Disclaimer: Camelot owns Golden Sun. I could never invent something that awesome.

Reven is ready to respond to a raid by robbers. He has a chance to catch the thieves that are plaguing the city of Altin. Read and Review.

Chapter 9

Reven slowly stepped down the steps, making sure not to make a sound. He could hear the thieves talking quietly. He was trying to work a plan out in his head. So far he was drawing up a blank. So he decided to just mess with the thieves. The thieves were delivering boxes from the herb shop counter over to the one window at the back of the shop. Moonlight was shining in through the window giving the thieves light to see.

First Reven slipped over to the front door. He froze the handle solid so it couldn't be opened. Next he slipped behind the weapon counter which was in reach of the window. He waited until the thieves were turned around and began.

"Frost," he whispered under his breath. Ice slowly spread over the floor until there was a he patch of ice directly underneath one of the thieves. The man picked up a box, turned and took a step. The man slipped, and with a cry, fell backwards. He threw the box across the room and it smashed against the wall. The racket was so loud, the other thief turned around and cursed. Reven jumped up, shut the window and froze it shut. The room was plunged into complete darkness.

"What the hell is going on?" Asked the man on the floor.

"Quiet!" Hissed the other. "Someone's there."

Reven froze. He heard a sword being drawn. And footstep drew closer.

"Where did all this ice come from?" Asked the guy again.

"Shut. Up." The other said. This time the voice was right next to Reven. Reven backed away slowly when he heard the last voice he wanted to hear right at that moment.

"Reven? Was that you?"

Silvia's voice flew into the room from the direction of the stairs. He heard the thief stop and turn towards the voice. Then he started to move towards Silvia.

"Reven? Is that you?"

Reven couldn't wait any longer. He stood up, pointed his arm in the direction of the footsteps and yelled; "Douse!"

Water splashed forward. "Silvia, get out of..." He began to say, when suddenly he felt the cold sliver of a knife at his throat. He heard Silvia's footsteps dashing up the steps.

"Don't even think about it water boy." Reven had forgotten about the other man, who was now holding a dagger to his neck. A light came on as the other thief lit a torch. The thief walked over and looked at Reven. The other robber grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back then lowered the knife.

"Well what have we here?" The thief asked. "A nosy little water adept."

Just then Silvia came back down the steps with Erick, the weapons shopkeeper and Djnni in tow. They carried light of their own, which lit up the room. She had her rapier drawn and ready, and Erick had his ax and holding Anaklusmos in his other hand.

The thief smiled. "Well, It looks like some more adepts have joined our company. They seem as though they'd like their friend back." He said nonchalantly. "Of course we'll give him back. Although not in one piece. That is unless you let us leave."

"Let me go." Said Reven, struggling against the man's grip. The man held the dagger to his throat again.

Erick and Silvia lowered their weapons. Erick slowly walked to the front door and grabbed the handle. Reven watched as he melted the ice, then opened the door and stepped back.

"Go ahead." Erick said. "The door's open."

The first thief ran through the door. The other, still holding Reven in a death grip, slowly backed out the door. He paused then shoved Reven back into the room. Reven fell to the ground and the thief grabbed the door handle and slammed the door shut.

"Go after them!" Reven shouted, struggling to get up. "We can't let them get away!"

Erick dived for the door and swung it open. It was dark outside except for the light of the moon, and the streets were silent. Reven, Erick, Silvia and all the Djnni rushed outside.

"Shade, you come with me," ordered Reven. "Erick and Fever, head for the town's entrance. Look everywhere for them. Don't let them leave the city. If we can find them we'll be able to return all of the stolen goods."

"Right." Erick said. "Oh don't forget this." And he handed Reven Anaklusmos.

"What about us?" Silvia said, motioning to herself and Flint.

"Please, stay here." He said. "Flint keep Silvia safe."

Silvia looked disappointed, but she nodded in assent. Flint, however, was hysterical.

"WHAT? Stay put? Keep her safe? From what?" Flint bellowed.

"There's no time to argue! Please, just wait."

