A/N: Hey y'all!! I'm back! After, like, months…. Sorry about that. Hopefully I'll get to write more, since it's summer. I've already posted my first real Golden Sun one-shot! *feels proud* It's called "Living Legends," and there's a poem counterpart to it. Please check them out if you're interested. I'll love the feedback.

Anyways, I'm attempting djinni personalities in this story. And genders. (That's gonna be fun….) Lol, anyway, see if you can guess why I gave each djinni each personality the way I did. I tried basing it on their name, but see if you can guess how it was based off their name.

Djinn seem to have no sense of self-preservation, either. You'll get a laugh outta them. They turn out rather hilarious, I think. Comic relief. You have to admire Kisame's self-control, too, haha.

Anyways, thank you for all the feedback these past two chapters, and enjoy!

(Sorry, I changed the outer summary again. This is still the same story as before.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto (belongs to Masashi Kishimoto) or Golden Sun (belongs to Camelot). This is for purely entertainment purposes only and I am making no money off this endeavor. If I have forgotten this on any other chapters, you should know I don't own the copyrighted material within them. The stories, however, are mine.

Chapter 3

Felix dropped Sheba's face in shock, the psynergetic healing light fading away.

"W…What did you say?" he whispered, eyes wide.

Sheba gazed at Felix unwaveringly as she pressed again in a firm murmur, "Alex is alive, Felix. I saw it in his mind."

Silence fell heavily for a couple of seconds. The dark's dew chilled the adept's hearts as the night's breath seemed to carry the intruder's careful treaded steps to them. They stood like a garden of statues, frozen by Sheba's proclamation and unable to consider fleeing, the same thoughts running through everyone's minds- How could Alex be alive?! He was swallowed up by Mt. Aleph when the Golden Sun rose! How could he have survived?

It just didn't seem possible….

But a glance into Sheba's eyes was enough to know that she had made no mistake. Alex was alive, and they would have to fight these intruders if they wanted to continue in the same fashion. Alex didn't send pleasant envoys for niceties. He sent silent shadows with the scythes of death.

Felix snapped out of the ice first, blinking and gently stretching his tightened muscles to revive movement in his limbs. He felt Isaac doing the same beside him. Without having to look at each other, they worked with the synchronization of telepathic twins and the fluidness of warriors that hadn't just participated in a tiring sparring match. Moving away from Jenna and Sheba, they stood side-by-side protectively a few feet in front of the porch. Jenna and Sheba then moved closer toward them, acting as the support pair even though they were weaponless. This didn't go unnoticed by Felix, but he didn't comment on it. Divided they were weaker, but together they were stronger, even if they were weaponless.

Their situation wasn't so bad now.

Locking his eyes on the approaching pair, Felix reached for his Cloud Brand at his waist, this time for a true fight, not a sparring match. A slow, piercing whistle echoed as the air rushed past the sword into the sheath. The drawn blade glowed silver-blue in the moonlight, causing a tiny quake in the air and humming with psynergetic power. Sheba and Felix, being the wielder of the blade, were the only ones who felt the sky's tremor.

Calming his center to clear himself, Felix tried to sense the strength of their opponents by gauging their psynergetic aura, but it was carefully masked. It didn't stop the threat from leaking from them like water dripping from a soaked towel. It poisoned the very air they breathed, permeating every molecule within their space bubbles and beyond to any bystanders.

Felix felt his muscles involuntarily trembling and his palms sweating in his gloves. Beads of sweat were breaking through his forehead, and he knew it wasn't from the spar.

It was fear.

He couldn't even gauge their psynergetic strength, yet their mere presence was causing shivers in his spine. That was not a good sign.

If he hadn't felt it before, he felt it then. There was real danger to be had from this pair. And he didn't need Sheba's foresight to relay that to him.

To be short, they were in deeper trouble than he previously thought.

Quickly, he began a double-take of their situation.

