The New Kid
Chapter 9
Isaac: (looking at crowd below window) This isn't good.
Garet: It's starting to look bad.
Isaac: "Starting"? Then what was it before?
Ivan: Where's Yuja?
Sheba: In hiding. At least she took her laptop with her.
Jenna: (bursting into room, waving paper print out in hand) She did it! She did it!
Garet: Who did what?
Jenna: (ignores him and leans out window) OK! She updated! You can all go home now! (people start to leave)
Crowd member 1: What about our pay?
Jenna: Oh, it's…in the mail! (everyone leaves)
Isaac: Pay? You mean, you hired a crowd?
Jenna: Yeah. How else were we going to rush Yuja into updating?
Isaac: For the sake of us all, I won't answer that.
Garet: (looking at print out) This is a whole chapter?
Jenna: Actually, it's only half of the original planned chapter, but it was taking so long that she decided to post this to keep people happy while she wrote the rest.
Sheba: (flips through print out) Hold it! I'm only in here once?! And why does Ivan get so many lines?! (hands start to spark)
Isaac: (whispering) Quick, Jen. Give the disclaimer and get the update over with before she fries the story.
Jenna: Er…right. Uh, Yuja doesn't own Golden Sun.
Sheba: It's not fair! Who made Ivan the important one?! I want a recount!!!
A/N: They've changed the uploading process since I updated last! I had to rush fix a few things that were altered during the upload, so you might notice a few differences in text style (like the solid bars)
"Mind Read." In an instant, Ivan and Isaac were enveloped in the purple haze.
"W-What's happening?"
Sheba turned to Felix. "Mind Read," she said matter-of-factly. "It's a type of magic Ivan and I possess, similar to Isaac's, but different." And Sheba was soon explaining the basic details of the power she called-- "Psynergy."
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Ivan found himself standing in what seemed to be a schoolyard surrounded by a chain-link fence. Everywhere he looked, young children were running and playing. A girl with a long ponytail sat on the swings. A group of boys were daring each other to get across a long set of monkey bars without landing in the giant mud puddle below. Another group of kids was playing hopscotch.
"What makes you think we'd play with you?" Ivan turned to see a small group of boys and girls glaring at a smaller boy with messy blond hair.
"I-I was just wondering," stammered the boy, shrinking back under the larger boy's gaze.
"We only play with normal people," piped up another boy in the group. The girls just stood back and stared at the newcomer. "We don't associate with freaks." The others nodded slightly in agreement. They looked almost happy to know they were hurting the boy's feelings.
The boy hung his head. "S-sorry for bothering you." He turned and started walking away. Ivan caught his breath. It was Isaac, only younger.
Behind Isaac, the tallest of the children - the boy that had asked why Isaac wanted to play with them - grinned and turned to the other boy beside him. This boy grinned also, understanding his friend's thoughts, and passed him the red kickball. The larger boy lightly tossed the ball into the air a few times with one hand and then threw it with all his might at Isaac's back, knocking him to the hard black asphalt. The group of children laughed and walked away as Isaac painfully picked himself up. The sound of children calling "Weeping Woody" over their shoulders could be heard as the recess bell rang in the background.
"Ivan?" Ivan turned to see the real Isaac standing behind him. He looked almost nervous to see Ivan. "W-what are you doing here?"
"Isaac I…uh… You see I… You were… we… Oh drat. I don't know how to explain." He kicked a pebble, looking at the ground and thinking of what to say. "You were having another nightmare, and since I can read minds, well, Sheba and I thought it might help."
Isaac stared at him in disbelief. "Are you for real, or is this just part of my dream?" he asked, pointing at Ivan.
"Oh, I'm real alright. You know how you have Earth powers?" Isaac nodded. "Well, Sheba and I have Wind powers, and one of those powers is to enter the minds of others."
"Is she here too?"
"No. She stayed behind to explain everything to Garet, Jenna, Felix and Mia."
Isaac was about to ask more, but everything around them went dark. After a few seconds, they were standing in a large, crowded room. All the people, mostly adults, were wearing black or other dark colors.
"What is this place?" asked Ivan.
Isaac looked around. "This is… the memorial service that was held after my dad died." A group of children walked by, each carrying a small plate of snacks. Isaac watched the children sadly. "It was all my fault."
Ivan looked up at Isaac. "Your fault?"
"I'm the one who started the earthquake that killed him."
"But that would put you at - what? – 12 years old!"
Isaac nodded. "Yeah."
"But how -" Ivan's question was cut off by another voice.
"Isaac? Are you OK?" Ivan turned to see a purple haired girl standing at an open doorway and peeking around the corner. Another young Isaac leaned against the wall on the other side, out in the hallway away from the crowds. He wore a black suit and tie with a white shirt, and it looked as though someone had at least tried but failed to brush his hair. His arms were crossed and he made no response to the girl's question as he continued to stare at the floor.
"Isaac?" Again, there was no response. The girl sighed and turned to go. They seemed to be the same age.
"Feizhi?" The voice was barely above a whisper. The girl returned and stood silently against the doorframe and waited. "W-what did you do…when your mother died?"
Feizhi smiled to herself. "Now Isaac. You know I was too young to remember much."
Young Isaac sighed and looked up at the ceiling. "You know what I mean."
