How long has it been? Weeks? Months? Months. And now I disappoint all fans of Age of Queens and Dog Days and Our Class Will Steal the Mascot and WTF and Shadows and all that by…
Posting a new story.
The cause of my seeminly unprovoked absence? DeviantART. I'm pretty sure there's a link in my profile. Though as much as you want to curse that website for stealing me away, thank it a thousand times more for bringing me back.
I now present a Golden Sun story that may contain spoilers as it takes place after the end of Golden Sun II. For all practical purposes (and the fact that I'm a part of the American audience), I will refer to our Lemurian friend as Piers, not Picard.
Golden Sun is copyright to Camelot, plot is copyright to me. As we say on deviantART, steal and die.
Chapter 1: Unexpected Visit
As spring arrived, bringing with it the light of the sun, the land warmed. This season was proving to be an exceptionally hot one; while spring had officially started only a week past, the temperatures were already rivaling those of midsummer. A certain group of companions was especially displeased with this as they spent all day every day outside helping to repair the ruined town of Vale.
A boy with unruly golden hair and crystal blue eyes perched atop the thatched roof of his dwelling. He grinned to himself in sarcastic amusement. Not six months ago had he been performing the very same task. All that was before his journey had begun. Now, after returning from that journey, he and a select few of his friends were aiding the town of Vale which had been destroyed upon Alchemy's release.
Felix and Jenna could be seen a distance away making repairs to their own home. Garet, however, was nowhere in sight. Isaac groaned inwardly. If Garet wasn't working with the others, that meant he was off plotting some devious prank.
At that precise moment, a horrific shriek filled the air and darkness covered the town as the sun was eclipsed by none other than…
Garet, wielding the Viking Ax he had received in Yallam's forgery.
Isaac yelped in surprise and rolled out of the way as Garet's ax blade came down on the place he had been a mere fraction of a second prior. Felix lifted his head momentarily to see what was going on, then turned back to his work, chuckling and shaking his head. Jenna decided to take a brief break and watched the mock battle with interest.
"Garet, what in the name of all that is freaking good are you doing!" the blonde boy snarled, gesturing to the destroyed patch of the roof. This area in particular was one that Isaac had just recently mended. His only reply was an insidious smirk as Garet charged at him, screaming his wordless battle cry. Isaac sighed and stepped aside, letting his apparent foe race right off the side of the roof. He peered down to make sure his friend was wholly uninjured.
The redheaded boy sprang up and spewed a random string of gibberish. However, this gibberish was spewed quite threateningly, and Isaac responded by raising an eyebrow. He twitched a finger and effortlessly performed the Lift psynergy to suspend Garet in midair.
"What on earth are you doing?" he asked again, this time far more coolly. The Fire Adept chuckled nervously.
"Just having a little fun, bud," he answered with an embarrassed shrug. Jenna heaved a sigh and turned around to help her brother erect a fallen pillar. Isaac released his psynergy and also got back to work. Garet, seeing his attempt to divert his best friend from his labor had failed, trudged back to his house to assist his siblings in cleaning the debris from his house. Their home had been largely spared.
The villagers worked into the night, and even though the Adepts' skills were very useful, it didn't appear they were making a great deal of progress. Isaac groaned, finding himself stiff from leaning over miscellaneous roofs all day, and climbed down the ladder he had left out for himself. He looked towards the horizon to watch the sun's scarlet curtain fall away from the sky, but this was interrupted by a band of soldiers.
"Isaac of Vale!" the man at the head of the brigade summoned loudly. Those villagers remaining outside turned and looked at the boy whose name had been called. Isaac stood still for a moment. He recognized the man to be one of Babi's attendants.
His fists clenched at his bitter memories of that man. Apart from demanding Isaac participate in Tolbi's Colosso event, he had kidnapped an innocent in order to force an entire town into slavery. And all this was so he could obtain the Lemurian Draught, the mystic potion that had enabled him to live much longer than any human should. In a kind of sick addiction, Babi's fear of death constantly drove him to locate more of the Draught despite the consequences to others. If his representative was visiting Vale, it could only mean further trouble for the already-ailing town.
Slowly, cautiously Isaac approached the men, their armor dancing in the sun's dying light. The head soldier removed his helmet. Instantly Isaac recognized him as Iodem. The boy nodded in silent, dignified greeting.
"It grows late, so I'd prefer not to waste light over idle chatter," Iodem said sternly. "Thus I will cut to the chase. Lord Babi requests your presence in Tolbi."
"Tolbi?" Isaac repeated. He glanced over his shoulder. Vale still desperately needed repairs, and he had no intention of leaving it in that state. "I'm sorry. Tell Babi that I will not leave my village until it has been restored."
