Whew, is it just me, or are these chapters getting longer?
I really, I mean REALLY don't want to start forcing myself to write, but I've gotta meet that end-of-the-month deadline. Well, this time we have some angsteh Isaac, a fight scene, more angsteh Isaac, and dialogue. Lots and lots of dialogue.
I hate writing dialogue. I absolutely hate when the characters get into a conversation. But who am I to tell them to shut up? That's no way to write a story.
Chapter 6: Isaac of Vale
"Piers," Isaac breathed. He regained his composure and his expression hardened. "Just what are you doing!"
"What am I doing?" the Water Adept repeated. "I could ask you the same. These people aren't trying to hurt you, and you—"
"They're not trying to hurt me! Oh, is that what this is?" Isaac questioned sarcastically, gesturing to the bleeding wound through his shoulder. "This is them 'not trying to hurt me'? I had no idea!"
"Would you please stop?" Piers implored. "My patience has its limits. They aren't trying to hurt you. They just want to get rid of Babi. They don't know or care who you are."
Isaac glanced over his shoulder at the battle raging. Many had already fallen. Many more were going down. Cries of agony and the stench of blood filled the air. The Adepts were outnumbered, but the villagers lacked skill or experience. It was already growing clear that the people of Garoh were faring horribly.
"Stop," Isaac whispered. He clenched his hands into fists. "I SAID STOP!"
The words ricocheted off the cliff face, echoing through the canyon. The Adept soldiers and desperate townspeople halted their conflict in shock and stared at the young commander.
"Where is the captain of Garoh's army?" he demanded. A middle-aged man wielding a spear that also acted as a rifle stepped forth.
Isaac nodded in greeting. "Disband your forces and we will leave," he promised.
"Like we're going to believe that from the mouth of one of Babi's murderous lapdogs," the man scoffed.
It was precisely this kind of insult that Isaac couldn't stand: being underestimated. He lifted Excalibur, it's point buried in the ground like a tree, and held it to the man's throat in a single fluid motion.
"You will believe me or you will die now," he warned venomously. Piers placed a restraining hand on the boy's uninjured shoulder.
"Isaac, that's no way to earn trust," he reprimanded. The Earth Adept spun around on his heel, and suddenly it was the Lemurian who was faced with the lethal blade.
"Trust is a funny thing," Isaac murmured. "I trusted my friends to come for me when I thought there was no way out. I trusted myself to hang on until they did. But no one ever came."
Piers frowned. "Surely Mia told you… Everyone went looking. Everyone was apprehended by Babi," he reminded.
"Not you!"
The accused stifled a gasp as the shining silver was pressed against his skin.
"Mia told me how everyone tried to help, except you. She said you were nowhere in sight. She said you disappeared."
Piers smiled lightly and tried to push the sword's edge away from him, but Isaac refused him this and tightened his grasp on the hilt. "A few days after we all parted ways, I heard a rumor that Babi was up to something. The King of Lemuria told me that I should investigate my suspicions, so I became a spy for my country and joined his forces. This was long before you were involved."
"So you were Babi's right-hand man from the start?" the boy concluded, receiving a stiff nod in reply. He lowered his blade briefly, then suddenly raised it again and swung it like a bat. The broad, flat side collided with the side of Piers' face, catching him off guard knocking him to the ground.
"So you knew he was after me before Iodem even came to Vale!" Isaac shouted furiously. Piers raised his hand in defense.
"Please, Isaac. I didn't…"
"YOU LIE!"
The boy extended his hand before him as an ominous glow enveloped it. Piers summoned Shade to his side, but the small Djinni was enveloped with a light yellow aura, indicating it was still recovering from its last use. Two spires of golden light formed on either side of Isaac, soon taking the form of massive swords.
Piers' eyes widened in dread when he recognized the psynergy. The young Earth Adept, absorbed in his rage, conducted the shining blades with his own. His former ally attempted to roll out of the way as the first sliced through the air with power enough to make all the mountain tremble. The Lemurian's fortune was not as he had hoped, and the first wave of the devastating Odyssey hit him full-force.
