Golden Sun: The Sands of Time
Let me be quick and to the point here. If you'll relook through this fic, you will notice ONE glaring difference.
No more pre and post-chapter banter and adventures.
I cannot afford the scrutiny of 's tyrannical regime spying on me.
Ignore that last part.
If any of you truly miss Carl, Dullahan, and the boys, I will be posting this story on the Golden Sun Fanfiction Archive once I complete it. Look out for it there. (You can find the URL in my bio)
With that said, I own nothing, and on with the fic.
Chapter 24: I Am
No!
No! No!
NOOOOOOOO!!
Insanity. Delirium. Pain. Fear.
It felt those things, and it fed on it. Fed on Ivan's turbulent emotions. Fed on the anger, the horror of the trapped, tortured soul. Fed upon them and laughed.
Ivan screamed, but his mouth remained closed, etched into a cruel sneer. Ivan howled in grief and agony, but his eyes remain dry, his body rigid, giving every impression of a being carved from stone.
Then, through his self torture and mental cries, he saw.
Sheba was still moving. Still alive.
She had grabbed the sword with her hands, cutting deeply into them, but preserving her time on the mortal coil. As she pushed back with all the strength she could muster, Ivan heard her give an involuntary hiss of pain. Blood flowed feely, coating her arms, sleeves, and splashing to the floor.
No! You won't kill Sheba! I… won't… LET YOU!
Sheba cursed softly. Even with all her strength, Ivan was still barely kept at bay, and the intense pain from holding Ivan's sword was doing nothing to help.
Ivan, please… stop… why… are you…
Suddenly, Ivan jerked, yanking the Tisiphone Edge back and nearly severing her fingers. As Sheba dropped to the floor with a muffled cry of pain, Ivan staggered back, clutching his head, and howling.
Slowly, Sheba raised her head, even the most miniscule effort sending bolts of pain shooting through her body. With a groan, she managed to pull herself up, enough so that she could prop herself against the wall. "Ivan…" She whispered. "What…"
Then, abruptly, Ivan twitched slightly, and collapsed to the floor, unmoving.
"You… don't belong here." Ivan gasped. He stood in the middle of a black void, staring at the emptiness. "You don't belong inside me." He knew it was there. Watching. Waiting.
"Leave." He commanded. "Leave now!"
Then he heard it. A slow mocking laugh that permeated the entire area, everywhere and nowhere at once. "Fool… Your body is no longer your own. Why do you fight? Embrace oblivion… and you will no longer know fear or pain…"
Ivan gritted his teeth. "I'll not let you. This is my body. This is my spirit."
"Oh?" The voice mocked. "Your body? It's mine now, and mine it shall stay."
Then, through the darkness, he saw a shadow walking straight for him. As it neared, Ivan's eyes narrowed. Standing opposite him, staring at him, was… himself. Utterly, totally, himself.
The same messy blonde hair. The same violet eyes. His exact same face.
"Enough of your mind games!" Ivan snapped at his double.
"Why, is the big bad Jupiter Adept shocked? Is he scared?" His double taunted. "I will vanquish you here. And then I will let you, broken, pathetic being that you are, watch as I slay the girl you profess to love." He raised his hand, lightning crackling around it. "And when that is over, I will tear you apart, piece by piece, so that agony will be your sole companion on your journey to eternal oblivion." Blasts of lightning ripped through the air.
Heading straight for Ivan.
Jenna dodged, ducked, dived out of the way out of what appeared to be a swarm of glowing energy orbs all constantly adjusting their trajectory so they'd head for her. I hate Nara. She thought as she rolled along the ground, her fast action just allowing her to avoid one of the orbs, which smashed into the platform and detonated with a bright flash of light. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Davion, knocked down from one of the stray orbs. The rest of them were busy dodging the numerous explosions as well.
Clambering to her feet, she saw the orbs returning to Nara, still swirling around her in a constant dance that made her all but impossible to attack.
"You seem to have survived very well indeed, little girl." Nara chuckled. "Now, let's see how you fare against THIS!"
A hurricane blast of wind swept the room, heading straight for Jenna. As she buckled down, fighting to prevent her feet from being swept away, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye.
And an instant later, blue, red, and yellow blasts of psynergy slammed into Nara. As the aged wizard staggered, Picard appeared at her side, already chanting mystical words to soothe any wounds she might have taken during the battle. "You okay?" he asked, as soon as he finished.
"Fine, and I'll be better once that witch is put away for good." Jenna muttered as she clambered to her feet.
Nara stood, a trickle of blood running down her forehead. "You defeated my little pets?" She asked calmly. Too calmly. "Well, well, then I guess you're just a little bit stronger than I had thought." Raising an arm, she gestured.