He turned and ran up the street in the direction of the mountain. Erick had already headed for the gate. As he ran, the eerie shadow of the loomed closer. He eventually came to a giant gate in the side of the mountain. It appeared to be a shrine to some eastern sea god. For some reason the small door was ajar. Reven's curiosity overcame him and he opened the door. The inside was huge. Tall marble columns and sculpted reliefs were on the walls, and in the center were six small statues of a strange water beast. At the end of the room there was one larger one standing taller than the rest.

"Those are the Guardians of Altin," said a voice from behind Reven.

Reven spun around and unsheathed Anaklusmos. There at the door was the silhouette of a man, the pale moonlight casting his shadow on the ground. Reven could see, as the man limped in, that the man was tall and his hair was flaming red, like Erick. He looked similar to the man that had shoved him in the weapon shop. Reven could immediately tell that he was a Mars adept. One, because of his red hair and, two, because there was a Mars Djnni at his side.

"Be careful," Shade said. "He's an adept."

"Who are you?" Reven asked suspiciously. "What are you doing here?"

"That's a very rude way to greet a stranger. But it is no matter." The man said. "My name is Feridan. And I'm here for the same reason you are... Reven."

"Uh-oh. He knows your name." Shade said. "That isn't a good sign."

Feridan smiled. "It's okay, I just heard the noise in the weapon shop, and came over to see what was wrong. I got your name from the Venus Adept in there. I came to help."

"Why?" Reven quickly shot back.

"Still not too trusting, eh?" Well because these thieves stole some weapons that my friend an I were going to purchase from that shopkeeper. If we can catch these thieves we can buy the weapons and leave."

Reven relaxed, but only a little. "I think the thieves came through here." He said, then walked further into the temple looking for anywhere that the thieves could have gone, yet keeping an eye on Feridan. When he was far enough from Feridan he whispered to Shade. "Who's the Djinni?"

"How should I know?" He answered. "You of all people should know we can't tell each other apart."

The further Reven walked into the room the darker it became. Suddenly a light burned on behind him. Feridan had lit two torches, and handed one to Reven. He grabbed it and held it up to look around. The flickering light cast moving shadows on the walls. Then Feridan spoke up.

"Over there," he said, pointing to the opposite wall. Reven looked and saw half of a small door, next to the big statue. It was hidden behind a tall crate. He walked over to it and with the help of Feridan pushed the crate aside. He grabbed the door handle and opened the door. In the dim firelight of his torch he saw a spiraling set of steps winding out of sight below.

"I'll go first," Feridan said. Holding his torch in front of him he slowly descended the steps, his Djnni following. Reven quickly followed shortly after with shade right behind him. The staircase led them downward until they finally came to a dark corridor.

"It's a mine shaft," said Feridan. "But I didn't know they went this far underneath Altin."

"But which way did they go?" Reven said, looking both ways.

"That way." Said the unknown Mars Djnni. "They're just down that way."

"How do you know?" Shade said. "And by the way, which one are you."

"I am Core. And I can hear them."

They all immediately fell silent. Sure enough they could hear a small sound coming from the direction, that Core had pointed out. They quickly, yet silently, ran in the direction of the sound. Ahead they saw light coming from an room at the end of the hallway. Just before reaching it they put out their torches. When they reached the room they stayed just out of sight in the doorway.

Reven peered into the room. It was lit by one torch. There was a mine cart in the center on it's track, which led to another exit at the back of the cave. There were three men inside the room, two were the thieves from the shop, the third Reven didn't recognize. Then one spoke.

"I told you we should have left yesterday, but you said we should go back and rob the herb shop." Said the man Reven didn't recognize.

"We almost got away with it, too,"said the man Reven did recognize as the man who had held the knife to his throat. "If it hadn't been for that pesky water brat!"

"Just hurry up!" The last man said, the other thief from the shop. "We can leave now out of this mine shaft. It leads straight to the Goma Range."

Feridan motioned to Reven, then mouthed, 'Block their exits.' Then he held up three fingers. Then he dropped one down. Reven realized it was a countdown and got ready for action. Two fingers down. He readied Shade. The last finger dropped.

Reven and Feridan jumped into the room. The thieves recoiled, surprised by their sudden appearance, then they ran for the exit behind them.

"No you don't!" Reven yelled, and pointed his arm at the cave's exit. "Cool!" Icy spike shot up from the ground in front of the thieves. They stopped and turned around in a panic.

