Man, I totally crack up every time I write the word "Babilon". It's SUCH a blatant ripoff of Babylon.
I haven't said this at all yet, but I, like, totally don't own Golden Sun or anything.
AND I FINALLY BEAT THE DOOM DRAGON! WHOO! You'll notice all sorts of references to those ending scenes now that I was incapable of writing before.
Oh, and two points if you can figure out the meaning of the chapter's title.
Chapter 5: As If From a Dream
Isaac sighed and stared at the ceiling from his bed. Mia's question had provoked contemplation he didn't want or need. I'm Isaac of Vale, he told himself. I'm the Earth Adept who helped release Alchemy… I'm the hero that prevented Weyard from crumbling into oblivion…
Somehow none of these portrayed him anymore. The hero that saved all of Weyard was also the hero that ruthlessly slaughtered countless innocents who had taken part in an uprising against Babi in Prox?
"Agh, why did you have to do that, Mia?" he groaned. He had approximately a week left of his life. He needed to spend his precious time plotting his escape, not questioning his existence.
There came a knock on his door. "Name yourself," he demanded, not feeling like getting up and crossing the room to answer the door. He received no more than another knock in reply. Isaac sat up angrily. "I said state your name!" he repeated. Silence.
"Fine, fine," he grumbled, standing and making his way to the door, "but when I open that door, you're gonna be introduced to my—"
The hydraulics hissed and the thick slab of metal parted revealing a girl a couple years younger than himself with pale flaxen hair and emerald eyes. An amethyst gem served as her brooch where the topaz did Isaac's, indicating that she was a Jupiter Adept.
Sheba? Isaac thought. No… Well, if it is her, she'll just read my mind and—
"And respond to what you're thinking?" the girl smiled, completing Isaac's train of though aloud. "It's a been a long time, Isaac. Babi's had me working left and right, leaving me nary a moment to try and find you. …What's wrong? Aren't you happy to see me?"
He was. The Venus Adept was truly happy to see his friend again, completely unchanged from when he last saw her; Mia's age had startled him and given him doubts. Despite his happiness, however, Isaac could find no smile to present to his friend. He expression remained stoic and his eyes stared ahead stonily.
"I'm sorry, Sheba," he muttered, turning back into his room and seating himself upon the mattress. "I'm sure you understand, though. You can read my mind without even showing that you're trying to do such a thing."
The young Adept shook her head and walked forward to stand before Isaac. "Your mind is hazy with confusion, anger, and sadness. You aren't the same Isaac that I left after the Golden Sun rose. You're a different person entirely coincidentally inhabiting the same body my friend once did. You abandoned your friends and your humanity…"
"Oh, so now I abandoned you?" Isaac concluded. "I willingly left my destroyed town and deserted my closest friends to serve a self-righteous old fool whose greed is matched only by his cruelty? I'm so sorry, Sheba. So sorry indeed."
Sheba growled in frustration. "You decided on your own will that you'd never see us again. You gave up on your own terms. You accepted Babi's control over you without question," she explained. "I'm not blaming you for what has happened. I'm blaming you for what you've let yourself become as a result."
"Well then I'm so freaking sorry that I didn't see any of you for a thousand years! My deepest apologies that I was forced to serve in a war and grow accustomed to killing people! I suppose it's all my fault that I would be severely punished if I didn't take lives!" the boy raved. Sheba sighed.
"You're right, Isaac," she said sarcastically. "It's not your fault that you gave up on fighting for what's right as you always have." She turned to leave, then said over her shoulder, "I'm going to look for the others. I hope to see the real Isaac in a couple of days. I haven't given up, Isaac of Babilon."
The door slid closed. Isaac listened as the footsteps grew faint and disappeared. He threw himself backwards, resuming his state of staring at the ceiling. Had he really changed so much? Even after all that time, he still thought of himself as Isaac of Vale. However, Sheba seemed to notice the same thing Mia had.
"Just because my personality has changed a little doesn't make me a totally different person," he mumbled to himself. He thought back to the Proxian War and the things he had done in that frozen wasteland. It was five hundred years ago; Babi was solidifying his control over Weyard and Prox wasn't about to let him come into power so easily. The nation of Mars Adepts heard tales of his wrath and was determined to stop him. Babi got word of the rebellion immediately and dispatched his Adept army, Isaac among them. At that point he was a moderately-ranked soldier: just another run-of-the-mill Adept.
