Chapter V

The Broken Seal

Isaac and company found themselves in a large open cavern, standing on a platform of blue luminescent stone. Around them were many smaller platforms gathered in clusters. The platforms stood above water of indeterminate depth, that shimmered and sparkled from some unknown source of light.

As Kraden had promised, the air was indeed quite cool.

"Wow…" Jenna breathed. "It's beautiful."

"What is this place?" Isaac asked.

"I believe that this is the heart of Mt. Aleph," Kraden said. "No, there can be no doubt. This is it."

Kraden cautiously ventured forward, taking measured steps on the strange rock at his feet. When it was clear the ground under him would not give way, he moved a bit more quickly, going to the edge of the middle rock and looking out at the smaller clustered platforms around him.

"I thought the room with the statues was impressive," Jenna said to Isaac. "This place… I can't believe something like this exists so close to our quiet village. It feels like a dream…"

Isaac nodded in agreement. There was something surreal about the place. Perhaps it was the way the water or the rocks seemed to glow and sparkle, or the way the place was perfectly bright despite there being no visible source of light. Glancing behind him, Isaac saw that the portal they had come through was still open, waiting for them to conclude their business there and return to Sol Sanctum.

But that made him wonder… just what was their business there? Was the treasure of Sol Sanctum somewhere in this strange cavern?

And then, as if in response to his thoughts, Kraden let out a loud gasp and muttered something they could not hear.

"What was that?" Garet asked to their distant teacher. "Did you say something?"

Kraden fell to his knees.

At once, the three Adepts rushed to his side, concerned and worried. They found the old sage staring out at something in the distance, his eyes as wide as saucers. He was not hurt, simply in great awe.

"The Elemental Stars…" he breathed, so quiet they scarcely heard the words.

"The what?" asked Garet.

"The Elemental Stars," Kraden repeated, a little more sure of himself. "They are here. My theories were right… I can't believe I was right. The Stars are more than just legend. They're real, and they're right here before us…"

Isaac looked up, searching in the direction that Kraden was gazing. Another platform stood some distance away, upon which he could see a lone statue. The female shape held in its hands some sort of small object, which gave off a faint red light.

"That is the Mars Star, the essence of fire," Kraden told him. He pointed to another part of the room. "There is the Jupiter Star, essence of wind. And there is the Venus Star, essence of-"

"Earth, yes," Isaac said. He pointed to the last corner. "And that must be the Mercury Star, essence of water."

"Indeed," Kraden said. He drew himself back up to his feet, finally relieved of the shock. "Four Stars, one for each of the elements of Alchemy."

"But what exactly are they?" Garet asked.

Kraden frowned. "Contained within those orbs is the pure essence of each element. They are the keys to the seal on Alchemy, and the tools through which one can have a great many powers long lost to this world… like recreating the Stone of Sages."

Jenna looked up at him. "You mentioned that once. Some sort of stone that had the power to turn things into gold or something."

"Turning one thing into another is the cornerstone of Alchemy," Kraden replied, nodding. "Transforming lead into gold was one of the first described miracles. There are many others, the most noteworthy of which would be the power to live forever."

"Live forever?" Garet repeated. "As in, you would never die?"

"That is the definition of immortality, yes."

"Who would want to live forever?" Isaac asked. "You would watch all the people you love grow old and die. You would watch the world around you change while you remained the same. Who would want that?"

Kraden's eyes narrowed and he looked away for a moment, seeming to be thinking of someone very specific. "There are those who would desire it, I'm sure."

He took a deep breath, then continued, "There have always been ambitious men. Those who sought power, or those who had goals that could not be accomplished in a single lifetime. And even dangerous men who sought to rule the world."

"Rule the world…?" Garet said in a quiet voice. "You're joking, right?"

Kraden shook his head sadly. "Alas, such people will always exist."

Isaac frowned, as he connected the dots in his mind. "Like those foreigners?"

"Perhaps."

"You're sure these Stars are what those people are here for?" Jenna asked.

"There can be no doubt," Kraden said. "We cannot know what they intended to use them for, but I'm certain the Elemental Stars are what those people came for."

He glanced back at the open portal by the entrance. "And now we've opened the way for them."

"So that means we have to take the Stars ourselves," Isaac said.

