Author's Note

Li: Hi, faithful readers! I'm baaaack! And with a new chapter, too! Aren't you lucky?

Roy: Please stop talking like Serra, or Clarine. Please? They scare me...

Li: Oh, sorry. Anyway, thanks to everybody who... Oh, wait NOBODY HAS REVIEWED! Over 150 hits and one review. And that one was from a friend, who hasn't even played the game! Come on, you guys can do better than that! I expect reviews after this chapter!

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Chapter Five: Feral Friends

"We'll need the powerful weapons, or we'll never have a chance." Piers said. "There are nine ancient weapons that we hid away after the final battle at Mars."

"Where did you hide them?" Saturan asked.

"We entrusted them to a friend of ours. Master Maha of Garoh. He promised to guard them if we ever needed them again." Piers explained.

"Master Maha?" Alerai asked. "He knows Aria and I too. We've been to Garoh many times."

"Good." Piers said. "There are eight of us, and nine weapons. So I'm not sure..."

"I can wield duel sabers." Aria said quietly. "Katanas, or rapiers of a kind."

"Oh. Okay." Piers said. He left the steering of the ship to Saturan, instead climbing up to the upper tower. He found Lehran up there, sitting with the wind playing with her hair. "Hello, Lehran."

"Hello, Piers." she said quietly. "What brings you up here?"

"Nothing in particular." Piers said. He sat down beside her. "How are you?"

"Fine." She was silent a moment, then asked, "Piers, who is it we face? Do we face a person, or a monster?"

"Alex is as human as the rest of us, but for his power." Piers told her. He saw fear reflected in her eyes, and asked, "Why do you ask?"

Lehran looked at him, seeming scared to even speak. "What kind of person tortures a child like that? Who could physically hurt someone without remorse, without any form on conscience at all? You saw Alerai's scar. What kind of person can do that to a kid?"

"You are kids. All of us are kids. In Lemurian time, even I'm a child." Piers pointed out. "Alex is the type of person to do anything to get what he wants. Even hurt or kill an innocent child. If he catches Tori... I'm almost afraid myself. I don't know how Alex plans to take the Golden Sun's power, but most of the ways I can think of all involve Tori's death."

Lehran leaned against Piers. "I'm scared."

Piers wrapped his arms around her slim frame. "I am too, Lehran. I am too."

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As they sailed up the river, they stopped at a small shore.

"We have to walk from here." Alerai said. "Garoh's just up ahead." He led them up the cliffs and stairs to the town's entrance. It was a small town. All the people seemed nervous around the strangers, but brightened instantly when they saw Alerai and Aria.

"Master Maha will be pleased to see you." they told the group. Lehran used Reveal on the large rock, and entered Maha's hidden house.

As they descended into the caves, they found Maha reading a thick volume of philosophy.

"Master Maha!" Alerai called. The werewolf looked up, seeing them for the first time.

"Alerai, Aria. Good to see you." he said. Tori whispered to Piers, "Werewolves?"

"Yes. Garoh is a village of lycanthropes." He turned back to Master Maha. "Hello, Master Maha. Remember me?"

Maha thought a moment, then said, "Oh, yes. That polite young man that came with Felix and his friends. Piers."

"Yes. Piers. Do you still have the legendary weapons we gave you to guard?" Piers asked.

"Yes. I have them right here." Master Maha disappeared into another room for a moment and came out with a mythril bag, a larger version of the ones once used to hold the Elemental Stars. He pulled out a long sword that seemed to glow faintly. Handing it to Piers, he set the bag down and began to rifle through the rest of the contents.

Piers held up his Phaeton's Blade, the weapon he had wielded at the Mars Lighthouse. Maha pulled out a sword with a ruby hilt and an ebony blade. "The Darksword." He handed it to Saturan. There was a blue ring melded around the sword's pommel. "That's a Cleric Ring. It nullifies the curse on that sword." He pulled out a sword with a silver hilt and gold blade. "Excaliber." This one was handed to Lief.

Piers sheathed his Phaeton's Blade and reached into the bag. He drew out a dark-colored sword with blood-red edges. "The Masamune." This he presented to Tori very formally. Next, he took out a fiery red sword. "The Fire Brand." This was given to Jasmine.

"Here is the Levatine." Master Maha said. He gave the almost-weightless silver sword to Lehran. "And finally..." He pulled out a long sword that looked nearly normal, except for the word 'Megiddo' inscribed on the blade. "The Sol Blade, for our Alerai."

Alerai took the blade wordlessly. He looked at it and thought, This is the blade with which I will avenge myself and my sister against Alex.

Piers held up the final two. One was a long, thin blue rapier with gold trimmings. "This is the Tisiphone Edge. It's a very deadly weapon." He handed it to Aria, then continued, "And this one, we found after Mars Lighthouse. It's called the Lunai Blade, and I think it's meant for you as well." Aria took the weapons, silently sheathing them on her back.

"I am confident that whatever you need these for, you'll be able to accomplish it." Maha said.

I wish I was that confident about our ability to beat Alex. Alerai thought. Maha continued, "I wish you luck."

"Thank you." Piers said. "We'll come back safely." They turned to go.

"Oh!" Maha said. "Alerai, Aria. Look for Vincent on your way back. He went out earlier and hasn't come back yet." They nodded, and made their way out of Garoh.

"Who is Vincent?" Tori asked.

"Vincent is a friend of ours who lives there." Aria said. "He and Piers were the first two true friends we made here."

"Oh." Tori was trying really hard to get Aria to open up, but she remained stubbornly silent and closed-in.