He and Isaac were slightly worse for the wear after their spar, but they could deal with a little weariness. Nothing adrenaline from a death match couldn't cure. Plus, he had Vials, at least, so they were stocked for a second or third round. He hoped Isaac brought psynergy crystals. They were going to need all they had on them. The ground was still traversable, and this area was perfect for tapping into the fullness of their Venus powers. Surrounded by cliffs, trees, semi-dry, sandy ground that alternated between dry rock and moist soil, they wouldn't have had more ideal conditions for their abilities unless they'd been at the Venus Lighthouse. And they had the additional boost of power from the Golden Sun, which they hadn't had before…. [How do you turn off that nightlight anyway?]

Felix did a second glance back for the status of the girls, which turned out to be: full strength, weaponless and only one able to use psynergy. It was not a good combination, no matter what he previously thought. He steeled himself for the future outburst.

I don't care what they tell me, Jenna and Sheba aren't staying here, Felix decided. It's way too dangerous. I can't believe I ignored it before. Especially for Jenna. She can't use psynergy to defend herself since she's pregnant. If she did, she'd be endangering her child. She might be able to summon djinn, but that still requires some psynergetic strength. She can't fight. Sheba's weaponless, too. I'm confident in her psynergetic skill, but against this pair, I'm not endangering either of them, even if they both weren't weaponless and sis wasn't pregnant. Besides, we're fighting blind here, unless Sheba learned anything of their abilities. I don't know if she was in his mind long enough to find out.

He internally sighed anxiously. We need to get them out of here. I'd feel better over Jenna's safety if Sheba was with her, but I don't like sending them away by themselves. What if there are more? He quickly glanced back to their approaching opponents, thinking over Sheba's words. No, I think these two are the only ones. That's what Sheba gleaned, anyway, and I trust her skill in uncovering the truth in shadow.

Jenna and Sheba should be okay if we tell them to go, Felix mused hurriedly. But we can still send some extra protection. And while we're fighting, they can warn Ivan, Mia and Piers to watch their backs for Alex and these incoming freaks.

After quick decision-making that occupied the span of a few seconds, Felix decided to send Jenna and Sheba away to warn the rest of the group, but also to get them away from the danger zone.

He threw a half-second glance to Isaac, who caught it with an understanding glint.

Time to meet the coming onslaughts.

There was another slow, shrill whistle as Isaac withdrew his Gaia Blade from the sheath strapped to his back. His blade glowed faint orange in the moonlight, emanating the strength of Venus. The ground trembled threateningly beneath their boots as the blade was revealed, but it went unnoticed to anyone other than the Earth Adepts.

Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the moving group before them. They appeared to be meeting them, but there was uncertainty to their movements after the initial approach and Felix unsheathed his blade. He stood indecisive, as if trying to determine something. Then his Sharingan eyes revealed his muscles trembling, unnoticeable to anyone from their distance but someone with eyes like his.

Itachi internally smirked. So he could feel the intensity of their presence as far away as he was. Either he had a great sense of self-preservation, or he was extremely astute in ascertaining an opponent's threat. Or perhaps a mixture of both. It didn't particularly matter to Itachi, though it was an interesting turnout. It might make the fight more interesting.

Shortly thereafter, Felix glanced at Isaac, who then unsheathed his sword in turn. Both their swords seemed to be faintly glowing. Perhaps it was the moonlight; but, then why would they be glowing different colors? Were the blades enhanced with psynergy and he simply hadn't noticed?

Itachi's eyes roved over the group, and he saw Jenna and Sheba were weaponless. He hoped they weren't so foolish that they would attempt battling them unarmed. That would nothing short of folly, a death wish. Unless they were so confident in their ability of psynergetic proficiency that they didn't require any sort of weapon or psynergetic enhancer for battle. That seemed unlikely; however, it was still foolhardiness to the highest degree.

As he continued roving his eyes over the small group, he noticed they hadn't moved very far, just enough to be a short distance from the porch. Were they going to come out to meet them, or were they delaying to determine a plan of attack or escape? Itachi almost laughed at the latter notion. They couldn't escape, even if they tried.