Feizhi's smile faded. "Yes. You're right, as always." She hesitated. "Daddy took the loss harder than any of us. As for me – I don't know – I guess I just tried to get over it and move on. But I know you Isaac. You were there when your dad…well, you know. You're probably going to try blaming yourself. That's your problem – you always want to take the blame. But the thing is, what happens happens. Like my mom and your dad. It can't be undone and everyone just has to move on. Think you can do that?"
Isaac was silent for a bit. A voice called from somewhere and Feizhi turned to it, then back to Isaac. "Just do me a favor and don't beat yourself up too much. Your mom needs you, now more than ever." She walked away.
Young Isaac hesitated. "F-Feizhi?" He turned to where she had been in time to see her disappear into the crowd.
"I remember… I only saw Feizhi one time after this," said the real Isaac. "She moved away with her family to I think a place called Xian."
Ivan thought for a moment before a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Hmm, could it be?"
"What?"
"I was just wondering," he crossed his arms and grinned up at Isaac, "if someone as independent as you could actually have a crush on a girl at the age of 12?"
Isaac turned red and quickly looked away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Ivan. Feizhi and I were just friends. B-besides, her family has a lot of money. We were just school friends."
"Uh huh. Sure. Whatever you say," said Ivan slowly.
Isaac looked around for something to change the subject. A strange feeling came over him and caught his breath in his throat. Whispering voices could be heard, but they sounded more like dried leaves being blown around than English. The volume gradually increased.
"Isaac?" Ivan was glancing around, hearing the voices as well. "What's going on?"
The younger Isaac was also looking around. He peeked around the corner at the crowd.
"I remember now," said Isaac.
"Huh?"
Young Isaac went stiff, and the real Isaac followed his gaze. "There he is."
Ivan turned to see the people in the room turning to dark silhouettes. Everything seemed to go into slow motion. At first, Ivan couldn't see the "he" Isaac had mentioned. Then, one of the shadows moved aside, revealing a man on the opposite side of the room. He reminded Ivan almost of Alex at school. His hair was a sea green and pulled back in a loose ponytail. He wore a black jacket and pants suit with a white shirt and tie like most of the other men in the room, and a wine class was being held in his hand. Ivan couldn't see his eyes past a pair of black sunglasses.
"Who wears their sunglasses to a place like this?" asked Ivan, mostly speaking to himself. Isaac said nothing.
The man, who had been looking in their direction, turned away and, taking a sip from his wineglass, started to disappear behind a group of quests. Young Isaac gasped and hurried into the room, dodging a few of the visitors until he reached the spot where the man had stood. The shadows of the guests faded until young Isaac stood alone, searching for the blue-haired man in an empty room.
"Who was that?" asked Ivan.
"I-I don't know," answered Isaac as his younger self and the room blurred and faded. "I only saw him one or two times. I had completely forgotten about him."
Another image formed in front of them. Next to a wall of boulders from what looked like a landslide was another young Isaac doubled over beside it, crying.
"Here we go again," grumbled Isaac.
"Huh?"
"This is right after the earthquake that killed my dad."
"Didn't you say you started it?"
"Yeah. I couldn't stop it."
"But, Isaac-." His question was cut off again by the sound of footsteps coming from behind them. A shadow walked past. As it got closer to the young Isaac, it gained color and became the man they had seen at the funeral, glasses and all.
"Hey, it's him!" whispered Ivan excitedly. Isaac didn't answer.
"Excuse me, but are you all right?" asked the man, kneeling beside the younger Isaac.
"D-Dad. The earthquake…" cried Young Isaac.
The man sighed. "Of course. It truly is a cruel world when the most innocent of beings suffer the greatest of losses. Come now." The man wrapped an arm around Isaac's shoulders. "Some things are better forgotten, until we are able to better understand or accept them."
"Huh?" Young Isaac looked up at the man, only to see the palm of the man's other hand a few inches from his face. The hand started glowing blue, just like Mia's had, only this was a slightly darker and stronger glow than hers.
"Rest. For now, you are protected." Young Isaac's eyes slowly closed and he leaned against the man, his head lowering. The stranger picked up Isaac and stood. "You truly are something special," were the last words heard as everything faded into darkness.
Jenna: Where'd Yuja go? I thought she would've come out of hiding by now.
Isaac: She's off plotting her revenge against her mom's parrot.
Ivan: Let me guess: it attacked her again, didn't it?
Isaac: Yeah. This is the second time that "vulture" (Yuja's nickname for the bird) has tried taking a finger or two. Her mom just had to get an African Gray…
Jenna: Drat. And Yuja really wanted to thank her reviewers. I'll go track her down and get the rest of this chapter and the finished version of chapter 10 from her (now chapter 11). I heard she was almost done with chapter 11, too (now chapter 12).
Ivan: Well, on behalf of Yuja and everyone else, "thanks for the reviews and gomen nasai for the wait."
Sheba: (yelling from other room that has somehow been reinforced against her Psynergy) This is an outrage! I'm the God Child! I didn't fall miles and miles out of the sky and survive just to be outdone by some girly-boy! I don't care if he is the child of the Anemos! Let me out of here! I want my agent!
Isaac: Ivan. Please say you can cast Sleep on her.
Ivan: Sorry Isaac, but I'd rather face Sentinel, Valukar, Star Magician, and Dullahan alone than open that door when she's like this.