Chapter 6

I know, I know. I said I'd never let a fic sit un-updated for two years again, and then I go off and let this one sit for a year and a half. This chapter was tricky to get in the right mood for, but hopefully it turned out to be worth at least half of the wait. Sorry for there not being any review responses this time, but as far as I know, FF.N's still against responses appearing within author notes. Which is kinda dumb, but I don't write the rules, so not much I can do if I don't want to risk having my stories taken down. Phooey.

Disclaimer: If I owned Golden Sun, TLA wouldn't have had so many annoying typos, errors, and other signs that Camelot severely underestimated their own game. Come on, is it really that hard to at least correctly label the Mercury and Jupiter Djinn on the back of the world map?

In other words, I don't own Golden Sun, but recently spent way too much time looking over the games for smaller, easily missed details to use in a possible upcoming fan fic. Er, I mean… Enjoy the story!

&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&

"I'm not fit to be a mayor." Garet leaned against the wall beside his window, staring down at the garden below. Gray clouds were now hovering low over the area, further darkening his mood. He half expected to see Felix and Jenna walk by at any moment, Felix being as serious as ever and Jenna doing everything she could to get a grin or laugh out of him, but usually failing and only getting more on his nerves. That wasn't going to happen ever again, though.

There was a knock at the door and Kay poked her head in. "Garet? Are you okay?" Garet didn't respond. "I'm sorry things have happened this way, but you have to understand that this is how things are."

"Easy for you to say," he muttered back. "All you have to do is sit and wait to be needed."

"You don't mean that." Kay sighed, coming further into the room. "In the family of a mayor, women have a different role than the men. There are just some things you have to learn to accept."

Garet shrugged. "And what if I don't like the way things are? What if I don't want to accept them?"

Kay crossed her arms. "Then you'd be fighting a losing battle. You can't rewrite hundreds of years of history over one Adept that you don't think is a monster. Haven't you listened to a thing that Grandpa's taught you?"

"What? Hate anyone that might be stronger than you? If that's the case, he might as well arrest the Carlsons and Pullmans as well. They might storm the house with their cheap weapons and armor. Look out. They've got a metal toothpick."

Kay wasn't amused by the sarcasm or mock horror. "Fine, then. You can keep moping all you want, just don't come crying to me when Aaron takes over instead of you."

Garet rolled his eyes as his sister huffed off, turning back to the window. Then he thought of something. "Aaron?" What was it his grandfather had said about their uncle? He would have been the mayor after me. The Adepts are to blame. They were caught red handed, still hovering over him like vultures. Would his family title really pass him over because of something like this? Had Isaac tricked him, and really was just like those other Adepts?

Leaving his room, Garet met no one as he walked quickly through the house, not stopping until he was back in the mural room. The ancient armor seemed to tower over him disapprovingly, despite it being hung so the shoulder plates were only a few inches higher than the top of his head. On each wall, the history of Vale unfolded. The Adept attack; the Adept persecutions; ruined crops; dried rivers; banishments; executions; Vale burning; families torn to pieces. There were even odd looking animals attacking with the Adepts in some scenes. It was all there in that room, and it was all centered around some pieces of old leather and a flat metal stick. Finally, the paintings stopped spinning through Garet's mind, and he found his voice. "What am I supposed to do?"

"A question we all ask, but few ever say aloud."

Garet jumped and looked back at the doorway, which he'd forgotten to close behind him in his hurry. "Grandpa?"

Mayor Jerra smiled with a nod, and entered the room. "You're still young, Garet. You aren't expected to know all the answers just yet." He stopped beside his grandson and stared up at the armor. "All you have to do is trust that we adults know a thing or two about what we say. Believe it or not, we do tend to speak from experience at times."

"But… Isaac's not like the Adepts in history. That thief would've gotten away with my money if it hadn't been for Isaac stopping him. If he was so dangerous, hasn't he had more than enough time to show it?"

"Garet, you are missing the bigger picture," Mayor Jerra explained, holding up a hand for silence. "Adepts have been a source of evil and destruction for years on end. For that reason, normal people simply cannot trust them anymore. To allow one Adept amnesty, I would risk losing all trustworthiness in the eyes of other residents. Do you remember when you were five years old? When the storms caused the river to flood?"

"That was the year you sent Isaac away."

The elder nodded. "If circumstances had been different, I might have allowed it to live on in the Sanctum, so long as it behaved and kept a low enough profile. However, word spread that there was an Adept, and the people demanded it be removed. I did what I had to in order to avoid a repeat of the past. If the riot had been allowed to continue, Vale might have very likely burned to the ground. Then what? The blame would have been put on the Adept and this family, and I was not about to put our family at risk."

Again, everyone else was calling Isaac an "it." "So, it all comes down to choosing the lesser evil and greater good, huh?" It gave him a bitter taste in his mouth to say it, and he couldn't help feeling he had already given up.

Mayor Jerra smiled with another nod, and patted Garet on the shoulder before turning to walk back out. "You're a bright young man, Garet. Occasionally clumsy and absentminded, mind you, but underneath that you are very bright indeed." Unsure what else to say, Garet stayed alone in the room for a while longer, finally reaching a decision.