Kraden nodded slowly. "Now that I know for certain that it is the Elemental Stars they were after, we cannot allow them to have them. We must take the Stars ourselves and bring them back to Vale, where they can be hidden safely."

Reaching into his pocket, Kraden produced the silvery material from before. "Thankfully, I anticipated as much, and I came prepared. These mythril bags will be perfect to hold the Stars."

The three Adepts followed Kraden's gaze across the large cavern, over to the various statues on their stone platforms. The same question was on each of their minds.

Garet, of course, was the one to ask it. "So… how do we get to them?"

"It would seem we must jump from one platform to the next," Kraden said, pointing to the scattered clusters of small stone platforms.

"The rock looks slippery," Jenna pointed out.

Kraden nodded. The fact that the old sage hadn't thrown caution to the wind and starting hopping his way over said a lot. If one slipped from the platforms, they would fall down to the dark water below… and there did not seem to be a way to climb back up.

And then, Jenna's eyes lit up as she thought of an ingenious idea.

"Make the boys do it!"

Isaac and Garet glared at her.

Kraden frowned, thinking it over. "I don't think I have the agility to do this myself… Would you mind terribly?"

Before they could answer, Jenna did it for them. "Of course they wouldn't! You would be happy to do this for Kraden, wouldn't you, boys?"

Isaac was at a loss for words. He glanced at Garet, hoping he would have something to say to save them both, but his friend only stared at Jenna with a slightly open mouth and a "what the hell" expression.

Resigned, Isaac muttered, "Sure…"

A few minutes later, Isaac found himself jumping from one small rock platform to another, four silvery mythril bags in his hands, and Garet following behind him, grumbling about Jenna.

"…Unbelievable. Anytime we treat her like a girl, she bitches and hits us. But when it comes time to do some work? 'Met the boys do it'!"

Back at the centre of the cavern, Jenna and Kraden were waiting, waving to them encouragingly.

Isaac was also a bit irritated at Jenna's actions, but just before they had started off, she had urged them to be careful. The worry in her eyes was concealed, but not hidden.

Sometimes it was really hard to tell what she was thinking.

It did not take them long to reach the first statue, which held the Venus Star.

Isaac hadn't felt it before, but as they drew close to it, he began to sense the great power radiating from the small yellow orb. Unable to help but feel a small bit of hesitation, Isaac walked up to the statue, and he reached out and took the orb in his hand.

As Isaac pulled it free from the carved marble hands that held it, the statue seemed almost to resist him, trying to hold onto the Star itself.

With a bit of effort, the Venus Star came free.

Isaac held it up and looked into its depths. The orb itself was semi-translucent, and within it an orange-yellow smoke seemed to swirl around. It was heavier than it looked, and its surface was impossibly smooth and unblemished. He suspected that if he tried to break it at his feet, the rock he was standing on would shatter before the orb did.

Energy flowed from the Star, even more now that it was free from the statue. It was a subtle energy, like the restrained fury of a quiet man, which threatened to break free at any time. There was great power within the orb, but Isaac could feel that the real power was not in the Star itself, but in what it could unleash.

"Hard to believe something so small could be so powerful," Garet said from over Isaac's shoulder. He had been so absorbed in examining the Star that he hadn't even heard Garet approach.

"Powerful…" Isaac answered. "And dangerous."

"What do you think those people want with these things?" Garet asked.

"To live forever, perhaps," Isaac suggested. "Or to have the power to rule the world. I don't know, and it doesn't matter. I've seen them up close. They're dangerous, and they don't care if innocent people die so long as they get what they want. We can't let them have the Stars."

Isaac opened one of the mythril bags and dropped the Venus Star inside it. As soon as the bag was tied closed, the energy of the Star was abruptly cut off, and Isaac could feel nothing save the weight of the object within. As far as anyone could tell, he could be carrying a rock inside it.

"Let's go," he said. "There's still three more of these to get."

They continued on, and as they passed back into the visibility of Kraden and Jenna, they saw the two of them waiting on the middle platform. Isaac held up the mythril bag that contained the Venus Star, and Kraden gave him a thumbs-up.

They next went to the platform that held the Mercury Star and placed it in a bag of its own. The two Stars were heavy, so Isaac gave them to Garet to hold while they went to get the third.