There was a dull flash of light, immediately drawing Itachi's eyes to it. An orange glow was emitting from Isaac. Itachi's eyebrows furrowed uncertainly. What was he doing?

Isaac's eyes fluttered shut as the familiar sensation warmed his core and spread to the rest of his body, loosening his tensed muscles and relaxing his state of mind as he traveled to another, calling forth a spirit of his power. The glow seemed to have no direction at first, spreading its light with no purpose. Then, immediately it compressed, centering in Isaac's outstretched palm before separating to float above it like transparent goo, molding itself as it manifested its form. Seconds later, the glow faded and extinguished, leaving a small, brown, plated and furry creature the size of Isaac's fist suspended in the air in front of him.

Its storm-blue eyes shone with excitement as it saw the summoner. Bouncing in the image of a jumping, armored, tailed creature crossed between an insect and a mammal, it squeaked in a child-like tenor,

"Hey, Isaac! What's up?"

Isaac opened his eyes and grinned at his first and oldest djinni companion. "Hey, Flint," he said, chuckling at the djinni's antics. "Can you do something for us?"

Itachi felt his eyebrows rise in shock as he stopped with his partner in synchronization several meters away. Something had spawned itself from the light Isaac had summoned, and it appeared to be alive. Or as alive as something summoned can be, Itachi remedied. It was about the size of his hand fisted and appeared to be a fat brown insect on a sugar high. Its higher tenor of voice threatened to squeak, yet it managed to remain fluid. It also emanated an unearthly power. It felt like psynergy, yet it seemed slightly different. Like it was a different… shade of psynergy. Itachi didn't know how to classify it.

He didn't feel like voicing it to his partner. If his mind was being bogged down by everything, he knew this was already over Kisame's head.

"Hey, Itachi! The tiny rabbit talks!" Kisame exclaimed with a chuckle of surprise.

Itachi's eyebrows furrowed as he studied the creature's reaction. It was strangely humanly bipolar as it listened enthralled to Isaac's whispered entreaty before whipping around with an angry whistle at Kisame's exclamation. It riposted in the cutest squeak of indignation,

"You crustacean cur! Infidel of the highest insult! I'M NOT A RABBIT!!"

Taken aback by the creature's sudden outburst, Kisame gaped silently for a moment, his jaw hanging slightly open. Once life returned after the initial shock, he laughed throatily, his pointy teeth glistening in the moonlight. This creature was a suitcase of surprises. As his laughter subsided to a continuing subdued chortle, he queried curiously,

"Then, pray tell, what are you?"

Drawing itself up with the cloak of utmost dignity and honor, it proclaimed, "I am Flint, a djinni of Venus. I am Isaac's oldest and most devoted helper since their quest of relighting the elemental lighthouses."

The glow of realization instantly fired within Itachi. So this was a djinni. It didn't appear to be much, simply looking at the small bouncing ball of hyper-ness and mock ferocity, but he knew it packed more punch than what it appeared to have. After all, the power of these things could manifest Summons if there were enough of them. He wondered how much strength the little bugger had on its own. According to Alex, they were rather rare, but extremely helpful if one could be obtained. On a side note, he also didn't know if djinni had genders, but from listening to this one and judging by the tenor of its voice, he was going to hazard it was a male, at least for the present.

Kisame just stared at the little bugger with a cloud of confusion in his eyes. "You are a what?" he pressed again. Itachi felt like rolling his eyes. He probably hadn't been paying attention to Alex's explanation. Not that he could blame him.

"A djinni, Kisame," Itachi stated.

"A Venus djinni," Flint restated with pride. He began his resumé of service again. "I am Isaac's first and-"

A hint of exasperation entered Kisame's voice as he pressed his point to the stuck-up ball of fur and scaly plates. "What is a djinni?" he interrupted the spiel, causing it to glare at him comically.