"Vincent is cool." Alerai added as an afterthought. "You all will like him."

"Piers, explain about the werewolves now, please." Jasmine requested.

"Okay." The Lemurian pushed aqua hair behind his ear and took a deep breath. "The people of Garoh are lycanthropes. What you would call werewolves. At the full moon, they change forms for the night. Master Maha remains in his wolf form all the time, because he gave up his human form to learn Reveal at Air's Rock. Select few of the people of Garoh can use Whirlwind. This is because particles of the Psynergy Stone at Air's Rock are carried by the wind to the village. Maha used Whirlwind to scale Air's Rock. He and the group of Felix, Jenna, Sheba, and I are the only people to make it to the heart of the rock."

"Vincent is special, even in Garoh." Alerai said. "He-" A long, mournful howl interrupted him. The group crept cautiously towards the sound. Creeping around a rock, they saw a dark-furred wolf with his paw caught in a trap.

"Stay back." Piers warned. "It looks like a monster."

"It isn't! It's someone from Garoh!" Aria said.

"Aria, it isn't full moon! And anyway, Garoh's people still look human when they..." Aria went running towards the wolf. "...change." Piers finished dully, as Alerai followed his sister. Together, they pried the trap off the wolf's paw. The wolf limped forward, holding it's bloody paw off the ground. Aria pulled off the headband she was wearing and tied it around the wolf's wounded paw. The wolf howled at her, and began to change.

Within moments, a dark-haired young man sat before them.

"Thanks, Aria." he said, adjusting the bandage around his wrist. Aria took it and passed a hand over his wrist, calling on Psynergy. It healed instantly. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Alerai grinned. "Piers, friends. This is our special friend, Vincent."

"So this is Piers!" Vincent exclaimed. He jumped up to shake the Lemurian's hand. "Alerai and Aria have talked about you a lot."

"Same with you." Piers said. "Allow me to introduce the rest of our company. This is Tori, Saturan, Jasmine, Lief, and Lehran."

"Nice to meet you." Vincent said. "I didn't want to change back, because that thing was clamped on my wrist, and I would have bled to death."

"Yes." Piers agreed. "But how is it you can change like that?"

"As they so say, I'm 'special'. I think they give me too much honor. But I was born with the ability to change at will into a wolf, instead of only at full moon." Vincent said. "I'm even more different than the others. But it's never bothered me, or Master Maha. I'm his apprentice."

"Cool." Tori said. "Would you like to come with us on our quest?"

"Sure. I'll run and tell Master Maha, and meet you at Mikasalla. How does that sound?" Vincent asked.

"Sounds good." Saturan acknowledged. Piers mentally groaned. Mikasalla was the official Most Boring Town on Weyard. But it was the closest to Garoh. Oh, well.

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They parted ways, to meet at Mikasalla. When the group reached the town, Alerai and Aria excused themselves to go for a walk. They left the town, and went walking in some nearby woods.

"Aria."

"Yes, Alerai?"

"This is... weird. I mean, they trust us. They don't even know what our Psynergy can do, besides heal. And we could lead Alex to them at any moment."

"Maybe they don't care. Maybe they've just accepted us as friends, and don't care about the risk. They're not selfish, or anything."

"I'm scared, though. I"m scared that we'll cause them to die. Alex won't let them live. Especially not Tori."

Aria was silent, but Alerai picked up on her miniscule reaction. "Aria? What's wrong?"

Aria mumbled something inaudible.

"What?"

"I don't want Tori to die." she whispered. "There, I said it."

"You... you like him, don't you?"

"Yes."

"You know that it's not possible though, right?"

"Yes. I think he likes me too. I've been... so cold... to him, because I don't want to hurt him. Or be hurt, if Alex wins."

"Aria..." Alerai murmured. He hugged his sister. Aria began to cry.

"I'm sick of having to protect everyone! I want to be happy for once, just once! I want to tell him I like him..." she whimpered. Alerai sighed.

"Someday, there will come a time when we are not in danger every second. Someday, you'll be able to tell him. It all depends. Defeating Alex may annihilate all the rest at once. I don't know. But I will do anything in my power to make you happy, my sister."

"Then let me tell him."

"I will. But not now. When we defeat Alex..."

"But what if Alex wins? What if Tori is killed? I will have never told him..."

Alerai knew it was cruel, but he said, "If Alex wins, we will all die anyway. He will kill us, because he has no further use for us."

Aria was silent. Then she abruptly pulled away. "Celestium!" She threw a bolt of pure lunar energy at a tree. The tree exploded, showering chips all around them.

Alerai grabbed her. "No... No..." he murmured. As he was about to let her go, the mark on his shoulder burned. From the way Aria stiffened, he assumed hers was too. She whirled, calling on healing Psynergy and pressing her hand to her brother's shoulder. "Wish."

Alerai held his own hand to her shoulder. "Aura."

The healing Psynergy flowed over the marks, fading them even more. The burning went away, but both knew that Alex knew where they were now.

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Piers, Tori, Saturan, Jasmine, Lief, and Lehran were talking to Vincent when the siblings burst into the inn.

"We need to go. Now." Alerai said.

"Why?"

"Alex knows where we are."

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Li: Alas, poor Aria... Why is torture and evil such fun to write?

Roy: As long as it's not being done to me, I'm fine with it.

Li: But you're my lovable, always-there-for-me muse! Anyway, more next chapter on what dear, sweet, backstabbing, traitorous Alex has been doing. FLUFF ALERT! FLUFF IN TWO CHAPTERS! That's all for now. See you next chapter!