As Isaac pulled the Jupiter Star free, he felt the same energy flowing from it as the first two. He found himself wondering just how these things had come to find themselves inside Sol Sanctum. Who had put them there, and why? Were the elders of Vale aware of just what it was they were hiding, or were they simply following the instructions left by their ancestors? Did the Great Healer know about the Stars?

He figured he would likely have answers to these questions soon enough. He set such thoughts aside and tied closed the third mythril bag. Garet waited for him at the edge of the platform, holding the first two Stars, and looking out to the middle of the chamber.

"Almost done," Isaac said. "All that's left is the Mars Star, and then we can get-"

Isaac stopped, as he saw the expression on Garet's face. He ran to his friend's side, and followed his gaze, back to where Jenna and Kraden were waiting.

And he felt his blood run cold, as he saw the two cloaked figures standing behind them, holding knives to their backs.

"Damn," muttered the man, who stood behind Kraden. "I had hoped they would gather the last Star before they saw us."

"What do you think they will do?" asked his female partner.

"If they are wise, they will finish what they started," he answered. "But I suspect they will not be, and it will make this all more difficult."

"It would be wiser of them to throw the Stars into the water!" Kraden spat.

"Master Kraden, do you wish to die?" asked the man.

"If that is what it takes to keep the Elemental Stars from you!"

"Tsk." The man shook his head beneath his hood. "And can you speak for Jenna here? Sacrificing your own life is one thing, but can you throw away hers as well?"

Kraden hesitated.

But Jenna was far more defiant than he was, despite her knife having been taken and thrown into the water. She struggled against the woman holding her, and cried out, "Don't do it, Isaac! Don't give them the Stars!"

The woman struck Jenna across the back of her head to silence her.

"Menardi!" chastised the man.

She scoffed, but let go of Jenna. The girl fell to her knees, rubbing the back of her head.

"This does not need to end with anyone hurt," the man said, both to Kraden and to the others. "If Isaac and Garet bring us the Stars, you will be released unharmed."

"Somehow I doubt that," Kraden said through his teeth. "I don't think you would want to leave witnesses behind."

"We care nothing for whether or not you know what happened here," the man said. "Tell your entire village if you wish. There's no one in it who could stop us."

"Stop you from doing what?" Kraden asked. "Just what is it you plan to do with the Elemental Stars?"

The hooded man glanced briefly at his partner. She said nothing.

"That is our business," he finally answered.

Kraden snorted. "So you expect us to just trust you then? On nothing more than promises of safety?"

Jenna drew herself back up, his fists clenched and her eyes on fire. "Trust them…? They caused the storm and the boulder that fell three years ago! They are the reason my family is gone! If you think I'm just going to do what they want-!"

"How do you know this?" the woman asked in a cold voice.

Jenna bit her lip. Her anger was not extinguished, but a flicker of regret crossed her face.

A very slight change in the direction of the hooded head was all there was to tell Jenna that the woman was now looking across the cavern towards Isaac.

"I understand why you would not trust us," the man said. "Were our positions reversed, I would not trust you. You need some sort of guarantee."

He raised his hand and beckoned at the small alter where the portal stood.

A figure moved towards them, one that had been standing so still and silent that neither Jenna nor Kraden had noticed them. A third cloaked figure, one who wore a mask beneath their hood.

"Is this truly necessary?" the third figure asked in a very quiet voice. "You made a promise to me that we would not need this."

"My promise was that I would do my best to avoid this situation," the man replied. "But you have seen the whole exchange. They will not comply without a guarantee of their safety."

"Saturos…"

"Do not argue with me. Take off your mask."

Jenna and Kraden watched, confused, as the third cloaked person hesitated for a long moment, before turning away from them and reaching up to their face.

A moment later, a gloved hand came down, holding a wooden mask that was then dropped on the ground. The figure then reached up and pulled back the hood of their green cloak, letting it fall back to their shoulders. A head of dark brown hair was revealed, long and bound in a ponytail that hung over one shoulder.

Already, Jenna was beginning to understand what was happening, but she refused to believe it.

Until this person turned around and looked at her, and she saw it was the face of the brother she had thought dead for three years.