Prox's defense was incredible; they're psynergy was highly advanced and their warriors were skilled in battle. Babi's forces were being driven away. As Isaac watched his comrades fall, each of them an innocent Adept forced into the war just like him, he grew enraged. The Proxians were clueless. They were just fighting because they didn't like Babi, and they didn't care who they had to kill to keep him away from them.
As Lauren, a gentle Venus Adept Isaac had befriended, was downed, the boy completely forgot that Prox was the country that had kept Felix and his parents safe. With his most powerful psynergies and his nine Djinn, he single-handedly overwhelmed the Proxian forces. He finished with a summon of Judgment, annihilating all of Prox. What remained of the Adept army cheered Isaac's name, and he was presented the title of Hero upon his return to Babilon as well as awarded the position of commander.
Isaac tried to recall the moment when Judgment collided with Prox. He remembered the terrified screams of women and children, and he clearly recollected seeing people fleeing their homes and trying desperately to outrun the horrifying attack. A young girl had tripped in the snow, and he narrowed his eyes in remorse as he remembered watching her small body rip and tear under the force of his Djinn.
He had never felt any regret for his actions until now. To think that very same town was the one that had told him they were forever in his debt, that they would always remember him.
"And now they'll always remember me for being Babi's puppet of destruction…"
Isaac sat upright and glanced out the window. It was late, and dark clouds were gathering around the full moon, promising rain later that night. Babi may have found eternal life, but he was still old. He would have retired to bed by this point. The Adept removed the topaz brooch and tied his cloak in a knot to maintain its form as he used to wear it. He removed the electronic hilt from his pocket and found his old Excalibur that had been returned to him after the Proxian War.
He summoned Flint to the palm of his hand and eyed the creature curiously.
"My friend, you have been with me for all this time, yet you've never said a word to me," he commented. "Why, Flint? You spoke to me when we first met, and you'd often tell me things during our journey, but since I've had to work for Babi, I haven't heard you say a thing."
"If you are a servant, then I am no more than a tool," the Djinni grumbled. "And I am no tool. I am an ancient creature of great power, and where that power was once used to save lives, now you use it to take them."
Isaac sighed and averted his gaze. "It's almost as if for all this time I've been asleep, and now, as I can feel my life fading, I'm waking up. What I've done is wrong. What Babi's done, more so. I won't allow myself to die until I've corrected this situation," he vowed. Flint flashed momentarily, and the topaz lying on Isaac's bed flickered in response. A golden glow surrounded it, and the gem now looked more brilliant than it ever had.
"What's this?" the Adept question, turning the jewel over in his hands as Flint watched from his new perch on Isaac's shoulder.
"That," the creature replied, "is the Star of Venus."
Isaac whipped his head towards the Djinni, then turned back to the item in his hand. "No," he breathed. "That was cast into the Venus Lighthouse. I saw it myself. How is it here now?"
Flint beamed. "It's always been with you, Isaac," he explained. "It was the Wise One's final gift. It contains the essence of the Golden Sun, or at least some of it. Your heart was so clouded with hate that it couldn't be revealed to you before. But, like you said, you're waking up. Use its power well." The Djinni vanished until Isaac needed it again. The boy dug the Mythril Bag he was surprised to still have out of his old belongings and placed the Star within, securing the bag tightly shut and putting it in his pocket.
The door abruptly opened, Iodem standing before it.
"Isaac, you are to see Babi immediately. He says it's urgent." Without another word the man departed, leaving the Earth Adept startled. Babi was awake? Then… had he caught wind of what Isaac had obtained? He decided not to jump to conclusions and headed to Babi's quarters. The massive doors were already open, and he could see that were several other top-ranking officers within. Isaac feared the worst.
"Come in, already," the haggard old man demanded. "And shut the door behind you." Isaac did as he was told and stood at the back of the congregation. Several of the officers raised an eyebrow; the young Adept had earned a reputation for not taking anything from anyone and always forcing his way to the head of things. His current behavior was curious at the least.
"It's late and I'm tired, so I'm not going to mince words with you," Babi barked bitterly. "Garoh is assembling an army with the intent to attack Babilon. I'm sending only my best, and I want you all to get it done and over with quickly so I can go to bed. Isaac!"