"Oh…" Flint drawled. He deflated his bubble of self-importance to calmly explain, "A djinni is an elemental spirit, from the spirits of earth, water, wind, and fire. I'm a spirit of the earth. I can enhance Venus- which refers to earth- powers and-"

"Flint," Isaac interjected with a quick reprimand, "I don't think you should be sharing secrets the enemy, especially enemies that can bite you in half and stick you on a cracker."

Flint squeaked, envisioning itself being eaten. He began bouncing around in the air in front of Isaac, flustered from his err, chirping, "Sorry, Isaac!" But a few seconds later, the apparent bipolar personality kicked in again. He turned back to Kisame, blazoning, "Try and make me talk! You'll get nothing out me, crustacean cur! You hear me? Nothing!!"

Kisame's following chuckle was laced with dark promises as he revealed a threateningly toothy grin. Reaching behind him, he pulled his spiny-scale sword from his back with a hard tug. It fell with a resounding thud before him, raising a cloud of dust from the half-destroyed dirt. "I shall enjoy swatting you into the stone from which you came, little fly," he ground out bitingly to the creature he could finally identify. Alex had spoken about them a while back; he just hadn't remembered until then since he'd had no image to correlate with the thing at the time.

Flint squeaked in alarm, jumping beside Isaac to bolster self-support. He called out, half-hidden behind Isaac's shoulder, "Wanna see you try it, Sharkie! Nyah!" He stuck his tiny tongue out at Kisame, blowing a raspberry.

A vein popped in Kisame's temple. "This earth clod enjoys playing with death," he growled. "I shall really enjoy ripping you apart with Samehada and rubbing your remaining ribbons into the dirt!" He gripped his sword tighter, testing his restraint from jumping in then to do it.

Itachi glanced at his partner warningly. Flint opened his mouth to retort again.

"Flint. Enough," Isaac admonished sharply. Flint's antennae drooped slightly from Isaac's chastisement, and he disappeared behind his shoulder to bury himself in his earth adept's scarf. Isaac felt a small surge of embarrassment and pity for the little ball of fur at this display. "You need to learn to hold that tongue of yours, Flint, or you'll get yourself killed," Isaac said, though a little more gently this time.

A couple of seconds later, another orange glow shone in the night as another like creature began materializing. It hung in the air in front of Felix, molding, before melting into the features of a second Venus djinni. Transformation complete, it floated in the air calmly, storm-blue eyes searching for Flint. Seeing his forked tail sticking out from under Isaac's yellow scarf, it moseyed over to him. Once it was floating right beside him, it repeated in a perfect imitation of Isaac, "You need to learn to hold that tongue of yours, Flint, or you'll get yourself killed."

Flint's voice snubbed fuzzily through the fabric, "As if you're one to talk. I don't need to hear that from you."

The new djinni released a hollowly trill of giggles that decrescendoed in a slightly ghost-like manner, very much resembling a person falling off a cliff. Itachi didn't know what to make of this one, except to wonder if djinn had the capacity to be crazy as well as powerful. Although if the other was any indication….

Felix chuckled. "Hey, Echo," he greeted her. "Were you listening?"

Echo turned to her host, eyes focused in rapt attention. "Of course," she affirmed. "I like to be up-to-date so I can best be of help." She gave a quick nod, and then turned to glance toward where Flint was hiding beneath the scarf, sending an "unlike some djinn" insinuating glance.

Flint apparently didn't even need to see her face to know what she was doing, for he issued a muffled hmph from the depths of the material. Itachi wondered if they were telepathic with others of their kind.

"Great, more flies to swat," Kisame grumbled.

Itachi just gazed piercingly, saying nothing as he continued studying the little earthen creatures.

Felix kept his eyes on the antagonistic duo as he spoke to Echo. "Echo, would you be willing to help Flint?" he asked, trying again to get his point across.

Echo returned to floating between Felix and Isaac, facing her host. "If it's just as you described, I think Flint should be enough. Providing he unburies himself and does his job," she drawled as an afterthought.

Felix internally sighed in frustration while Flint pulled himself from under his scarf shield with an angry squeak.