"Noooooo…" she said in a low voice. "It can't be…"

"I'm sorry, Jenna," was all Felix could say before he cast his eyes regretfully to the ground.

Back at the platform that had held the Jupiter Star, Isaac and Garet watched in stunned awe at what was happening.

"That's… Felix," Isaac said, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"It is," Garet muttered. "There's no mistaking it."

"But how?!" Isaac said. "We saw him die! We saw that boulder fall right on the docks where him and his family were."

"I don't know. It was dark and it was raining. Nobody is completely sure what happened… We never did find any bodies."

Isaac clenched his fists, his shock beginning to transform into rage. Setting aside the question of how Felix had survived, the second most obvious question was now rolling in his mind… the reason why Felix was with these people.

"I saw him," Garet said. "He was watching me from a distance. He had that same mask on - I never realised it was him."

Isaac looked down at the Jupiter Star held safely in the mythril bag.

So now it wasn't just two foreigners… one of their own had betrayed them as well.

"We found him floating in the river as we left the village," the man named Saturos explained. "We was unconscious, bloody and badly wounded… but alive. So we took him back with us to our home, Prox. He has been with us ever since."

Tears were running down Jenna's cheeks. Tears of anger and betrayal and frustration. Mixed in all her emotions was the relief that one member of her family was still alive, but it was buried underneath the realisation that he had never returned to her, and had never even tried to contact her. He had done nothing to ease the pain she had felt - he had left her to suffer alone.

Kraden frowned, confused and conflicted. "So… this means…"

"It is our guarantee to you," Saturos told him. "Felix is one of us. He would not let us harm his friends, his mentor, or his sister. And we would not betray our companion by doing so. So you know that, no matter what, you will not be harmed."

Kraden grew quiet.

The woman, Menardi, spoke up. "That is, of course, if you cooperate. Should you refuse, we will have no choice but to take the Stars by force. And if that should happen, we cannot ensure that no one will be unharmed." Beneath her hood, her lips curled into a smile.

"Your promise is empty," Kraden said. He was not so hurt as Jenna was at seeing his former student betraying them, but it was still a betrayal to him nonetheless. "But what can be done? With Felix standing with you, we cannot fight back. Jenna has been hurt enough."

Resigned, he bowed his head.

Saturos smirked in victory, and marched past Kraden to the edge of the centre platform. To Isaac and Garet, he shouted, "You hear that, boys?! Bring us the Elemental Stars and your friends will be freed! Refuse and we will take the Stars by force! Make your decision quickly!"

"We have no choice," Garet muttered, defeated. "We have to give them the Stars."

"No!" Isaac protested. "The Stars are too dangerous! We can't just hand them over!"

Internally, Isaac raged at himself. How had they not foreseen so obvious a trap? They should have stayed together, or simply gone back to Vale before opening the portal. Regrets and potential mistakes churned in his mind.

It was his fault Jenna was now being threatened by the same people who had nearly killed him that day. It was his fault that Jenna was in tears at her brother's betrayal. Had Isaac just had the foresight to see this coming, it all could have been avoided.

The heavy Jupiter Star rested within its mythril bag in his hand. He could stop them right then and there, if he wanted. He could hurl the Jupiter Star away, and watch in satisfaction as it slashed in the water.

But then… what would stop them? Felix couldn't stop those two, no matter what promises they made. They could kill Jenna and Kraden, and then they would kill Isaac and Garet as well. And there was still no certainty that they could not retrieve the Jupiter Star somehow.

And standing at the portal as they were, there was no way to escape the cavern. The only way out was through them, and even if they didn't have hostages, Isaac doubted he and Garet could stand a chance against them.

"Isaac, they'll kill Jenna and Kraden if we don't," Garet insisted.

Isaac's fists were clenched so tightly he felt his nails were about to break the skin.

"Fine," he said, thrusting the mythril bag holding the Jupiter Star at Garet. "You take it to them. I can't face him."

Garet took the bag and started away. Isaac stayed where he was, silently fuming with rage at Felix, at the two foreigners, and at himself.

Garet had only jumped across two platforms when there was a rush of Psynergy before him, and a man appeared out of thin air.

He had blue hair and eyes, and soft, youthful features. The man looked at Garet, and his eyes immediately found the three mythril bags he held.