"Ah!" Jenna cried out in surprise as her Salamander Rod left her hand, flying into the free hand of Nara. "And now…" She sneered.
Jenna put herself into her best possible defensive position without a weapon, mentally cursing herself for her complacency. Nara, meanwhile, focused, and the room began to darken. 'That's not good.' Jenna thought as she glanced around her surroundings warily.
Isaac skidded to a stop, cursing. The pitch darkness all around now made maneuvering around the platforms next to impossible. And not being a Mars or Jupiter adept, he had no way to illuminate the path to Nara.
Shaking his head in frustration, he gingerly began to inch his way forward. With any luck, his eyes would soon get used to the darkness, and he'd be able to reach her.
"You defeated everything I sent at you…" Nara continued, her voice Felix's only way of pinpointing her in the gloom. "All of my little pets. The Ghash, the Dark Knight, the Shadow Hound… all of them my creations. All of them defeated at your hands."
Felix's eyes widened, though no one could have possibly noticed it. "You're saying you're the mastermind behind this?" He heard Garet demand.
"Goodness me, no!" He heard her laugh. "I'm merely a servant, at the end of the day. So long as what he does coincides with my goal, I have no qualms about serving him. And one of his current objectives is to, of course, kill the whole lot of you."
Suddenly, Felix felt invisible hands wrapping around is throat in a vice-like grip. Gagging, he fell to his knees, sword clattering to the ground. She's… trying to choke me to death! Felix realized. Frantically, he began tearing at the invisible force at his throat, and was rewarded with a slight lessening of the pressure.
But only for an instant. Then the pressure surged back, twice as tight and threatening to choke all the life out of him. "Rrrrggghhrrr…" Felix growled as he continued to fight the constricting force around his neck. He would not die here. He would not.
"My dear Mars adept?" He heard Nara call out. " Your friends around here are currently being squeezed of their last drops of life. You were the only one to actually hurt me, if only a little, so I thought you deserved an… appropriate death. Come out now, and let's finish it."
"Yes, lets."
Then, a flash of light in the blinding darkness drew his attention. Jenna was standing there, twin fireballs in both her hands. As she concentrated, flames wreathed around her body, illuminating the general area, granting Felix sight of Nara standing near the edge of the platform they were all on.
Jenna opened, her eyes, glowing in the light of the flames, staring at Nara. Then both her arms shot out, palms facing forward, as Jenna gave a cry, "Dragon Fume!"
A blazing dragon of fire headed straight towards Nara, screeching out a challenge of battle- only to be dissipated by Nara. "Please don't tell me you actually thought that pathetic attack was going to do any damage." She mocked.
Felix scrabbled frantically at his throat, finally managing to free himself long enough to exhale greedily before the suffocating grip descended on him again. This wasn't working. Sooner or later he'd run out of strength, and then…
"Then maybe this will!" Jenna cried out. "Cannon!"
A glowing red orb of fire exploded from Jenna's palm, blasting into Nara, and when the dust cleared, it was apparent to all that Nara was completely unscathed.
"I'll give you one more free shot." She smirked. "Then, I'll break you like a twig."
Jenna growled angrily, panting. There was only one possible way left. And all she could do was pray to Mars that it worked.
"I summon… I summon the great flame beast of the wilds… the charger, the crusher, the one who wields a wall of living fire at his will. Kirin! Come forth!"
The summoned creature in question exploded from the darkness, it's elfin rider clinging tightly to Kirin's back. As it charged straight for the old woman, Nara looked at it, her only expression one of curiosity.
Then Kirin charged into her with all the strength in its body, a fiery explosion radiating heat to all corners of the room. As the smoke cleared, a tiny smile of elation appeared on Jenna's face. Yes!
Nara was tottering on the very edge of the platform, about to fall into the darkness of the abyss. Then, slowly, ever so slowly, she began to regain her balance.
No! Jenna screamed silently. Lowering her head, she ran full-tilt for Nara, knowing even as she charged that she'd never reach the aged Adept in time, wouldn't be ale to prevent her from killing the rest of them, couldn't-
Then in the darkness of the room, she caught sight of something glowing higher up and directly above Nara.
As she watched, stupefied, the glow increased in intensity and brightness, until Jenna could see Isaac clutching the Sol Blade, blade pointed straight down at Nara. And even as he fell, from behind came a heaven borne meteor, blazing with solar fire.
The meteor exploded on to the section of platform Nara was on, shattering it, and blasting her down into the depths. There was a single cry of hatred, and she was gone.
"Sorry, Nara." Isaac panted as he landed in a crouching position, both hands still holding tightly onto the blade that had been driven deep into the stone. "But wenever did agree to play by your rules."
Jenna glanced around. The room was definitely becoming brighter, her friends sprawled about the floor, hacking and coughing as they forced air back into their lungs. Walking over, she picked up the Salamander's Rod, lying dangerously close to the destroyed section of the platform.