Passing a hand over his djinni to quiet the oncoming outburst, Isaac interjected before Flint could retort, "Enough antagonizing. In case you two haven't noticed, we're kinda pressed for time at the moment. You two are not helping."

The two djinn fell into an abashed silence, their antennae drooping with embarrassment.

"Now," Isaac continued, "will you do it?" They nodded.

"Thank you," Isaac sighed. The djinn argument was over.

Felix nodded his thanks, relaxing too. The little furballs had extremely short attention spans….

A purple glow shone from behind them, surprising all. Before anyone could say anything, the resulting pops resounded and two Jupiter djinn were floating in front of Sheba, flapping their short wings to keep them airborne, as opposed to using psynergy to float like Echo and Flint. The surprised silence didn't stretch very long, though.

"Hey-guys-what's-happening-I-heard-there-was-trouble-man-I'm-so-happy-to-be-able-to-get-out-and-help-and-whoa-they-look-really-strong-good-luck-beat-them-up-watch- their-ashes-will-blow-away-in-my-wind-and-"

"Breath," the other djinni interrupted, her tone airy and calm. She was in no way hurried, her wings moving slowly and gently. "Peace. War will break soon."

"Oh-oh-oh-Ether-you're-here-too-I-didn't-know-Sheba-brought-you-out-also-wow-this-is-so-cool-it's-like-one-big-party-and-"

"I don't know if their ashes are going to blow away on the wind," Echo inputted, "but if you keep talking like that without a breath or pause, Breath, my brain's gonna turn into mush. And that'll be from only your insanely fast speech pattern, to say nothing about your djinni abilities."

"Eheh," Breath giggled, flushing slightly from embarrassment as her wings continued to flap at an almost supersonic speed. Or perhaps to the speed of her speech, which was close enough. "Sorry-I'm-just-so-excited!" Her voice rose to supersonic pitches, too.

"We noticed," Flint sighed in exasperation. Turning slightly to Ether, he begged, "Please tell me Smog gave her candy again. I don't know what I'm going to do if that's not a sugar rush. Even I'm not that bad."

It was Echo who responded, however, sighing, "I'm afraid that's natural, bro."

Flint looked like he could cry.

Unfortunately, so did Kisame. "Please let me squash them, Itachi!" he begged his partner. "They are driving me insane and delaying my fight!"

At his words, Breath looked from Kisame to his sword, truly seeing them for the first time. She silently, for once, sent a tacit question to Ether, who nodded. He would slice them if he got the chance.

Breath wisely shut her mouth.

"Wow," Felix chuckled in surprise a moment later. "And I thought ours were stressful."

Sheba rolled her eyes. "Yeah, mine drive everyone up the wall. They're even driving them up the wall, so perhaps that's saying something." She jerked her head in Itachi and Kisame's direction. She joked, "Perhaps you can defeat them by simply setting Breath's mouth off." She quickly sobered, though, but was interrupted before she could continue.

"Could someone please explain to me why everyone's bringing out their djinn?" Jenna asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "Did I miss something? Or am I supposed to be doing the same?"

"Er, no, Jen," Isaac answered, breathing careful winds of caution. He didn't want to fire Jenna up; they might not extinguish her this time, and he didn't want to be wasting more time that way. He didn't know how patient these intruders were, and he didn't care for Jenna to be the one to break it. "You see, Flint and Echo are going to escort you, and, ah…." He trailed off nervously, as a spark of suspicion was entering Jenna's eyes.

Felix decided to attempt reasoning before Mt. Jenna erupted. "This battlefield is going to be getting really messy, sis, and you don't have a weapon. It'd probably be better if-"

Jenna's eyes were flashing dangerously as Felix broke off, her anger rolling off of her in burning waves. Taking an obstinate step forward, Jenna hissed, "There is no way I'm leaving you three to fight them alone! I'm not going!" Her eyes flared, daring them to contradict her.

Felix dared, however, because the safety of his sister was overriding his ability to allow her to stay. He contradicted, "And you think I'd send you alone? Sheba's going with you."