"If you would allow me, I will relieve you of those Elemental Stars."

Garet hesitated, and glanced at the centre of the cavern, where the others were.

"That is Alex!" Saturos called from across the chamber. "He is another of our companions! Give the Stars to him!"

After another brief moment of hesitation, Garet handed the three bags over to Alex. The man took them without a word, but his eyes had a brief glimmer of satisfaction once the Stars were in his hands.

"I'm afraid I must apologise in advance," Alex said, his voice perfectly level and polite despite the circumstances, "but I'm afraid we'll need you to bring us the other Star as well."

"What?" Garet said. "No, that's not what you promised! You said you would free Jenna if we gave you the Stars! That's what you said!"

"Clearly Saturos meant that he wanted you bring him all the Stars, not just the three you already had gathered. He is a man of his word, but you've merely misunderstood him. Bring us the Mars Star, and this will all be over."

The three Stars in hand, Alex turned away from Garet and hovered up in the air, leaving a surprised Garet behind.

"You're late," Saturos said to Alex once he landed at the centre platform. "What took you so long?"

"I had some trouble leaving Imil," Alex said. "Things didn't go as planned. It would seem we won't be able to stop there later."

Kraden's eyes grew wide for the briefest of moments as he realised something, but he did not let anyone notice his surprise.

"We'll figure it out," Saturos said, drawing the hood of his cloak just a bit lower. "For the time being, let's focus on the here and now."

Alex handed him the three mythril bags, and Saturos placed them inside a bag under his cloak.

Seeing Felix, whose eyes were still locked on the floor, Alex said, "So I see you've had your family reunion."

Felix said nothing.

Alex looked to Jenna, who now sat on the ground, numb and silent. "This is the sister you've spoken so much about, then?"

This was enough to provoke a response from Felix, earning Alex a death-glare from him.

"Don't antagonise him," Saturos said. "We're nearly done here. I won't have anything ruin it this time."

"We can't trust these people," Garet said in a low voice when he rejoined Isaac. "That blue guy said they won't free Jenna and Kraden if we don't bring them the last Star as well."

"They hold all the cards," Isaac replied. "There's nothing stopping them from continuing to change the conditions of the deal… or even keeping up their end at all."

"What do we do?" Garet asked.

"As you said before, we have no choice but to give them what they want. If things get ugly, we can try to escape with Jenna and Kraden… but it was a long shot when there was just two of them. They now have Felix, and this Alex guy as well. There could be others yet, for all we know."

Garet frowned, and he ran his fingers across the handle of the wood-chopping axe on his back.

Isaac pointed to the way back. "Unfortunately… look at how the platforms are arranged. We're going to have to pass them to get the Mars Star."

"Damn…"

"Let's just get this over with."

Isaac and Garet made their way back towards the centre platform. In Isaac's hand he clutched the last mythril bag.

The cloaked pair seemed to watch them warily as they approached, but they said nothing, apparently understanding what was happening. Alex's expression was wholly neutral, Kraden looked worried, and Jenna only glanced up at them for a moment, still numb from the shock of what had happened. Felix, of course, did not look them in the eyes, despite Isaac fixating him a look of pure hatred.

It was an awkward crossing, to say the least. As they walked past the cloaked foreigners, Isaac could not look at them, memories of their last encounter still fresh in his mind. Garet, in front of Isaac, nervously scratched at the back of his neck.

"You're nearly done," Alex encouraged from a short distance away.

Isaac forced himself to ignore him. Something about how passive and polite the man was got under his skin.

And then, in mid step, Garet changed directions. His hand moved from the back of his neck to the handle of the axe on his back, and he pulled it loose. In half a second, he was swinging it at Saturos' neck, who stood only a few steps away.

Isaac froze. He didn't even have time to scream at Garet to stop.

Saturos reacted just in time to keep his head. He jumped back, the axe managing to catch only the edge of his cloak. The fabric was caught one the blade, and Saturos pulled free of it as he moved.

Isaac felt the man's powerful Psynergy surging up.

"No!"

Too late, Saturos let loose a blast of fire at Garet.

The flames passed right through his cloak, incinerating it in an instant, and continued on towards Garet. He took the blast square in the chest, and was knocked back off his feet. His axe was separated from him, soaring away in the air.

