Lets jump right in, shall we?
Golden Sun: Dark Element: Chapter Two
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Again he woke in the darkness. Sheba slept beside his bed, leaning on her staff. She was exhausted, surely. The healing and the mothering…she was only preventing the inevitable. Why wouldn't she just stop? Had Jenna's stubbornness somehow rubbed off on her? He smiled a soft grin in her direction. He was proud of her. She was truly strong and so caring…
How could he deserve such great friends like her and all the rest of them? She was so pure and innocent and he was…a murderer, a traitor…along with everything else he'd ever done against family and his hometown. He had sacrificed everything when he chose to help Saturos Menardi light those damn lighthouses.
He sighed and leaned back on his pillow. His thoughts were so scattered that he could hardly think straight. Why was this happening to him? His health had been growing worse for days, and the nightmares had only gotten more real, and even bloodier.
He had even dreamed about her. He looked at her sleeping form and smiled. Her soft green eyes would look his direction and she would smile. Her hair, growing longer, would be pulled back. She would be sitting bathed in dusk light and a dancing breeze would twirl around her. She would say something he couldn't hear and look at him.
Then the dream would conclude. He could only guess her words, but knew he would hear them sometime. It was one of his more peaceful predictions, but it wasn't the end.
She stirred in her sleep. He wondered if she knew that he had that dream of her. He had shown her several more and was always relieved when it didn't appear.
He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. The other dreams were more important than a smiling Sheba. Why did he see these things? Death, predictions, past memories…? What did it mean?
He had to find out.
He slowly rose from his bed, careful not to wake the wind adept from her sleep. He tiptoed from the room and entered the main hall of Vale's Sanctum. Looking around cautiously, he was thankful that the stairs were unguarded. At the bottom of the stairs, behind a heavy wooden door, was the prayer room.
He certainly wasn't about to start praying. That room led to the clean and open air of the new Vale.
He entered quietly without any guilt. Felix hadn't prayed since the storm…he didn't even remember how long ago it had been anymore. He no longer cared for the gods and their high standards.
Was that why fate had never looked down on him with kind eyes? He didn't believe it, but had been told many times that exact thing. Only Piers shared that belief, but he had different views from the others, anyway. He was Lemurian after all; it was expected. Felix had been scorned for his beliefs all his life, though, so he'd gotten used to it.
He heaved the great door open and grinned as the fresh outside air hit him. Being a Venus adept, he found it difficult to stay stuck between four walls and a roof all the time. He breathed in a large lungful of misty air; it was all he'd needed to clear his mind. He hummed a random tune as he looked up at the moon.
It was such a beautiful, serene, night and the moon was so alluring…so stunning…
He felt a drawing, a want for the power the moon held over the night sky. It felt so comforting to look up at it and know it was there.
The rain began to fall faster now. It pounded around the awning Felix was standing under but he took no notice.
The moon was too beautiful to look away from. He wanted to go back and lay down, the aches and the fever were draining his already weakened stamina.
But he couldn't look away.
He walked out from the awning, the rain pounding on his upturned face. He perceived nothing when it suddenly stopped. He never realized how it hung in mid-air or how the color began to fade from his surroundings.
He had finally realized he was no longer 'with it.' It took him awhile, but as the moon's hypnotic pull begin to fade on him, he figured he was no longer conscious.
He was having another dream. It was unlike when Sheba had watched them with him. Every time he had on his own, it would be him living the prediction. But he was never in control of what his body did.
He noticed that the sky was pitch-black except for the moon and a large swirling ball of silver and black light that floated before him, "Welcome to the Lighthouse of Shadows," he said, turning around to face…
Jenna? This was the first time she had appeared in one of his dreams.
The mars adept didn't look very happy, either.
She held her staff tightly in one hand, her sword in the other. Her knuckles were growing white because of her grip on them. She looked into his face with a horror-stricken expression, "How could you…" she choked, " What have you done?"
"Poor thing," he said, drawing his Darksword and examining a large red blot that practically coved its dark surface. The Darksword? That cursed weapon? Where was his ever-faithful Sol blade? And what had he done to make her so upset? He would never make his sister cry like that again. Leaving her had caused enough tears for a lifetime of sorrow. He tried every day to make it up to her—he could never, ever stand to make her cry. Or could he?
And why was he mocking her? This wasn't him. He could never hurt her. Not this badly; especially not on purpose.
"He was your best friend!"
Best friend…she wasn't talking about Piers, was she? What the hell did she mean by "was", anyway?
His question was answered when he looked (not of his own will) down to his left. Mia was kneeling beside Piers, futilely attempting to heal his gaping wounds. This couldn't be happening. Piers hadn't even been seen in nearly a year. There was absolutely no chance of Piers leaving Lemuria again to visit Vale.
No, no, no. This couldn't happen. It would not happen. It was merely a dream.
Just a dream.
Piers had told him he would never leave the island again. No chance. This would never happen.
But still...
Had he really tried to kill his best friend?
He heard a shout from somewhere behind him. He turned to see Sheba pointing her staff at him.
"Whoever you are," she cried, " you can't scare us into not attacking you just because you have Felix's likeness."
"You would kill him?" He asked mockingly, " are you strong enough to be responsible for his death?"
"Are you so weak that you must hide in another's body? Coward!"
Sheba…
He wanted reach her. He wanted her to understand, some part of him was still there…
She was right, though, he thought. He would rather die than harm his friends. Better her than that shadow in the other dream anyway.
He then flung himself at her.
He hoped to the gods that he wasn't truly himself.
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"Felix!" She shouted his name, shaking his shoulders. Sheba had noticed him sneak away, and had gotten the door open just in time to see him collapse. "Felix!" she shouted again. She had dragged the soaking Venus adept back inside and had been trying to wake him for several minuets to no avail.
He was dreaming something, she knew it. He was having another one of those dreadful predictions. He was experiencing something merciless and dreadful.
Should she risk it? She might save him, but then again, she might be trapped with him. Sheba nodded, determination set on her face. She would. She would break into his mind and drag his consciousness out if she had to.
She concentrated on her mind-reading power and focused it all into her glowing fingertips. Pushing them to his forehead, she felt herself float slowly through his mind.
Her hand suddenly hit a barrier, sending her out of his thoughts, "No, Felix," she said to his still form, "Let me in!" She was panicking. She could help him and he knew it, so why did he want to keep her out? It didn't matter; she would push his mental barrier with all her might. She would break it if she had to. It was dangerous and stupid, but she had to help him.
But she couldn't do it alone. So the Jupiter Adept focused on the one person who could assist her.
'Ivan!'
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END OF CHAPTER 2
So are you interested yet? Please let me know. I eat criticism for breakfast. No really, it's a balanced meal with all kind of yummy nutrients in it. It makes my mind stronger and my typing faster. Please, I thrive on advice. Thank you very much!
See you next chapter!
~riais