!"
"Yes, we do." Will said calmly, prompting a confused look from Lilly. "When we get out of here, we'll look for Vale's residents." He glanced a look at me and I gave him a nod of approval. "Whatever this big threat is, it won't be able to destroy the world overnight. Right now, everything in this world seems just peachy. We're in no immediate need to rush things. But we should build our strength in whatever time we have left."
"Yeah, let's worry about how we get into this place!" Lance said. "As of now, there are still these huge doors between us and those mounds of trea - ...um, I mean, all that secret knowledge and stuff..."
Lilly shot him a sharp look, but didn't say anything, because that moment, the lights dimmed again and the mysterious voice rang out in our minds:
Knights and Sages of Alchemy
Follow your respective paths
But listen:
Two of you may pass each door
Though four are needed to prevail within
"Another riddle." Lilly grinned. "I'm really starting to like this..."
"I wonder what it means..." Lance mused. "Sounds like we'll have to split up."
"'Four are needed to prevail within'..." Will repeated, pondering the words.
"Maybe it means we'll have to be twice as strong to make it through." Lance suggested.
Will shook his head. "Nah, that goes without saying. If we're going to save the world or do other heroic stuff, just twice as much power won't get us anywhere. There must be a deeper meaning."
"Arrgh!" Lilly let out a frustrated yell. "I can't take anymore of this talk of heroes and saving-the-world! For Venus' sake, we're just trying to have a look at some old ruins, how heroic is that!"
"This isn't just some old ruins!" Lance said, flustered. "This sanctum is the very birthplace of Alchemy! The two sanctums are Weyard's greatest historical sites! Many a scholar would gladly die just to get a peek behind those doors!"
"Two sanctums?" Will asked."There is another sanctum like this one!"
Lance nodded. "Anemos Sanctum, near Contigo, on the continent of Atteka. It's supposed to be the counterpart of Sol Sanctum, in every respect. They say that in times far ago, they used to call it 'Luna Sanctum'."
"We've been there in the game," I said, "but we didn't find much resemblance to this sanctum. The most notable things about it were the fact that seventy-two Djinn, eighteen of each element are required to get in, that it houses some of the most difficult monsters in all the game, and that deep inside rests the Summon Tablet of Iris, the rainbow goddess." Lance looked slightly baffled at this onslaught of information.
"The part about the monsters makes sense." Will added. "In the game, the monsters inhabiting Sol Sanctum looked like those wandering around the vicinity of Vale, but they were much weaker."
"Hmm... I guess the power of the sanctum weakens them..." Lance thought aloud. "But let's get back to the task at hand: I'm sure you noticed the different designs of the doors, too. Combined with the words of the Prophecy this probably means that part of this sanctum is for the 'Knights' and another part is for the 'Sages'. There are two of us for each path. But the big question is: Who goes where?"
"Pretty simple, actually." Lilly said instantly, relishing in the attention as three pairs of eyes turned towards her. "We'll just line up in pairs in front of the door and see for which two of us it opens. Trial and error, you know? There are six possible combinations. Although I personally think that me and Will are the most warrior-like of this group."
"It's even easier than that." Will said suddenly, catching even me by surprise, despite the mental link we shared. "Much easier. I'm not going anywhere without Kara, and whatever entity intends to send us on this quest's gotta know that. That leaves two possibilities. Knight or Sage, I don't care. But we're going together, or I'm straight out of this place and looking for Kraden again, Prophecy or no prophecy."
I gave my boyfriend an admiring look, but Lance looked sceptical . "Do you really think this 'entity', as you call it, cares whether you have a problem with the team setup or not?"
Will smiled. "It better had, 'cause otherwise I can't really be bothered saving this world, can I? I mean, come on, it's not even our world!" I gave him a piercing look, and he continued. "At least I could think so. But even so one of these doors had better open for the two of us, or there's no way of predicting if we actually do what this 'entity' expects us to."
"Hehe, I like your line of argumentation!" Lilly grinned. "I suppose you won't mind me and Lance trying if we can get this Knight Door to open?" Without waiting for a response, she marched off, once again dragging Lance along.