"Garet!" Jenna cried out, back on her feet in a second. Before she could move, Menardi was back at her side, and a knife was pressed to her throat. Felix took half a step towards them, but hesitated and glanced in turn at both her and Saturos. Kraden's hand was over his mouth in shock.

The only person who had not reacted at all was Alex.

Garet tumbled some distance away, but he stopped before he could fall over the edge.

Isaac ran to his side, and knelt beside him, fearing he would be injured or worse. But thankfully, as he was a Mars Adept, the flames had not done any real damage to him. Garet grimaced painfully as Isaac helped him back to his feet, but otherwise he was fine.

Free of the hooded cloak, they could see Saturos for the first time. And they could see the reason why he and Menardi had worn those cloaks.

He was not human, at least not fully. His skin was a light hue of blue, his ears were pointed, and he had lizard-like scales across his arms and shoulders. His hair was silvery, and his eyes were yellow and slitted like a cat's.

"Try anything funny like that again," he warned, "and next time I won't hold back."

Isaac felt a chill run down his back. That was holding back? The strength of the Psynergy that he had felt had been beyond anything Garet or Jenna could produce when they conjured flames. Had that fireball been thrown at anyone other than another Mars Adept, that person would likely have been burned alive.

He had reacted to Garet's surprise attack despite the fact that any normal person could not possibly have reflexes fast enough to do so. And even then, he had known just how to counter it to knock Garet back, but not kill him, and he had strong enough control over his Psynergy to actually do it.

The warning was clear. They were far outmatched.

Menardi moved her knife away from Jenna's neck. "Sit back down, girl. You're not going anywhere until the Mars Stars is in our hands." She pulled back the hood of her own cloak, revealing long blond hair, and a face just as inhuman as Saturos'.

"Come on," Isaac said to Garet.

Garet had suffered only scratch damage, so he was still able to jump across the platforms. His axe was gone, likely having fallen into the water beneath the platforms.

Isaac took the lead, and the two of them made their way from one small platform to the next, over to the one holding the Mars Star.

"That was foolish," Isaac said. "Did you think you could kill him?"

"I was trying to wound him," Garet said. "I figured if I could get one good shot in we could turn the tables on them. If he was wounded, we could demand they give us back Jenna and Kraden, or we would finish him off."

That plan might have worked… if Garet had told him about it. That way, instead of standing there as stunned as everyone else, Isaac could have moved to strike Saturos himself, giving them a better chance.

But still, if Garet had told him he would have just shot the idea down. Too risky, he would have said.

And he would have been right.

They reached the last platform. The statue before them glowed a faint red, the Mars Star it held radiating powerful energy.

"Let's just hope they keep their word," Isaac muttered. Somehow, he didn't feel like things would work out very well.

He prayed that no matter how things turned out, Jenna would be alright.

Isaac took the Mars Star and tried to pull it free. The statue refused to let it go, protesting more than any of the others. Isaac suddenly had a bad feeling about it all, like he was doing something he really shouldn't.

Whatever those people wanted with the Stars, it couldn't be anything good. Those things held great power, and they had been hidden in Mt. Aleph and kept secret for a reason.

A seal was being broken, and Isaac felt that whatever came next would be his fault for breaking it.

The Mars Star came free of the statue, and Isaac held it in his hand for a moment as silence took the chamber.

And then, everything began to shake.

"Uh-oh," Garet muttered.

The shaking grew violent fast, and Isaac had just enough time to stuff the Mars Star into the mythril bag before the tremors sent them falling over the edge to the water below.

"What's happening?!" Menardi demanded.

"The chamber must be collapsing!" Kraden shouted. "The Stars must have been sustaining this place, and without them the chamber will fall apart!"

Saturos grimaced. "One last trap to stop the thieves, it would seem."

"Then we must not linger," Menardi said. "Let's get the Mars Star and get out of here!"

They all looked to the corner of the cavern, where the statue that had held the Mars Star stood, and where Isaac and Garet could not be seen.

"Where's Isaac and Garet?!" Jenna exclaimed. "I don't see them!"

"They must have fallen," Alex said, his as calm as ever. "The shaking must have thrown them over."

And indeed, the tremors would have knocked them all over as well, were it not for the size of the platform they stood upon.

