Where there's light...
Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun or any of the characters, I just like the games.
OK, so I lied. Instead of six days it turns out to be more like eighteen. Sorry! ) I didn't mean to have it delayed so long, but it was Christmas so I had presents and my own shopping to do, so I just didn't have time. However, once school starts again writing will be the most fun thing to do, so it'll be back to updating often. Plus, I've been a little depressed since my other fic got deleted. Fortunately, I wasn't into it much anyway, so I continue now with my better work!
Chapter Eight: Tundaria and the Third Revelation
Now the band of eight were set and ready for the next lighthouse. Jupiter Lighthouse was across Angara and Gondowan, so they set the ship to the sea between the two halves of Weyard. This channel was the easiest and best way to move between hemispheres.
It took five days, before the channel was sighted.
"There it is!" Picard cried out near evening on the fifth day. The two continents on either side of the channel were in view now.
"Near night though. Let's stop at the island in the middle until dawn." Suggested Ivan.
"And maybe get some supplies while were at it? Nothing but bad water and moldy biscuits left to eat." Garet sighed, glancing down at a weevil crawling through his meager meal.
They pulled up at the shore of the island two hours later. Over the two years apparently the island had gone from just one couple leaving in a shack to a new town. It was called Colina now and was thriving by the look of it.
"Whoa! This place really changed!" Jenna said. There was no port yet but about twenty-two houses could be seen from the boat. "It's a proper town!"
"Maybe they'll have an inn now," said Garet happily. "And proper food!"
"Garet, can't you think of anything else besides those biscuits?" Jenna asked, suddenly sounding annoyed.
"Well, they were disgusting, all there was to eat for three days!"
"Only because you ate the rest of the food, you pig!" Jenna shouted back.
"Oh for Sol's sake..." Sheba muttered. The other six adepts crept away without Jenna and Garet as they quickly dissolved into their weekly fight.
About a hundred yards away from the town Jenna and Garet caught up to them.
"How dare you leave me behind, you jerks?!" Jenna yelled the at the group.
"Yeah, and me-!""Shut up!" Jenna half-screamed at Garet. She then rounded on Isaac, much to his dismay.
"And you! You, of all people leaving me back there. What with your little speech back on the boat!"
"Speech? That was just me comforting you!" Isaac replied bewildered.
"Oh, comfort, was it?! So you didn't mean it!"
"What? I didn't say that!" Isaac floundered, his cheeks rapidly flushing as he struggled to leave the situation.
This continued a bit longer until Felix couldn't stand anymore. "Would you two shut up!? I've got a terrible headache now and relief is just a little further. PLEASE, continue this later, or preferably not at all!" Everyone looked at him then in silence. Slowly, Jenna released her choke-hold on her fiancee', which was fortunate as Isaac was starting to turn blue.
They continued this silence until they entered the town, where they then quietly figured out who would go where. They gathered supplies, got a room at the inn, and went to bed with no further mishaps.
In the morning they all gathered in the inn's dining room for a meal. The innkeeper tried to make some conversation.
"So, warriors, eh? Where ye come from?" he said in a heavy accent under a thick white beard.
"From Angara, Vale, Kalay and Imil towns." Isaac replied.
"Angara? The northern continent. Where ye headed?"
The adepts looked at each-other uncomfortably until Ivan responded.
"Well, er...to a destination in the Great Western Sea." He said lamely.
The innkeeper stopped drying off his beer mug.
"Well, you'll not have much luck, then. The channel between these two continents is blocked. The whole trade route's a dead end."
"WHAT?!" The party shouted, jerking up from the table, causing innocent water glasses to spill or break.
"Aye, a few months after the Great Lights appeared in the sky, the canyon collapsed, blocking the way. Whole mess extends fifty miles onto land and is two ship-lengths high. The only other way across now is through the South Sea off Tundaria."
The adepts stared blankly for a while, then quickly paid their bill and left for the ship.
"So what're we gonna do now?" Garet yelled to no-one in particular once on the ship.
"We could fly around it." Mia suggested.
"Too far, our psynergy will give out while we're still on land," Isaac replied.
"Fly over?" Sheba tried.
"Too high." Felix grumbled.
"Then we go to Tundaria," Ivan said firmly. "It's all we can do."
"The waters there are very treacherous, and it's very cold. There's no guarantee we can survive there." Picard said dejectedly.
"Well, we find a way. We've traveled through worse, like the sea leading to Prox." Ivan persisted.
"Oh, just stop arguing and let's go!" Jenna cried out. Seeing as no-one wanted to argue with her, they quickly cast off and made their way back out of the channel.
It was a long journey, taking nearly two weeks, but the weather gradually become colder and colder until the snow-covered land of Tundaria could be seen.
"Land ho!" Mia cried out happily from the crow's nest.
"Great, now let's just keep going." Jenna grumbled, trying to find something on the ship to burn that wouldn't destroy the ship. Finding nothing, she sat down on the deck and curled up. Shortly Isaac went with her and they huddled together against the cold.