Iodem cleared his throat and the soldiers stepped aside, revealing a crowd of accomplished carpenters and craftsmen. "Lord Babi has instructed me to leave this crew of men to work in your absence," he explained. Isaac bit his lip as he surveyed the men. They would more than compensate for him if he were to leave. Though he knew it would only come back to bite him, Isaac reluctantly agreed to make the trip to Tolbi in the morning.
The night was still young, and the Earth Adept ventured to Garet's house for a chat. The larger boy had seen Babi at his worst and would probably disapprove altogether, but it was this very same knowledge that made him more comfortable to speak with on the matter. They had both witnessed Babi's selfishness and cruelty, and they had both suffered from the Colosso fiasco.
Isaac gently rapped his knuckles against the door, his eyes downcast. The door swung open and he basked in the flood of light given off from the lamps within. Garet stood there, an amiable grin plastered on his face.
"Hey, pal! What's up?" he greeted. Isaac smiled feebly. He realized that he was feeling quite uneasy about going to see Babi alone. Garet noticed his pensive behavior immediately. "Is something wrong?" he inquired.
Isaac gave a meek chuckle as the knot in his stomach tightened. He had only survived Colosso because his friends had rigged the matches in his favor. "I wouldn't exactly say that something's not wrong…"
Garet's mother prepared hot tea for the boys and herself, though she chose to enjoy hers in a separate room. Isaac stared at the steam emanating from the cup in a silence which his friend soon broke.
"What's the problem?" he asked quietly. His eyes widened as he imagined the worst. "Your mom's okay, right? And your dad?"
Isaac nodded stiffly. "They're fine," he assured, his blue eyes still glued to the tea that he had not yet even touched. "It's just that… Iodem came by a while ago. Apparently Babi wants to see me in Tolbi tomorrow."
The boy's eyes grew wide with shock as Garet muttered a string of curse words at the mention of the elderly man's name. "You didn't agree to meet with him, did you!" he barked. Isaac averted his gaze and nodded. Garet continued his senseless rant of curses until finally his friend felt the need to ask.
"Where in all of Weyard did you hear words like that?" he questioned. Garet snorted.
"Between my grandpa and Jenna, it wasn't easy not to work a few of them into my vocabulary," he replied with a smirk. He growled and shook his head suddenly. "Don't change the subject on me!" he admonished. "Why does that son of fruit cup want to talk to you anyway?"
Isaac laughed at the choice of words and shrugged. "Iodem didn't say. I promise I won't get myself into any trouble, though," he said. Somehow speaking the vow to someone other than himself made him all the more confident in the statement. Garet grinned.
"Well, you better not," he advised, "'cause if you get in any sort of trouble at all, I'm not hauling my butt down to Tolbi just to save yours."
They finished their tea with a little lighthearted conversation regarding the state of Weyard and Vale, as well as their thoughts pertaining to their other companions. Mia had returned to Imil to continue caring for the sick, and Piers had sailed back to Lemuria to report their success to the king. Ivan and Sheba went to Contigo to study the ruins. None of them were anywhere near Tolbi, so if Isaac wound up entwined in some odd adventure, he'd be on his own. This thought the Earth Adept kept to himself.
As the crickets began their serenade to the moon, Isaac excused himself, wishing his companion a good night's rest. The most difficult task still lay ahead of him: explaining to his mother and father that he would be leaving just a couple of weeks after being reunited with them. His eyes studied the ground as he walked across it. When he entered his house, armed with any number of reasons why he mustn't stay, he was surprised to find that his parents had both already gone to bed. Having expected to leave at daybreak, this posed a challenge to Isaac. He finally decided to write them a note.
He found a sheet of paper and a pen and carefully worded his letter, clearly entailing that he planned to return by the next evening. He concluded his explanation and set the paper on the dining table so they'd be sure to find it. Isaac threw himself down in the living room's armchair and closed his eyes with a sigh. He was tired from working all day in the sun, but he was growing much too nervous to sleep.
The boy sat up and held out his hand before himself, palm facing up. A golden light flashed, revealing Flint, his first Djinni. The endearing creature captivated him for a moment, a smile playing across his lips.
"Hello, there, my little friend," he greeted. The creature shook itself violently and stretched, then began grooming its thin, silky fur. Isaac patted Flint's head, receiving an irritated glare that evoked a chuckle in response. The Djinni took its place upon Isaac's shoulder, well out of the way of his stroking hand. The Adept sighed and closed his eyes again. He intended to stick to his plan of leaving at morning's first breath of light.
Sleep soon claimed his troubled mind as moonbeams broke through the window, basking him in their ethereal light.
Review as you find necessary, friends. By the way, it gets more sci-fi later on.