The man staggered to his feet and brushed his hand across his chin to wipe away the trail of blood. Isaac launched the second sword at him and, exhausted from the previous Mother Gaia and now this, Piers could do little if anything to dodge. An earth-shattering explosion was the result of the impact.
The Mercury Adept lie upon the ground, his chest rising and falling as he drew in deep gasps of air. A third sword of light appeared, adhering itself to Isaac's Excalibur, and the boy charged forth to strike. Piers forced himself to remain calm and triggered his psynergy.
A shield of ice appeared before him: Glacier, manipulated into what Piers needed it to be. Isaac, having fought alongside the Lemurian many times in the past, adapted his own form of Diamond Berg and sliced through the ice to his target. Fortunately, by the time it reached Piers, the strength of the attack had dwindled. The man took the blow, hoping the armor grafted into his torso would serve its purpose well.
Isaac propelled himself backwards, and Piers was delighted to find that he had weathered the attack with minimal damage. He turned his gaze fiercely to his apparent foe, who smirked in reply. The boy pointed up smugly, and Piers stifled a cry of shock. The remnants of his Glacier psynergy had fractured into sharp wedges that now plummeted from the heavens to deliver his doom.
With great agility the Water Adept danced out of the way of the falling spears of ice. It seemed Isaac had dissected the shield with great care as well as swiftness; even a mere grazing of the pieces warranted deep cuts.
When the remainder of the Glacier had at last fallen, the ground was littered with large bricks of ice. The normally crisp whites and blues of said ice were dyed scarlet with blood, and the owner of that blood stood waveringly, holding an especially severe gash on his forearm. Isaac approached the debilitated man nonchalantly and placed the tip of his sword against Piers' neck.
"Farewell, Piers of Lemuria," he whispered, drawing the blade back in preparation to deal the final blow.
"Wait," the Mercury Adept groaned. "Isaac, please… Is this how you want to go down? You have a week left to live; are you really going to spend these precious few days boasting to Babi about having killed a traitor?"
Isaac blinked and held his sword in an opportune position but did not strike. He lowered his gaze to the ground. "You don't understand," he muttered.
"That's because you haven't told me," Piers chuckled. He cast a quick Pure Ply to replenish his energy and hauled himself off the ground. Isaac made no move to apprehend him. "Garoh's forces have retreated. Why don't we just go back to Babilon for now?"
The Venus Adept nodded once, his eyes still locked to the earth. His shoulders slumped in surrender, and lifelessly he allowed himself to be guided to the transportation portal the other soldiers had opened.
The castle was quiet. Normally Babi was there to greet his men when they returned from a battle. Confused but not disappointed, the warriors shrugged it off and returned to their respective quarters.
"Isaac, get some rest tomorrow," Piers suggested. "I'll round up the others. Don't forget: we're to meet in the training room day after tomorrow."
The boy nodded slowly and seemed to almost glide back to his room. His steps were languid and deliberate, as though he were sleep-walking.
When he reached his chamber, he collapsed upon his bed, staring blankly at the wall before him. Before long sleep claimed him, and for the first time in hundreds of years he dreamed of his friends. More specifically, he dreamed of Garet.
"Looks like you're being a real idiot, huh, bud?" the Fire Adept smirked cockily. Isaac glanced sharply about himself. They were standing in Vale, or at least what appeared to be Vale. The buildings were abandoned, many charred by fire. The ground was hard and barren like scorched stone. It wasn't at all a welcoming sight to behold of one's hometown.
"Yeah, I guess Vale didn't fare so well," the redheaded boy shrugged.
"What are you talking about?" Isaac inquired. He was startled by the sound of his voice. Somehow it seemed… younger.
"Babi burned the place to the ground as soon as he got his hands on Felix and Jenna. He didn't have any more use for the place," Garet explained.
"And my parents?" the Earth Adept asked worriedly.
"Kyle and Dora?" Specters in their visage appeared as their names were stated, though they faded shortly after. "Dead in the fire. They tried to get out, but the house basically fell in around them."
Isaac's heart sank. "So… Babi murdered them…"
"In a way, I guess," Garet shrugged. He noticed that his pococurante behavior seemed to be upsetting his friend.
