Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Golden Sun.

I woke up gradually. The ship had stopped moving. Some of the passengers had already left. I shook Mia awake.

"Good..." she yawned, "morning." She proceeded to wake up Garet as I woke up Ivan.

Ivan was excited. "Finally! I get to see Tolbi!" I smiled, and the four of us exited the ship.

Oh, this is great! I haven't seen Tolbi for a hundred years! Flint squeaked. Plus, we get to see Ground!

My heart sank. No, no, no! I tried to hide my feelings from Flint, but it's sort of hard to hide things from an audience in your own head.

Flint took offense. What? You think something's wrong with me?

No! I lied hastily, hoping the others wouldn't join in.

I felt a tap, and I turned around. The captain was standing there with a sack of coins. He handed it to me. "Five hundred coins," he said gruffly. "For you and your companions."
I was speechless. "Um...thanks..." I stuttered out finally. The others were waiting around a few trees.

I held up the coins. Garet's eyes widened. I handed it to him wordlessly and we continued to Tolbi.

Wait! Flint shouted mentally when we reached the entrance. Ground!

I groaned. I'd completely forgotten about Flint's brother.

"We have to go get Ground," I informed the others miserably, starting off.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, I heard a noise. I held out a hand, signaling to stop, and waited cautiously.

"Ha-ha!" the something declared. The next thing I knew, a blue blur had grasped hold of Garet's head!

Mia took action immediately, swiping at the thing with her sword. Angrily, it transferred to her head. Ivan hit it with the flat of his blade. It fell off, and immediately a freezing shower poured down over us.

I concentrated. Ragnarok! I mentally uttered. The blue thing was pinned down by a giant sword. I drew nearer cautiously. It twitched. I leaned forward.

A Mercury Djinni! The Djinni wriggled some more. It was trapped.

"I'll get you!" it shouted angrily. "I may have to join you by the Rules, but I'll get you some day!"

It's cries awakened the rest of the Djinn. Mist crawled out sleepily. Fizz scuttled out, crying about mean Mars Djinn. Sleet grumbled. Spritz posed. Gust squealed. Breeze muttered. Zephyr eyed. Smog gloomily talked. Kite wondered. Scorch shouted. Laid-back Corona waved with her tail. Fever coughed. Forge muttered. Sap stuttered. Vine laughed. Quartz eagerly interviewed. Granite and Flint bounded up, chattering.

My eyes widened. Including Ground, this would make twenty Djinn! What would seventy-two be like?

"What rules?" Ivan asked curiously.

"The Rules," the Djinni explained, explaining nothing.

"What are they?" he asked.

"Do you really want me to list you all four thousand of them?" the Mercury Djinni demanded.

Ivan's eyes widened. "Four thousand?" he repeated, sounding amazed.

"That's what I said. Don't be like Reflux. Stop repeating what I say." the Djinni snapped.

I could tell Ivan wanted to ask who Reflux was, but he restrained himself. Garet broke in. "What's your name?"
The Djinni glared at him. "You're the one I attacked! Oh, I'll get you all one day! Hail!"
"Hail what?" Garet repeated in bewilderment.

"Oh, no, all of you are Refluxes!" Hail snapped. "That's my name!"

"Pardon my asking...what do you do?" Mia asked in her sweetest voice.

Hail calmed down a little. "Finally, an Adept with some sense! I Freeze a foe to drop its defense."

Still talking in her calmest, most angelic voice, Mia requested, "Hail, would you please join us? Right away? We'll need your, um, supreme fighting skills."

The Djinni nodded curtly, which is hard to do when almost all you are is head. "Ha-ha! I will destroy!"
And with a poof, she was gone.

I blinked, watching the place where Hail had been. "A bit, um, enthusiastic, isn't she?" I remarked evasively, hoping the Djinni wouldn't pick up the hidden insult.

Mia nodded, rolling her eyes inconspicuously. "A bit."

Flint hopped over to me. "What are you waiting for? Isaac, c'mon! We've got to get Ground!"

My heart sank once more. The dreaded moment was drawing nearer. "All right. Um, all you other Djinn, go on set, please!"

Feeling like I was walking to my own execution, I followed Flint as he bounced around the Karagol. After what seemed like one second, we'd arrived. Ground bounced over to Flint joyfully. I tried not to scream. I glanced back at the others.

Garet was trying not to laugh. Mia had the same sort of look on her face. Ivan was shaking from silent laughter. I glared daggers-no, forget daggers-I glared swords at them. "It's not funny," I hissed.

They looked apologetic, but I could tell they were still close to laughter. I rolled my eyes and returned them to the horrible sight.

Ground and Flint were chattering excitedly still, and now Quartz, Granite, and Vine had joined them.

"Ground, have you-", "Ha, ha!", "Ground, it's great to-", "Hey, Ground, old buddy!" the Djinn welcomed. I felt a little bad. Maybe Ground wasn't so bad after all.

Flint shushed the other Djinn, and Ground stood taller than the rest. "I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really-"

After a hundred more "really"s, I took my earlier thought back.

"Really, really glad to be here," Ground finished finally. "And it's great to see you, Flint, and you, Granite. Quartz, Vine-" the Mars Djinn joined them, "Forge, Fever, Corona, Scorch, Gust, Breeze, Zephyr-" How did he remember all those names? "Smog, Kite, Fizz, Sleet, Mist, Spritz, and Hail, I'm glad to see you guys, too."
"Or girls!" Scorch and Hail put in loudly.

"Or girls," Ground amended. "And now, I'll tell you all about my journey here. Flint, you absolutely must tell me what happened so far, too!"

I groaned and sat on the ground. This was going to take awhile.

A/N: Recently it was my birthday. Give me a belated birthday present-review! Yes, constructive criticism is accepted.