"Did I tell you that I don't particularly like being dragged all over places?" Lance' annoyed voice echoed through the hall.
"I think I faintly remember you saying something like that..." Lilly said indifferently while continuing to haul him over to the pair of huge doors depicting warrior equipment and battle scenes. Will just shrugged and we walked after them.
Meanwhile Lilly was trying all manners of things trying to get the door to open, but neither screaming nor begging, kicking or shouting obscenities at the door had the desired effect.
"Um... Lilly... Why don't we try the other door?" Lance asked timidly. "I mean, it would have opened by now if we were supposed to enter, don't you think?"
Lilly glared at him before proceeding to draw a long, jagged piece of rock out of thin air which she fired at the door. It crashed into the portal without putting so much as a scratch on it. When the bits of rock the javelin had broken into disappeared a second later, the gateway still looked as new as ever. "I think that was the wrong approach." Lance stated plainly.
"Well, at least I tried everything..." Lilly grumbled, reluctantly stepping back from the huge gate.
Will looked at me, I nodded and we stepped up in front of the door. There was a click noise, and then, with a low rumble, the doors moved apart, revealing a corridor behind that lead into the darkness. "Well, I guess it's your entity's lucky day..." Lilly commented dryly. "I guess we'll take what's left then." She said sardonically and went for the Sages' door.
"Wait a sec!" I said, remembering something. "We mustn't forget about the second part of the riddle! ' Two may pass each door, but four are needed to prevail within.' What could it mean?"
Excuse me? Bubble suddenly spoke up in my mind. Will gave me a questioning look. Would you please tell your friends to put all of us on standby?
The strange request confused me, but I relayed it to the others nevertheless. A moment later the four Djinn appeared on their respective owners. Bubble hopped down from my arms to the floor and the other Djinn followed suit. When he was sure everyone was looking, he asked: "Okay now, how many of us are there in this room?"
"Uh... four?" Lilly tried, her eyes fixed on the group of Djinn.
"Count again." Bubble said simply. "Look at the larger picture."
Lilly seemed confused; she looked around the room, but failed to spot more elemental creatures. Lance' face on the other hand brightened up, I could almost see the lightbulb above his head. "Oh Lilly." He sighed. "I guess I'll take back everything I said about your brilliant mind. Come here, folks." He gathered up the Djinn from the ground and they quickly spread over his body; Bubble and Gas were resting on his shoulders and Root was standing on his head while Aura was sitting in his cupped hands. "Now look at me and tell me what you see."
"A nerd and four Djinn!" Lilly said promptly, rolling her eyes.
Lance face twitched briefly, but then he was back in control. "I'm going to ignore the barb." he said calmly. "Now watch closely." He raised a hand and Aura was set to him in a red flash. "What do you see now?"
"A nerd and three Djinn!" Lilly said, exasperated. "Look, I don't see how this is going to help us solve -" She paused, understanding dawning on her face. "Ah! Now I get it! Lance, I hate to admit it, but you're not remotely as stupid as you look!"
Lance let out a long, deep sigh of sadness. "In long years of hard work I finally managed to convince myself that my looks aren't particularly bad, at least not far below average, and now this girl ruins all of it with a few words, in a matter of seconds... How can this world be so cruel..."
"So we need Djinn to survive in there!" Lilly said, acting as if she had known the meaning of the riddle all along. "We have Djinn, so we're basically home-free!"
Will shook his head. "That still can't be all. My experience as a Golden Sun player tells me that one Djinni doesn't really make that much of a difference. You noticed that, didn't you? Since you have Root, you're a little stronger, but not so much that it could possibly change the outcome of a battle or test of skill. Am I wrong?"
Lilly shook her head. "It's true, the change isn't that great. But then what are we going to do now. Get out, grab some Djinn and come back once each of us has five or six?"
"No." I said. "It has to do with the Djinn, but sheer numbers won't cut it. Lance, can you set Bubble instead of Aura?"
Lance did so and while he was adjusting to the new feel of his body, I asked Lilly: "How many different types of power does he carry now?"