The addressed raised his hand. Many of the others in the room were much taller than him. "I'm putting you in charge of this outfit. Everyone, go to the weapons storage and pick something merciless. Head directly to the transportation units; no dilly-dallying," Babi commanded, waving a hand to dismiss the assembly. The officers responded with a "sir yes sir" and filed out of the room. Isaac had chosen a fine place to stand; he was at the back of the crowd during the briefing and left the room first, giving Babi no opportunity whatsoever to notice anything different about him, such as the fact that he was carrying his old sword instead of his new one forged by Alchemy.
Since the Venus Adept already had a weapon on hand, he headed directly for large door in the back of the weapons cellar. This passageway resembled the one he had seen in Sol Sanctum so long ago, and by simply changing a few configurations on the nearby console it could take one anywhere they desired. Isaac set the coordinates for Garoh and stepped through, finding himself standing before what hardly looked like the small army Babi had made it out to be.
"Babi's forces have arrived!" the head of the entourage declared. "Forward, men! For Garoh and for all of Weyard!"
A sudden chill descended upon Isaac as he took his sword to hand. These people were innocent. They just wanted Babi gone, and their battle plan was their last desperate attempt at such a feat. Isaac lowered his sword and raised his hand, palm out, in greeting.
"That's Babi's top warrior, the one who wiped out all of Prox without lifting a finger!" one of the warriors warned. The Earth Adept blinked and stood still, momentarily confounded. He didn't even know the people of Garoh had knowledge of Prox's existence.
Before he could react, one of Garoh's infamous werewolves rammed him head on and sank its fangs into Isaac's arm. Or this was at least its intention, as its teeth were met by the impenetrable steel plates grafted into the boy's skin. A fighter impaled him with a spear from behind, and Isaac stumbled backwards.
While the boy came meaning no harm, the sudden attack immersed him anew in the nightmare that was his bloodthirst. He gripped the hilt of his sword tightly, and the metal seemed to sing for a moment. He raised it above his head, and a swirling vortex appeared in response. It was Excalibur's true might: Legend.
Spears of light rained forth from the portal, and the soldiers darted about trying to dodge them. But wherever the projectiles collided, huge explosions occurred, leaving the men without hope for escape. Someone grabbed Isaac from behind, causing him to drop his sword, and the attack halted as a result. Two-thirds of the army was demolished. The rest of them screamed for reinforcements as Isaac struggled against whomever held him.
"Let me go! Let go of me!" he demanded angrily.
"Not until you see what you're doing!" came the person's reply. "Open your eyes, Isaac! Stop this madness! I've been serving Babi longer than you, but do you see me behaving in such a manner? These people are helpless!"
"Oh, a traitor?" Isaac growled. He focused his psynergy and the ground trembled. The earth beneath them split, golden light leaking through. His foe released him in shock, and he darted out of the way of the massive Mother Gaia.
The Venus Adept whipped around to see which of his fellow soldiers had betrayed him. A young man stood in the center of the volcano of light, his arms crossed in front of his face to shield his head from the rocks soaring from the depths of the earth. Isaac narrowed his eyes. There was a small blue creature bearing a slight resemblance to a crab perched upon the man's head, and it was emitting an azure light that engulfed the proximity.
This creature was a Mercury Djinni—most likely Shade, one of the three Djinn that could create protective barriers.
But there were only eight people in all of Weyard with Djinn, and only two with those of the Mercury variety. As the light from Mother Gaia died down, the Lemurian warrior stood upon the fractured ground.
"Surprised to see me still alive after that?" Piers inquired aloofly.
Ooooohh, it's everyone's favorite Lemurian dude. So where's he been? Didn't Mia mention how he came and left abruptly during his visits? And what's all this about "I've been serving Babi longer than you"? So much for five chapters.
There is a reason they went to Garoh. Or… there was. I sort of scrapped the last page of the chapter and rewrote it. Hehe… Now they're just there because werewolves are awesome.
Please review and give me the will to make that July 31 deadline! PLEASE! And if you can think of a better summary that will get more people to read this (personally, if I hadn't written this and I was browsing for Golden Sun fanfiction, I wouldn't click something with a summary like this one), please DO feel free to share.