Garet lay belowdecks, coughing badly with a high fever and chills. He apparently didn't deal with cold well.
After a few more hours, a small hut could be seen.
"Hey, someone lives here!" Sheba called out.
The stopped the ship against the least rocky landing they could find and walked over to the hut, Garet coughing and sneezing all the way.
They knocked on the hut door to reveal a little old woman inside.
"My goodness! You all must be freezing! Come in, come in." The old woman said.
The hut was small, with a warm fire in the hearth and a young man cooking something over it. The old woman motioned them to sit by the fire, which they gratefully did.
"Now, then. Why are you undertaking such a dangerous quest as destroying the five demons?"
The adepts looked at her in shock. Ivan stammered "Y-Your...an adept?!"
The old woman nodded kindly. "Indeed. I am the Wind Witch, Scande. I've lived here for many, many years with my husband, Marlen. He was once a famous Earth adept, but we came here to live in solitude. This here is our son, Joseph. A fire adept."
Joseph looked up momentarily, said hello, then went back to tending the food.
The party looked very confused by all this information. Felix, however, seemed to recover quickest. "If, you know about this...can you help us?"
Scande looked up thoughtfully.
"I can't...but Marlen can. He's probably on the Wisdom tree south of here. You could wait for his return in two months, or go see him now."
"We'll go now, I think." Jenna said quickly.
Scande then said. "Follow the road you'll find outside the cottage. You will come to a forest devoid of enemies or bad intention. In the center of this pine forest a great tree stands with one side missing bark. Climb this tree to the top to find Marlen."
After a moment, she added. "You, the man with the fire for hair, come here."
Garet sniffed, then walked over to the old woman.
She mumbled something, then widened her eyes and made a motion with her hands.
Garet stumbled back, then brightened.
"I'm cured! No more fever! Thank you!" Garet cried happily. With everyone healthy and refreshed, the party set out for the forest.
After about tow hours of hiking and fighting, they entered the forest. Fiends stood just outside the boughs of the trees, snarling and growling, but apparently unable to cross the threshold.
Here it was oddly warm, with a feeling that made one feel very peaceful and quiet. They walked in silence until they came upon a large tree.
One side had no bark.
Summoning their strength, Felix and Isaac raised giant vines around the tree. Then the adepts climbed up the vines. After a few minutes they arrived at a wooden platform.
Their an old man wearing nothing but a white cloth around his midsection sat meditating. He had a long white beard and mustache and his head was bald.
"Urm, excuse me" Mia called out.
The man opened one eye.
"Are you Marlen?" Mia continued.
"Indeed. What do you wish to know about your quest?" Marlen said, both eyes open now.
Ivan answered this part. "Sir, we know the old legend and about the five demons. But we need to know more. What do we do after the fifth demon is destroyed?"
Marlen seemed to smile under his beard. "Ah yes. The Ancient Prophesy of Alchemy. Yes, I'm grateful you young-un's broke the seal, so in gratitude I shall tell you what will happen.
When the last demon is destroyed at the Ankhol Ruins, the legendary spear Gungnir will appear in a stone slab where Sol Sanctum was. Before claiming the spear however, you must fight the Evil One's most loyal servant. Once destroyed, remove the spear to travel to the Evil One's dimension, there to fight him. Once he is thwarted, Weyard will be safe again for five hundred years, at which time new heroes will rise to save us. Believe my words." Marlen then closed his eyes again.
Ivan seemed troubled. "But, Marlen?"
The old man raised an eye brow.
"What do we do with the Gungnir? Who is this Evil One? Why does he keep returning? And why?..."
"Hush, Ivan. You ask too many questions! All these you must find out for yourselves. Your young naiveté is astounding to me."
Picard seemed to stiffen at this. "Master Marlen, I beg your pardon, but I think that I am a much older man than you are."
Marlen chuckled at this. "A Lemurian, eh? Believe me, Picard, your paltry fifteen-hundred years is nothing compared to my age."
Then he grew serious again.
"I understand the way to continue your quest is blocked. Do not worry, I shall aid you." He then shut his eyes again and began breathing deeply.
After a while, nothing happened. "Um, si-" Jenna began. But before she could finish, there was a sudden tug at the adepts feet. There was a blackout, and then they found themselves just off the coast of Hesperia, looking at Jupiter lighthouse in the evening twilight.
"...What just happened?" Sheba asked.
"He must've teleported us here." Felix replied.
"Such power..." Isaac said quietly.
The ship bobbed up and down in the surf for a while before Jenna spoke, this time with a grin on her face.
"So, Picard, one thousand, five hundred years old, eh?"
Picard groaned to himself.
There! Finally done! I am SOO sorry for this wait, but I couldn't help myself! By the way, I've forgotten the names of the two continents west of Angara and Gondowan, so can someone let me know what they are? (I think the one where Jupiter Lighthouse is is Hesperia). Thnx for you patience, R&R.