Again realization dawned on Lilly's face. " Of course, that's it! When we're together like this, we have all four elements! But only two of us may pass each door, which means our powers are also split. But by exchanging our Djinn, we can complement our own elements to close the circle again and each group is able to carry all four elements through these doors! Kara, you're a genius! Bloody brilliant!"
"Give the praise to Lance!" I said, feeling a faint blush creeping up my cheeks. "He was first to realize the Djinn are the key to this riddle. After the Djinn themselves, of course..." I winked at Lance and he put Bubble on standby again, who instantly winked back.
Lance looked expectantly at Lilly, who looked sideways until she couldn't ignore him any longer. "Alright, you did well! Happy now!" Having said that, she turned to walk away.
"No, Lilly, that won't do..." Root's voice sounded from Lance' head. "I remember you saying something different to Kara just now..."
Lilly sighed deeply, then turned around to look at Lance again, her face looking sincere. "Well then... Lance, you have proven that you're not here because of some divine mistake. You're a valuable member of this group and I'd be glad to explore this sanctum with you."
Lance smiled. "Thank you, Lilly. I accept your words of encouragement. But I guess you still have some ways to go before I can let you have Aura. For now, I'll entrust her to Kara." He handed the Mars Djinni to me.
"Huh? Why!" Lilly was confused. "Are you still not happy with what I said!"
"No, that's not it!" Lance said quickly, trying to reassure her. "But if I give Aura to you, they'll be missing the element of fire. You didn't forget already, did you?"
Instead of answering, Lilly simply let her head hang. "I guess you'll be needing Root, too..." she said after a while, taking her from Lance. "There you go. Take care of her, okay?" She gave the little creature a peck on the head before passing it on to Will. I couldn't help noticing Lance look and Will grinned, silently asking: Wish that was you, do you? , causing Lance to go crimson.
"Take care of Bubble and Gas, too." I said. "Decide for yourself who gets who, but I suppose Lilly will be wanting Gas..."
"You got that right!" Lilly confirmed, grinning. Lance shrugged, giving the Jupiter Djinni to her. "Well then. I guess we'll meet again at this spot. If we don't come back after a while, you must go on without us." Lance blanched at this casual remark. "And don't weep too much for your Djinn, I heard they don't die that easily..." She was about to walk away to the other set of doors, but then she seemed to think of something. "Hey wait! I have an interesting idea. What happens if I...?" She took Lance' arm and started towards the opened set of doors. Suddenly there was a deafening bang and all of jumped horribly, but most of all Lilly. When we looked at the doors, they were sealed shut again.
"Oh well." Lilly said with resignation. "Guess we'll have no choice." Lance put a comforting arm around her and she let him lead her to the other gateway without further resistance. When they were a few steps away, the doors in front of us opened again, slowly revealing the hallway behind it with a constant grinding noise.
Will and I looked at each other. "Let's go!" he said, taking my hand and we stepped in together. One last look to Lance, who waved back at us, then the doors closed behind us, plunging us into darkness.
I hope it will take me less time to write from now on, but bear with me if it doesn't. And once again I turn to you for inspiration: I need some more class names fitting together with the following three: Dreamer, Visionary and Utopist. Please tell me if you can think of something that fits in here.
I once again assure you, I am not inclined to stop writing this fic. In fact I'm pretty serious about it, serious enough to invent new classes, psynergies, items and other concepts that would fit seamlessly into the games if Camelot knew about them and chose to include them in a possible sequel. Heck, I even designed an Excel spreadsheet mimicking a status screen for my four heroes! I am also considering including excerpts of 'Kraden's Encyclopedia', which explains some of the terms and concepts of the Golden Sun world to people who are not familiar with it, but later on it might also feature new concepts and things I chose to add to this universe. Although I will have to be careful not to spoil things too early!
Tell me what you think of this idea. I'm looking forward to your comments and suggestions! Feel free to send your more elaborate comments or ideas to me at Quizer(at)gmx.de if you feel uncomfortable leaving reviews with a size of two pages and a half.
Oh, and if you're lucky, a bonus chapter might soon come your way, which will briefly take the view off our four main heroes to something that happened a while before the rise of the Golden Sun!
until then
Quizer