"Pathetic. They didn't even try to fight." Feridan said to himself and held out his hand. "Heat Wave!" Fire blasted from his palm straight at the thieves. At the last second it swerved around them forming a fiery barrier around them. The thieves screamed in pain or fright. Reven couldn't tell. They fell to their knees and their eyes rolled up into their heads, and then they slumped to the ground. The battle was over as soon as it had started. The flames dissipated and Reven stared in shock at the bodies.

"Are they... dead?" Reven asked.

"Unfortunately, they are just unconscious." Feridan said. "The shock and intense change in temperature made them blackout."

They tied up the thieves and lined them up against the wall. Reven decided to go back to the shop to get help, while Feridan sorted out the stolen goods. He ran back up the steps, through the shrine and back to the shop. When he arrived he found Erick and Silvia waiting for him to return. He filled in his friends on the events that had transpired in his absence. Silvia mentioned that Feridan had stopped by to see what the commotion was, then after learning where Reven had gone, left to go after him. They had woken the shopkeeper and told him about what had happened. They then left to go back to the cave along with the shopkeeper. It took them, with Feridan, an hour and a half to get all the stolen goods back to the weapon shop. By the time they got it all back to the shop the sun was just rising. The three bid Feridan goodbye and returned to their room to retire.

They awoke just after noon later that day. They got dressed and walked down the steps. Both the weapon shop and the medicine shop were open. The shopkeeper looked happy to have his goods returned, and he was in deep conversation with Feridan, and his friend, who Reven recognized as the man who had so impolitely shoved him out of the way in his attempt to leave this very shop. Feridan's friend still didn't look too happy. Then Feridan noticed Reven.

"Ah, Good Afternoon, Reven." Feridan said cheerily. "Or should I say Good Morning!"

Feridan laughed at his own joke, while his friend just stood there looking grumpy.

Reven walked over to them. "I never got to thank you for the help last night." Reven said.

"It's alright," said Feridan, then he turned to his friend. "I don't believe you have met my friend Reven. Septimus this is Reven. Reven this is Septimus."

Reven extended his hand for Septimus to shake. He didn't shake, but only nodded in acknowledgment that Reven was there.

"He isn't a people person." Feridan whispered to Reven, then he addressed everyone. "We found an extra box that was with the rest of the stolen goods. It just has money in it, that doesn't belong to this shop."

"That must be the money from the Inn," Silvia said, speaking up. "They were robbed too."

Reven smiled. "I think we should go give this back to them."

Once they had a lunch they left for the Inn. When they arrived at the Inn, Reven knocked at the door. The door swung open and the same man as they talked to before was standing in the doorway. As soon as he caught sight of Reven he rolled his eyes.

"Listen kid, I already told you." The man said angrily. "You. Can't. Help. Us."

"Oh...Then all this extra money we found in the thieves hideout last night isn't yours." Reven said as he opened the box of money. He watched in delight as the innkeepers jaw dropped to the floor. It slowly changed to a look of disbelief, then to a look of embarrassment and he looked back to Reven. Reven handed the box to the man.

"Yeah... Well..." The innkeeper stuttered.

"You're welcome" Reven said.

"Uh... Thanks?" The man said. "Do you still need a place to sleep tonight."

"No, we found somewhere else." Reven said, turned and left.

When they arrived back at the weapon shop Feridan had already finished his business and left. The shopkeeper said that they could stay as long as they would like. They decided to stay for the rest of the day, then leave the next morning. Erick left to get other supplies, while Silvia and Delia prepared dinner. The next morning they would set off for the eastern slope of the Goma Range.

Altin's problem has been solved thanks to Reven, and he has made some traveler friends as well. Now they set off for the Goma Range and beyond that Mercury Lighthouse! Please keep reading.

If you like this story. Prove it by writing an insanely critical review. If you don't like it, then tell me what you don't like about it in a review. We only get better by messing stuff up then trying again. So unless you tell me whats wrong I'll assume its perfect and better than yours. (For all you Golden Sun fans, This story may or may not line up with the story told in the original golden sun. This is my own idea about how these forgotten events unfolded. Also remember this is Ancient Weyard. Remember the map King Hydros shows Felix and company in TLA.)