"No way, Felix!" Sheba shot back adamantly. "I'm not leaving you, either! You don't know what they're capable of!"

"And I say neither of you have weapons, so neither of you are fighting them!" Felix retorted, his stand on the issue unwavering.

Kisame laughed, listening to the argument. All the adept's eyes swiveled to him at the sound. Still chuckling, Kisame said, "Hey, Itachi. I think they are talking about us." Then, to the adepts, he said, "It is rude to speak of people in pronouns when they are standing right in front of you, you know. But then again, it is even ruder to delay the fight they came for and are still anxiously awaiting."

Eyes never leaving the pair, Isaac questioned, "Then would you fulfill the pleasantries and tell us who you are and what you're doing here?"

"Fair enough." Kisame cocked his head to the side, revealing a sharp-toothed grin. "This is Uchiha Itachi, and I am Hoshigaki Kisame. It is a pleasure to meet you." He reached for the sword he had replaced sometime during the new argument. "Now we shall fulfill the job that your Catastrophe-bearer has oh so spoiled the surprise of. Prepare to die." He heaved his sword from his back, letting the tip fall to the ground again with a loud thud.

Unimpressed with the unasked encore sword display and completely ignoring the death jibe, Sheba exclaimed indignantly, "I'm not a harbinger of doom, but I'll surely be one for you! And I'll do it without a fancy wrapped sword!" She took a step forward, lightning sparking her fingertips and casting a weak glow about her hand.

Kisame waited for the attack with eager eyes, but Felix extended an arm out, blocking her path. "Please, no, Sheba. I need you to escort Jenna out of here."

"I already told you, Felix, I'm not going!" Jenna exclaimed.

There was silence for a moment as her heated words rang through the air.

A murmur broke it. "Jen, this isn't about your ability," Isaac whispered. It was quiet, but it carried throughout the soon-to-be-battleground with the weight of his words. "I've fought with you- we've fought with you," he amended, "and we all know you're not a force taken lightly. But there are other things at stake here." He paused, looking over his shoulder at her with a quiet point. "Protecting a flame that has not yet burned is one of them. Jen," he whispered, "you're not fighting just for yourself anymore."

Itachi's eyes narrowed at Jenna as her shoulders sagged in defeat. Was she pregnant? Could that affect the summon-withdrawal process? And what affect would a Summon have on a child?

These thoughts went unknown to the Adept group as a small blush of shame crept across Jenna's cheeks, unconsciously bringing an arm to wrap around her lower stomach, the life-not-yet-lived throbbing faintly beneath her touch. Her eyes fluttered shut as she made her decision.

She had to protect their child. She couldn't be selfish. Not now.

Jenna sighed, her eyes opening again to face her husband. "You're right, Isaac," she murmured, defeated. "I'll go."

Isaac sighed, too, but his was relief. "Thank you, Jenna."

Felix nodded to Sheba. "Y'all better take off. It's about to get real ugly," he said. "Head to Mia's place after you've warned Ivan about Alex and his freaks-" -Kisame twitched at his words- "-and wait there for us. Piers should be with Mia."

Sheba nodded back, though somewhat reluctantly. "I had a feeling you were plotting this when you initially pulled out Flint and Echo," Sheba stated, before gesturing at the now silent Jupiter djinni. "And while I wasn't- and am not, for my selfish part- entirely happy at you two fighting alone, it's for the best. So take Breath and Ether. You're going to need them; their speeds are incredible, though Raven Hair more so than Fish-face." Kisame growled indignantly at this description, but Sheba paid him no heed. "You'll also have access to Flora, if you wish."

Felix's expression was mixed as he struggled with his next words. He hadn't expected djinni in return, and he didn't know if he should take them.

Itachi spoke up first, though. "Flora is a Summon," he intoned. Was it possible to summon a Summon if they were bound to someone else?

Sheba turned to him, quirking an eyebrow. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised you know she's a Summon, since you know Alex," she stated, before turning back to Felix.

Itachi's eyebrows knitted in frustration. She completely misinterpreted his statement.