&&&&&&&&&&

Vale's excuse for a prison had been cut into a hillside ages ago, and was not frequently used or maintained; something that only added to the underground cave effect. In the silence, one would be able to hear water dripping further in, but currently, that silence was being broken by clanging bars and angry shouts.

"What?!" Jenna shouted, pounding a fist against the metal that kept her from hitting the other redhead instead. "Garet, how can you say such a stupid thing?! You- You unbelievable BAS-!"

"Jenna!" Jenna glared back at her brother, who was sitting coolly on one of the stone benches with his arms folded. "It's his decision. Leave it at that."

"You too? What is this? How can you both throw in the towel so easily?" She mock laughed at the boys. "Then you're both nothing but cowards."

"Jenna," Felix warned again.

Garet stood silent on the other side of the cell door, hands in pockets and eyes downcast. He had known the news wouldn't be taken well, but what choice did he have? Jenna may hate him forever, and Felix might never forgive him either, but at least… "Even if Isaac is let off the hook, where would he go? If he went to any other town, they'd kill him the second they realized what he was."

"Oh, so now you're being the good guy by letting him be murdered in his own hometown instead?" If Garet weren't just out of reach, Jenna probably would have been more than happy to slap him. Or punch him; she wasn't sure which she wanted to do more. "You know he's not dangerous. You know it, Garet, you know it! I can't believe I ever thought that-!"

Jenna raised a fist to strike the bars again, but cut herself off as a sound floated through the jail. Garet followed her gaze down the hallway, realizing the music was coming from beyond the end door that led to more stairs, which led farther down into the deeper recesses of the tunnels. It sounded like… a flute? It was definitely some kind of woodwind instrument. The muffled tune was slow, soft, and reflected the shared sorrow they were all feeling, whether they admitted to it or not.

Felix stood and came to the bars as well, listening along with the others. "It's Isaac," he finally said when the notes began to repeat. "The guards must've let him have his whistle back after all. I didn't think any of them were listening when I said where it was." Garet shifted his weight uneasily between his feet as the music continued.

Isaac sat at the back of his stone prison as he played, the light from the few wall torches making any shadows flicker and dance along. There was only one other cell cut into the stone in this area, the construction of a third cell having been halted due to the water trickle. Since then, a small pool had formed in the corner, and water still continued to leak in over time. Sensing the earth around him, the chamber was probably very close to the river, or one of the many streams that flowed into it. Perhaps he was even underneath it. Not that it mattered. Vale never had much trouble with crime, so it was all too obvious who, or rather, "what," this section was made for.

A few moments ago, he had been able to hear Jenna's shouts in the distance, and from the sounds of the other voices, it was Garet she was mad at. He hadn't felt much like playing, not since when a guard had first tossed the minute instrument carelessly to him, but he wanted to hear his friends arguing even less. And so, unable to make any other noise, he picked up the small recorder, and let it talk for him.

&&&&&&&&&&

It seemed as though the entire town had turned out for the trial of an Adept. Even if none would be allowed inside the Sanctum, the location of where the trial was to be held, they didn't miss the chance to make it known they were there. Mayor Jerra, Madra's Elder, the Great Healer, Jenna and Felix's family, and Garet's father were already inside the doors, but Garet had insisted on waiting outside on the steps for now. He would regret that decision shortly, just as he would soon regret several other decisions.

Silence swept over the gathered crowd as all eyes turned towards the prison, and a path started to part. Garet noticed that many tightened their grip on whatever they had brought with them: curious children, food items fit for the trash, pitchforks, clubs, and rakes, to name a few. This isn't a crowd, Garet thought to himself. This is a mob.

Isaac's hands were bound tight behind him with a course rope. Another two ropes were tied to his booted ankles, each manned by a guard incase he should try to run. A final rope was tied like a noose around his neck, and was carried by a third guard to lead the Adept along, but he made no signs of complaint. In fact, with eyes downcast and unmoving, he showed no signs of recognition at all. Isaac cringed only twice: once as he stepped from the darkness into the light, and again when the first stone hit his arm. As Isaac passed, the small boy that had thrown it quickly hid behind his mother's skirts. From there, the angry noise only grew, and no one paid any notice to the whistle that fell out of his pocket. He noticed, though. Closing his eyes, resigning himself to whatever awaited him next, Isaac could hear the snap of the whistle breaking as it was trampled over.

"Cut it out! How can you do this to him?" shouted Jenna, emerging with her brother shortly behind Isaac's procession. Her and Felix's hands were tied in front of them, but, aside from personal guards leading them by the arms, they weren't restrained in all the other methods, and no one wasted their arsenal on either sibling. Felix, meanwhile, said nothing, not even as he cast a passing glance at Garet. Words weren't needed to show the older boy's disappointment, though. Garet looked away and said nothing in return as he followed everyone inside. He could already feel a part of him dying.

