I typed this chapter at two o'clock. Please try to enjoy. Oh, and I don't own Golden Sun characters. Everyone else has that on there, so I guess I'll put it on too, just in case. I hope you like my little impromptu poem.
Moondust and Moonlight
Chapter Two: Sickness
Early in the morning:
Bang! Isaac and his parent leapt up from the kitchen table, and stared at Felix, who was standing in the doorway. He was breathing heavily, long hair astray. Obviously, he hadn't brushed his hair or cleaned his teeth or washed his face or whatever he did in the mornings. His eyes were wild.
"Isaac…it's my sister. I think… I think…come on!" With that, he turned and rushed out the door. A feeling of dread swept through Isaac as he ran after Felix. Oh, no, not Jenna…
They burst through the door of Felix's house. Isaac greeted Felix's worried looking parents, and then followed Felix up the stairs into Jenna's room.
Jenna was pale and drenched with sweat. She stood in the middle of the room, still dressed in her nightgown. Isaac tried to approached, but Felix held him back. "Don't go near, Isaac, she is acting strangely." Isaac tore free of Felix's gripand stood right in front of Jenna's seemingly unseeing eyes.
"Jenna…Jenna…it is me, Isaac."
The girl did not react. But, her eyes flickered upward. There was a strange expression in them.
"Jenna…" Isaac gently reached out.
She suddenly snarled and drew back. A maniacal cackle escaped from her lips and she gestured. Isaac screamed as the floorboards right in front of him burst into flames. Colors swirled and mixed before his eyes, and he accidentally breathed in some fire. It was hot… burning hot… Gentle hands pulled him back and he sighed as a soothing Cure healed him. Felix had to drag a stunned Isaac out of Jenna's room. They left her kneeling on the floor, still cackling. When the door shut, she gradually calmed down, and then resumed her original position, staring blankly into space.
A few hours later:
Felix knocked on Kraden's door. Isaac had sent him here for advice. When it finally creaked open, Felix gasped.
"Is that you, Kraden?" The old scholar had aged forty years in the space of four weeks. And, he wasn't too young to begin with. The white beard almost reached the ground, and the stooped figure had to hold on to his staff with two hands. The most remarkable change, however, was in his eyes. On their long journey, Kraden had been as spirited as a boy, with an interest in everything. His eyes had been bright and filled with life. Now, he was truly an old man.
"I look old, don't I? Yes, I'm Kraden. About time you visited. Come in, I have something very important to tell you." With a pang of regret, Felix remembered that he hadn't visited Kraden even once since they got home. Still blushing, Felix followed Kraden into the dark hut.
"I want to tell you a story…" They settled down and Kraden began.
At the same time:
Isaac sat cross legged on the floor of Felix's home. Fire…fire…Jenna's eyes, and more fire…he couldn't stop think about how the girl upstairs had seemed more animal than human. Since then, several other frantic families have come, telling about how some of their loved ones have also gone crazy. Some ofthesick peoplehave been fling things around. Others have been causing earthquakes or making fire, like Jenna. All of them, though, have laughed crazily.
The cackle has something to do with the illness, he thought. If only I can figure it out...fire…fire…and Jenna's eyes…stop it. He had to think about the laugh, not the eyes. And yet...
Suddenly, Isaac bolted upright. Jenna's eyes had expressed something ---desperation. That's it! And the evil sounding cackle must be her trying to tell him something! The discovery overwhelmed him, and Isaac closed his eyes to clear his mind.
On the floor a girl sat, in the middle of her room.
She crawled to the the window and looked up at the moon.
The moondust settled around her and she raised her head and screamed.
The moonlight danced upon her and washed away her dreams.
What? Isaac opened his eyes and tried to make sense of the images he just saw. When his brain started hurting again, he gave up.He had better wait until Felix came back. Sighing, he settled against the wall. As he waited, the red sun sank beneath the horizon and the white moon rose. A strange white dust drifted through the kitchen window and surrounded Isaac. In a few moments, he was asleep. Then, the moonlight started its work.
After Kraden's storytime:
Felix trudged wearily back home. Kraden's story made very little sense. Well, he hadn't really listened. All he knew was that he and Isaac should set out together to find a cure, and the moon is connected to this illness somehow.
He opened the door, to find Isaac dozing in the kitchen. He bent down and touched Isaac's shoulder. "Hey, sleepy, wake up! We have to go find a cure. We're going on another journey!"
Isaac moaned and stood up. He stumbled and almost fell over. Then, his eyes slowly opened with a strange look in them. Felix backed away, horrified. When the all-too-familiar cackling and the earthquakes began, he turned and ran.