…Or did he misinterpret hers, somehow?

Itachi didn't have much time to contemplate this as the djinn exchange was made and the girls turned to leave. His eyes narrowed. "I do not believe we gave you permission to retreat," he intoned threateningly, the Sharingan tomoes spinning.

"Well, we did," Felix shot back. "Take it or leave it, 'cause they still go."

Itachi's only response was a flitting shadow. A shrill whistle pierced the air in the amount of time it took for Ether to set to Isaac and for him to extend his sword. A second later, Itachi was stopped just before the sword, watching the remaining carriers escape.

"I don't think we gave you permission to follow," Isaac echoed back.

Itachi's glare was twice what it had been; up close, it was really scary. But Isaac had seen his fair share of gleaming red eyes- both hostile and not- thanks to the Proxians, and it didn't have the effect Itachi was hoping for as he hissed, "Move."

The corners of Isaac's lips picked up in a half-smile as he stated, "No. You're fighting us."

"Unless you're chickening out," Felix threw in from Isaac's left, "and would rather fight near-defenseless girls."

It was apparently possible for Itachi's piercing glare to darken even more, because it did. Flitting back to his place by Kisame, he hissed, "If that is your death wish… so be it."

Felix grinned, setting Breath to himself as he asked cheerily, "Any questions?"

Kisame grinned toothily as he supplied, "None." Heaving Samehada to his shoulder, he gripped the handle tightly and then charged at Felix, swinging the monstrous sword as he closed in.

Isaac had no problem with this arrangement as he locked his sword with Itachi's stone dagger-thing a second later. He had a score to settle with him for threatening his wife.

No one threatens Jenna and gets away with it, Isaac silently vowed as he and Itachi broke apart.

No one.

"C'mon, Jenna!" Flint.

"C'mon, Sheba!" Echo.

"Don't fall behind!" Chorus.

Flint and Echo had reverted to their light forms, flitting ahead to guide the way for Jenna and Sheba. They were almost too fast to follow, even though they were already running at an accelerated speed toward the ruins of Mt. Aleph. Sheba jumped slightly to avoid tripping on a tree root.

"Sheba," Jenna panted from beside her. "I'm scared for the boys. Did you feel that flare of power just now? And that's all the way over here…."

"I know," Sheba acknowledged from beside her, using a wisp of Jupiter psynergy to give them both more oxygen to keep up their pace. "But as we obviously can't fight with them, what else can we do?"

Jenna's eyes sparkled through their exertion, and Sheba knew this was Jenna at her most unpredictable. This was proven true as Jenna asked:

"Can I borrow a djinni?"

A/N: I'm sorry if it seems as though I'm taking a long time to develop this, but since this is the first encounter between the worlds (beyond Alex and Akatsuki) and there's going to be a lot happening during, due to, and after this, I feel this (and its sister half, which shall debut next chapter) is an important opening part of the story that deserves a lot of time (in length of writing). I do, however, have a tendency to be real wordy instead of concise and to the point in my writing. In which case, feel free to point that out, if you feel I'm overwriting. That goes the same if you feel I'm underwriting.

I used 'stone dagger-thing' on purpose. There may be a 'ninja' class in Golden Sun, but I don't think our adepts are familiar with kunai and shuriken. Probably the closest expert on weapons is Sunshine, since he's a blacksmith. Anyone think he might know some of those weapons…?

And I'm going to fully explain why Jenna's not allowed to use psynergy later in the story. In the current events within the story, there hasn't been a good time for the adepts to reveal that, but when that opportunity appears, it will be explained. For now, however, I'm just going to say it also has to do with the fact that she's a Mars Adept and I don't think extremely high temperatures would be good for a developing child.

Also, I would have continued this chapter, but as ShiaoPi requested that I post a shorter chapter than the previous one, I tried to acquiesce for my faithful reviewer to the past 2 chapters. Thus, this is 7 pages shorter, lol. This better, ShiaoPi?

Please leave feedback! It will be gratefully received. :)