Inside the Sanctum's main chamber, the Great Healer took his place at the podium, Mayor Jerra and Madra's elder sitting behind and to his side. It would be a poor excuse for a trial. It was clear what decision would be reached, even before anyone could take a seat on the chairs and benches that had been brought in. Once everyone was settled, Mayor Jerra started to question Isaac. There was a problem, though: the last time any of the adults had seen Isaac, he hadn't become a mute yet. After a long minute or two without any response from the Adept, not even a nod of the head or glance up, the frustrated mayor seemed ready to end the trial. Garet held his breath as his grandfather started to declare a sentence.

"Wait!" Jenna jumped up, even with her guard trying to force her to sit again. "He can't talk! He lost his voice after you kicked him out!"

"Nonsense." Mayor Jerra raised his voice to be heard over her. "The boy could talk perfectly fine before. Let him speak for himself now."

"But he can't! Sir, he can't talk!"

"This is an Adept who can likely heal himself, Jenna. Of course he can talk."

"Being an Adept hasn't got anything to with it. He still can't talk."

"That is enough."

"He might've been just fine if you'd listened to the Healer in the first place!"

"Silence!"

"Just because Isaac can do something you can't, doesn't mean he can also do everything you can!"

"Take her away!"

The guard assigned to Jenna started to pull her away roughly when another voice spoke up. "She's right." All eyes, including Isaac's, turned to where the rest of the Jerras sat.

"Garet, don't!" Kay begged under her breath, but Garet, sitting with his arms crossed and eyes fixed on the floor some distance in front of him, ignored her.

"Isaac can't speak. The floods ruined his throat, and he lost the rest of his voice after he was sent away." There was an awkward silence, and with his eyes diverted, Garet couldn't see the small he was receiving from the Adept. This wasn't a smile of amusement, either. It was heartfelt, but somewhat surprised, gratitude.

Trying to hide his annoyance, Mayor Jerra asked, "Do you have something you would like to share, Garet?" Garet looked to where his grandfather stood, then to where his former friends sat, Isaac looking on with fading hope, and back again. His words faltered as he tried stuttering, "no," but he was cut off when Jenna's mother stood.

"Of course he has something to say." She glared at Garet like scum on her shoe, before addressing the mayor again. "He was there when you had my children arrested. He knew about that thing just as much as my children did. If they're guilty of anything, you know he's just as much so! Why aren't his hands tied with theirs?"

Mayor Jerra raised a hand for silence, except the rest of the family joined in and ignored him. Aaron, who was watching everything through a side door that was cracked open, waited with bated breath. He'd never seen anyone disrespect his grandpa so, or so much as raise their voice against him. There was one person who knew the boy was there, however.

As the accusations against the mayor began to build, including favoritism and corruption, the Great Healer stood and politely took the mayor's place. The family surprisingly quieted when the Healer gently motioned with both palms downward for them to sit. "I understand your frustrations, and that the treatment of one's child, or in this case, children, is a very serious issue for caring parents and guardians, but please be assured that all will be treated in the fairest extent possible throughout all of this." Amazingly, that did the trick, giving young Aaron an even greater impression of awe towards his favored teacher. The Great Healer thanked the family, and, on his way to his seat, briefly nodded his head towards the cracked doorway. Aaron stiffened, realizing he'd been found out, but breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the Healer sat silently and said nothing of it. The boy couldn't have been more grateful if he tried.

The mayor cleared his throat as he took his place again. Garet risked an uncertain glance to Isaac, but it wasn't returned. Isaac's mind was elsewhere. Something didn't feel right to the Adept, and it wasn't what was happening in the Sanctum. Mentally shrugging it off, he tried listening to what Mayor Jerra was saying. Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, there was a rustling sound as something large moved through the forest underbrush; something that hadn't been seen since before the mural in the Jerra house had been painted.

&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&

Ta-da! Thus ends chapter 6, with yet another cliffy of sorts (sorry, couldn't resist), and with only about 3 or 4 chapters left. I don't know how it happened, but this chapter somehow became a lot more depressing than ever was intended when the first chapter was posted. Might get a little darker before the end, too, depending on what final outcome I decide on. Spoilers? Here's one I'm willing to release: something happens. Now, aren't you upset that you went and ruined it for yourself?

Some clarification on this chapter: A "recorder" is a musical instrument similar to the flute. So, no, Isaac didn't whip out an electronic sound device during this chapter, for anyone who was wondering. I used to have a cheap one that I learned to play back in elementary school, but I lost it somewhere in all the moving boxes when my mom changed houses a few years later.

Oh, and here's an interesting little add on to this chapter: For those who haven't lost or gotten rid of their GS:TLA game over the last 4 years, go into the Link Lobby like you would for a normal linked battle, and hold down the L button as you talk with the girl in the bottom left corner. When she asks if you have a song request, scroll to #11 and press the A button to confirm. And there you have it: the basic idea of the kind of music Isaac was playing. n.n Or, for those who dared the heresy known as letting the game go (How could you? Think of the children!), you might still be able to find the download links through the Golden Sun Realm website.

Until next time (hopefully way less than another year)!