"Look, I'm sorry I couldn't be more supportive, but when you're dead for, like, a thousand years…"
"It's okay," Isaac said meekly. "Maybe I should just wake up now…"
"Ah, so you know it's a dream?" Garet presumed. The blonde boy nodded in response. "Well, then why don't you talk to your parents?"
Isaac raised an eyebrow. "'Cause… they're not here?"
"Well, if that's how you want to think of it…"
The surroundings began to fade, Garet with them.
"Wait! Where are you going?" the Earth Adept called.
"You're waking up…"
Isaac bolted upright in his bed. The sky was as satin, tinted with the pinks and blues of dawn. The boy got the feeling that he hadn't slept for merely a few hours, but rather that plus an entire day. "Appointments," he said loudly. There came a small beep.
"Appointment with Mia. Location: training room. Time: thirty-one minutes and fifteen seconds," an electronic voice informed. Isaac groaned and stood from the mattress. He could think of nothing to occupy his time for half an hour more, so he grabbed Excalibur and headed straight for the training room. Upon his arrival, it appeared that everyone else also had trouble finding something else to do. Isaac was the last to arrive.
The atmosphere of the room changed greatly as he entered. Where there wasn't a sigh of relief, there was instead a smile of greeting. Felix sat upon a metallic bench in the center of the chamber, running his hand over Sol Blade, his old brand. Jenna, perched over her brother's shoulder, grinned brightly. Ivan and Sheba sat to the side, watching, and Piers and Mia stood as if they had been pacing.
Felix's emerald brooch flashed once and eight lights surrounded him. This occurred to all present except Isaac, who had removed his brooch. He felt a sudden warmth in his pocket and drew the Mythril Bag forth. He drew it open and his own Djinn emerged in a burst of light. The creatures swarmed about one another with great pleasure; they had apparently missed their comrades greatly.
"Well, Isaac, long time no see," Felix greeted with a nod.
"Tch, that's putting it bluntly," Jenna scoffed.
"I was worried something had happened to you in the Proxian War," Ivan smiled.
"Something did happen," Sheba muttered.
"Isaac, are you back to normal?" Mia asked.
"Feeling better now?" Piers said with concern.
They all began talking at once, questioning or otherwise replying to each other's comments. Isaac chuckled to himself and drew the topaz gem forth from the Mythril Bag. Jenna recognized it immediately.
"Isn't that…?"
"The Star of Venus?" Mia interrupted, awestruck.
"But Saturos threw that into the Venus Lighthouse," Felix reminisced.
"He did," Isaac confirmed. "But Flint told me that it contains the essence of the Golden Sun, and that the Wise one gave it to me to keep it away from Alex."
"That makes sense," Ivan reflected, "to a certain degree. I mean, if he wanted to keep Alex from getting to it, you think he would have put it somewhere safer. You know, somewhere where Alex had absolutely no chance of finding it. He could have just attacked you at any time."
"It makes perfect sense," Sheba said. "The Wise One probably knew all of this would happen."
Isaac closed his hand firmly around the gem.
"And he knew we'd need it to set things right."
"So you really intend to overthrow Babi," Piers determined, a hint of remorse lingering on his voice. Mia tilted her head in curiosity.
"Piers, you sound almost… disappointed," she noticed. Piers shook his head.
"Disappointed, no. Putting an end to that tyrant will benefit all of Weyard. I am merely… perturbed. If the Wise One knew we'd need the Star of Venus now, then he knew events would unfold as they have, yet he didn't as much as warn us."
"He said time and time again that he couldn't interfere with humanity," Sheba reminded, shuttering at the quote. The last time they'd heard that, they were forced to fight their loved ones for the sake of the world.
"Who cares how it all turned out?" Jenna snapped. "We're here now and that's all that matters. Isaac, what's the plan?"
The addressed grinned, his blue eyes gleaming with newfound hope and determination. "I never was the best strategist," he admitted, his gaze sweeping over his companions standing before him.
"But I think I can manage to work a little something out… with the help of my friends."
How corny. XD
Well, looks like Isaac's back to normal. Of course, who knows when's the next time he'll snap. By the by, pococurante nonchalant casual. Shift F7 opens thesaurus. n.n;
Oh, and I don't wanna spoil anything, but as a forewarning: I'm a sucker for sad endings that look happy if you twist them around.