"Damn it all," Saturos muttered. "They have the Mars Star, we can't just-"

"What the hell is that thing?!" Menardi interrupted, pointing somewhere else.

In the distance, they saw a large, perfectly round rock floating in the air. As it slowly turned, they saw a single eye its centre, peering at them.

"The Wise One…!" Kraden gasped.

"It must be the guardian of the sanctum," Alex said. "Perhaps it might be better if we just leave now."

"But we cannot leave without the Mars Star!" Menardi said.

Saturos frowned, considering.

And then, there was a massively loud cracking sound, and they all looked to the ceiling of the cavern. A crack had appeared and was spreading like a spiderweb.

The floating rock with the eye floated upwards, and the glow of Psynergy surrounded it. The crack ceased to spread, but the shaking of the cavern continued.

"It's power is incredible…" Saturos said. "We cannot face it. Alex is right, we must flee while we still can."

"And these two?" Alex asked, indicating Jenna and Kraden.

"We will take them with us for now."

"No!" Felix shouted, moving over to Saturos and facing him. "That was not part of the deal! You swore we would not involve Jenna with this!"

"We could always leave her here, where she will almost certainly die. Would you prefer that, Felix?"

Felix bit his lip, but he said nothing.

A violent tremor tore through the chamber, knocking several of them to their feet.

"We don't have time to discuss this!" Saturos said. "We will take them for now, and figure it out later! Come, we have to get out!"

And at Saturos' urging, they all moved, some more reluctantly than others. Felix went to Jenna's side to try to help her through, but she brushed him off angrily. Jenna looked to where Isaac and Garet had fallen, guilt in her eyes at leaving them behind, but Menardi stood over her like a hawk, leaving her with only one way to go.

Once Felix, Menardi, and the two captives were through, only Alex and Saturos remained behind.

"Are you sure about this?" Alex asked, in a quiet voice that was quite unnecessary in the tremor-filled chasm. "Leaving the Mars Star behind…"

"We have three of the Stars, which is enough for now," Saturos said. "We will need the Mars Star at some point, but even if those boys do not make it out, the Star cannot be lost. It's magic will keep that from happening."

"I know that, but I'd rather not take the chance."

Saturos shook his head. "I'm confident those boys will survive. And if they want the girl back… well, they know what we want in return."

Saturos stepped through the portal and vanished within. Alex hesitated a moment more, standing beside the portal while the cavern shook around him.

The floating rock paused a moment in its attempts to stop the crack in the ceiling, and it's single eye fixated on Alex.

Alex answered the silent question with a half-bow, before he stepped into the portal and was gone.

A/N: Golden Sun certainly has some long cutscenes, doesn't it? I don't think the Sol Sanctum events are the longest in either game, but its definitely in the top ten or so. I always loved how the damn cavern is falling apart, and everyone stands stands around and has a long conversation about whether to leave Isaac and Garet or not. But that's video game time for you.

One thing of note in this chapter is the moment where Garet tries to surprise attack Saturos, and only succeeds in removing his cloak. I had the two Proxians wearing hooded cloaks up until this point to conceal the fact that they're not entirely human. Isaac was at least partially aware of this, but the others had no idea, and I wanted it to be a big moment when they see their true faces for the first time. I never liked how openly they walk around in the games, and how nobody comments on their inhuman features.

I always loved the reveal that the Proxians are actually working to save the world, because it's so easy to believe they're the villains, because they just look like bad guys. Still, it's hard to sympathise with them after they kill all those scholars at Venus Lighthouse.

One point that I'll be diverging from the games on is the Djinn. They're really cool as a gameplay mechanic, but I just can't think of any way to work collecting them into the story that I like. So I'm sorry, but they won't be showing up in this story.

I had a little difficulty figuring out how to describe the Elemental Star chamber, but I figured once again that anyone reading this has probably already played the games, so I didn't sweat it.

One last thing I'd like to bring up is a rather big plot hole that I think a few people will notice. Namely, the fact that Alex could have easily warped over to Isaac and Garet and warped back with them, thus making the debate on whether or not to leave them kinda dumb. I have a few possible explanations for why he didn't do this, but if anyone has any ideas, please let me know, because they might be better than the excuses I've come up with.

Next chapter: The Journey Begins!