The weary adepts all slumped to the floor, ecstasy clearly etched onto their faces. Then Mia, standing on a further platform, rapped the floor with her staff.
"We'll have time enough for rest later." She said authoritatively. "First, we need to find Ivan and Sheba."
Ivan strained as he and his double sent bolts of burning electricity through the air, both perfectly equal. This… shadow of him, created and installed by that old woman, had obviously been tailored to match him blow for blow, in psynergy at any rate.
Angrily, Ivan sent another trio of blasts towards his copy, only to watch them get countered perfectly. Completely equal. Completely even. They could go on fighting for years, and there would be still no clear victor.
No. It couldn't end like this. He needed to win. He needed to help Sheba. And he had to do it fast.
"So…" His double panted. "I just amazed… that you managed to break the hold I had on your body. It was… most unexpected." Then he smiled. "But now your precious body is lying on the ground, completely useless to all. Only one of us, of course, can claim it for our own."
"Agreed." Ivan replied. "One of us dies now."
Getting into a defensive crouch, Ivan prepared to fling a Tempest spell at his copy, when a familiar presence surged through his mind, cool and refreshing, yet warm and comforting at the same time.
"Ivan…?Is that… is that you?" Sheba asked mentally.
"Sheba!" Ivan cried in relief. "You're okay!"
"Not quite, but that can wait. Ivan, are you alright?"
Ivan glanced at his double, which was beginning to glow with repressed Psynergy on his being. "I, uh, I could use a little help right now…"
"… Ivan?"
"Sheba? Please… send me all the energy you can afford. I know you're drained, but…"
He didn't get to say anymore. Suddenly, a surge of power exploded inside him, replenishing his drained energy, and boosting him to greater heights than before.
Smiling, he unleashed all of his power on the fake, overwhelming his double's counterattacks with ease. Sending a fearsome windstorm through the arena, he smiled stretched into a grin as he noticed his copy beginning to stagger under the fury of the assault. Soon, he'd be-
"AAAHHHHH!!!" A mental scream of agony shot through Ivan's mind, piercing into his very soul.
"Sheba?" Ivan demanded. "Sheba! Answer me! SHEBA!"
Whirling, he turned to face his double, who was slowly climbing to his feet.
"Strong…" he mused. "Strong indeed." Standing fully, he spread his arms out, allowing Ivan to strike without fear of impediment. "I admit defeat." He smirked.
Ivan didn't waste time on words. Raising his arm, he fired of a bolting of lightning that flew through the air, slamming into his double's chest, burning into his heart-
And Ivan's eyes jerked open as his entire body convulsed, this time in the gloom of Geldor's chamber. Shakily, he clambered to his feet, turning to see-
"Sheba!" She lay slumped by the wall, eyes closed, and unmoving. Burn marks covered the visible parts of her body, yet her clothes were still intact.
Psynergy fire.
Whirling, he turned to face Geldor, who was about to duck into a side room. The Proxian turned to regard him almost quizzically, before vanishing down the corridor.
"You little-" Ivan started after him, but then turned around.
Dashing to Sheba's side, he crouched down, taking her hand in his own. "Sheba…?" Please be alright, please be alright, please be alright…
She opened her eyes, just barely. "I- Ivan…" She smiled. "I… I knew… I'd find you."
He stared down at the hand it was holding. Ripped, bleeding, covered it burn marks, it was a testament to his failure. His weakness. He couldn't change it now, no matter what he did.
But he could stop Geldor. Defeat him, and put an end to whatever insane scheme was brewing in his mind.
"Rest." He said gently. "Rest for a while. I'll deal with him first."
"Make sure you come back… in one piece." She laughed softly. "I'll be waiting."
Leaning over, Ivan drew her into a long, tender kiss. Then, standing, he called out. "Breath!"
A flash of purple light, and Sheba's first djiini stared at him quizzically.
"You and the others… watch over Sheba. Make sure she stays safe."
(Got it, master Ivan.)
Turning, he paused one last time to glance at Sheba, who offered him a weak thumbs-up, before heading down the hallway after Geldor.
Sheba leaned back against the cool stone wall, breathing lightly. She could feel a tiny soothing sensation around her hands as Breath breathed on them, healing the wounds. The other djinn were now around her protectively, guarding her against any possible attack.
With a weak smile still on her face, Sheba's head drooped to one side as she fell into a deep sleep.
I couldn't help but throw a tiny little bit of fluff in there. I'm going through withdrawal, seriously.
And to Mr. Philoworm, I have no intention of not completing something I already started. The only reason I might take so long in updates in because I have multiple projects, not all on this site, not to mention I am still trying to figure out how to fit in in the 'real world'.
With that said, please read and review!