Shimmy: Chapter 9!

Sheba: Chapter 9!

Sheik: Here it is!

Disclaimer: I have as much a chance of owing Golden Sun as I do approving of Windshipping. If you know me then you know that's never going to happen.

In swept a young woman with silvery hair and stormy eyes. Behind her followed the seven outsiders.

"Your Majesty," The woman bowed respectfully and the seven behind her did the same, "Lady Lalivero, Your Highness. May I present our guests?"

There was a snort from the direction of Lord Reding. She ignored him.

"This is Ivan," She said and Ivan stepped forward and bowed, "He is a descendant of our clan from Weyard."

Lord Reding stood.

"Your Majesty this has gone on long enough!" He declared, "These intruders are treated as equals? I will not have it."

Lalivero rose to her feet, angrily.

"That is enough Reding!" She snapped.

"Lord Reding," The Queen said, "Please leave the room."

The man looked insulted. He stalked angrily out of the room followed by the others who had come to protest, and slammed the door behind him. Lalivero had a look of satisfaction on her face. Her daughter winced. The queen nodded.

"Continue Storm."

The woman, Storm, smiled.

"The two Fire Adepts are Garet and Jenna. The Water Adepts are Mia and Piers." They stepped forward and bowed.

"The last two are earth adepts. Their names are Isaac and Felix."

Both stepped forward and bowed.

"We are grateful to have you here honoured adepts of Weyard," The queen announced formally, "All we wish is that you listen to our story. After, you may decide if you would help us."

They all stood there dumbfounded. Then all of them turned to Felix to make the decision for them. After all he had been the leader in their quest to light the lighthouses. Felix took a deep breath.

"We will listen." He said.

The queen looked relived.

"Long ago," The queen began, "Alchemy was commonplace throughout the world. That changed though… The four tribes that protected Weyard: Mars, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter began to fight. One man said that it was Alchemy. He insisted that Alchemy was corrupting the minds of the tribes. He gathered two members from each tribe to help him seal away Alchemy… and they succeeded.

She turned to Lalivero.

"Now for the real story." She said.

Lalivero nodded.

"The man that said Alchemy was to blame was of the Mercury tribe," Lalivero said, "He was a well trusted bishop. He and another of his tribe travelled to the Mars tribe and told them of the problem of Alchemy. He told them the minds of the Jupiter and Venus tribes were corrupted by greed. He asked to have two of their people to help him on his quest to restore peace to Weyard. They extinguished Mars Lighthouse and sealed its light into a small stone."

"The Mars Star?" Asked Isaac.

Lalivero nodded.

"Yes. They created the Mars Star. He told the two members of the Mars tribe to go to Mt Aleph and wait for him there. Then he and his friend travelled to the Jupiter tribe. He told them that the minds of the Venus and Mars tribes were corrupted by greed. He asked two of the tribe for help to extinguish Jupiter Lighthouse. They did.

"Wait," Mia's voice cut her off, "This man told the Mars tribe that the Jupiter and Venus tribes were corrupt, and then told the Jupiter tribe that the Venus and Mars tribes were corrupt?"

"Yes." Was Lalivero's reply.

"And this man," Mia choked out, "Was a bishop of the Mercury tribe? And there was another from the Mercury tribe that helped him?"

"The other did not take place in these meetings. She knew naught but what he told her. Her love for him blinded her."

Mia buried her head into her husband's shoulder and let out a sob. Garet put his arm around her.

"He did the same when he saw the Venus tribe. He told them that the Jupiter and Mars tribes were corrupt. They extinguished Venus Lighthouse. He and his friend then extinguished Mercury Lighthouse and went to Mt Aleph. The others from the Mars, Jupiter and Venus tribes had met there and were in a fight. The bishop told them to stop fighting, that they were going to bring peace to Weyard. He told them that they were going to seal Alchemy in the god's shrine, in Mt Aleph. One of them was smart enough to walk away. The others agreed to help him."

Lalivero took a deep breath.

"The gods saw this and became angry. They gave power to the adept who had walked away from the bishop's madness, to defeat the bishop before he could seal away Alchemy. The bishop had seen this coming though. He used the power of the elemental stars to create a demon to hold back the power of the gods. The bishop embedded the stars into four statues and spoke the words of an ancient language to seal their power. All the power that remained in the lighthouses drained from them, and streamed to Mt Aleph. The bishop had hoped that the power would gather to him. The power combined above Mt Aleph but, instead of coming down on its peak, it spit again and streamed off in different directions."

"What happened to it?" Asked Ivan.

"The powers each struck a large mountain, giving them elemental powers."

"Magma rock, Gaia rock, Air's rock and Aqua rock?" Jenna asked.

Lalivero nodded.

"Yes. The bishop was angered that the power did not come to him. It was then that the other adepts saw what the bishop had been trying to do. They combined forces to fight him. The bishop fled."

"What happened to the demon?" Asked Garet.

"Because it was created by the power of the elemental stars it was sealed away when they were. And somehow, the moment Alchemy was sealed away, the gods were unable to come to Weyard anymore."

"Why didn't the adepts bring Alchemy back again?" Asked Felix.

Lalivero sighed.

"They knew that the bishop was still alive and he would do anything to get the power. So they built a town at the base of Mt Aleph to guard it. They created a being to guard the elemental stars and be sure that only one who was pure of heart could bring back Alchemy. They named him The Wise One."

There was a long silence.

"What became of the adepts who were with the bishop?" Asked Kraden.

"The adepts of the Venus tribe returned to their home to find it uninhabited. One of them returned to Mt Aleph. The other built a new town and named it after his lost love. The woman of the Mercury tribe built a town at the base of Mercury Lighthouse. Those of the Mars tribe remained at Vale, as the town was named. The man of the Jupiter tribe returned to see that we, The Anemos, had left, and built the town now known as Congito. It is not know what happened to the other of the Jupiter tribe, the one who had received the gods' power."

"They want to know why you need them, mother," The soft voice came from the robed figure next to Lalivero.

"Yes," Lalivero said, "The demon which had been sealed away with Alchemy has returned. It has had many years to regain its power, by drawing off the land."

"What has that got to do with us?" Asked Isaac.

"I need you to help us," Said Lalivero, "I need you to go to Venus Lighthouse. However, I would not send you there alone. My daughter would go with you."

She turned to the robed figure beside her, who reached up and pulled down her hood. But she needed not to have done so. For as soon as she had spoken, he had known. Felix looked at her now, blond hair now longer but her emerald eyes were still the same. It was Sheba.

Shimmy: There it is! The end of chapter 9!

Tetra: And there's still a loooong way to go!

Shimmy: I ought to start extending my chapters now…

Sheba: And I appeared! YAY ME!

Sheik: Please review!