Chapter 2: Sadly, Time Can't Repair Itself

Disclaimer: The same as usual, Camelot owns whatever you see familiar... sadly...

As they turned to their east, which was actually the west, they could still hear the shouts from the people of Belinsk. Except the shouts were now just mere murmurs from where they were standing. Or rather walking.

"So... how do we get back?" Tyrell asked the other four. Matthew turned around and gave him a questioning look, while the other two had their eyes twitching, clearly showing their annoyance. Kraden gave a hearty chuckle, which made him cough a little.

"Oh, how you remind me of your father..." He said, in one of those tones that almost signaled the beginning of the old man story. Tyrell smiled at Kraden, putting his fingers up in a 'V' style.

"I try my best, gramps." He replied to the statement, now with a smirk that could almost look twisted. Karis's eye twitched again as she walked up to Tyrell and smacked the back of his head.

"He has a name, you know. Don't go calling a great scholar 'gramps'!" She exclaimed in his ear, which made the other four guys flinch. Tyrell turned around and sighed, the look on his face telling everyone the exact opposite of the nature of the calm gesture he had just done.

"Never mind... let's go..." Karis mumbled, in embarrassment, as she walked further down the path.

"Just to tell you, we're going back through Biblin, and through that bridge that broke a while back." Kraden said to Tyrell, whose face paled even more.

The bittersweet taste of silence enveloped them all.

The only thing they could hear was their own footsteps as they walked down the dusty path. Along with the slight howl from the wind, which was going against them, and the nature around them, the trees rustling in the wind.

"Oh no."

Matthew, Karis and Rief turned around.

"...Good grief, did you do something in Biblin?" Rief asked to the pale boy. Tyrell's head wasn't looking in the upwards direction, but more down. Straight down. He gulped as he felt a bad aura surround him.

"Don't tell me..." Karis started. He dared not to look up to see the face of his friends.

"You almost burnt down Biblin?" Matthew exclaimed, which wasn't normal from him, since he was usually calm about these situations. On the other hand, however, you could almost see steam come out of Karis's face. That's how angry she was, and she wasn't too afraid to show it.

"Hey, hey, calm down would you?" Tyrell muttered as he looked up. He could see the anger literally etched in Karis's face. And he could feel the fear etched in his own.

"Hey, look out!" Rief shouted as he turned around. The moment he shouted that, Karis had her Phaeton Blade out, Matthew had his Sol Blade out, and Tyrell stumbled a little bit to get out his Gaia Blade. Rief already had his Thanatos Mace out and ready for battle. Kraden just took a couple of steps back, and stood in his usual spot, watching the battle.

Well, supposed to be battle, anyways...

"It's... a Venus Djinni?" Matthew said, with a questioning tone. There was no way a Djinn could be here, there were a couple of Venus ones around before... was there a possibility that they... reproduced? No, no, they came from Mt. Aleph... that's not possible...

"Oi, oi! Hold up, its just me!" The Djinn spoke, the voice kinda... familiar. All of the sudden, Matthew felt something come out of his body, the sound of a lock unlocking ringing through his ears. A Djinn unset itself... who knew?

"It's me, Sap!" The Djinn exclaimed, look of fear clearly shown on his face the moment he saw the weapons that the four were holding onto. The four looked at their weapons before putting them back to their respective places.

"Sap? Where's Isaac then, if you're here?" Flint asked, as he fell to the ground, where he stood in front of Sap. Sap shook his/her head quite quickly.

"He's in Kalay, I can't tell you the exact details but something happened at the Goma Plateau!" Sap shouted, urgency arising in his voice. The five turned to each other, before Matthew called Flint and set him on himself again, the power going through his body rising. He looked at Sap.

"Are you alright to fly on your own?" Matthew asked him/her. Sap turned around, to face him, as he was just about to leave. He looked to the ground before running to Matthew, automatically setting himself to him. The small orange dots of light spiraling him, before jumping into his body.

"Well, there goes the rule of balance." Rief muttered, as he felt slightly more jealous at the fact that they had given Amiti the last Mercury Djinn. Only slightly, because he wasn't one for holding grudges. Well, exceptions can be made when needed, like back at the Apollo Sanctum. So now he was a Djinn or more less than everyone else.

And then the five of them ran for Border Town.

As Amiti waved to Himi and Eoleo when they dropped him off, he sighed to himself. He had no idea what he was doing. The only thing that vaguely occupied his mind was the fact that his uncle was dying, and that he needed to hurry up, fast. As he started to run for the Kingdom of Ayuthay, he felt someone's presence.

"Hey, Amiti, turn around, would'ya?" He heard from his head. Dewdrop... Amiti turned around, with a hand on his Zephyr Bow, along with the extra Sylph Rapier that was in hid bag, which was actually Karis's, not his own, but she didn't have enough room in her bag to accommodate the item.

"You."

"I'm not here to kill you, or anything like that." The man spoke. His opera mask slid off nicely, to reveal his whole face. He placed the item in his pocket, and stood behind him, looking at the scenery.

"This place... looks better than before." He said, as he took a couple of steps forward. Amiti took no chances and took out the Zephyr Bow and held it tightly in his hands. As tightly as one could without snapping it, more like.

"...You've been here before?" Amiti asked him. He chuckled in response.

"I'm surprised that you're slow, Amiti, son of Veriti."

"Arcanus." Amiti said, giving him a curt nod. Arcanus laughed a little louder than he had done a few minutes ago.

"...You already know that I'm Alex, so I'd prefer if you'd stick with that name for now." Alex said, the tone of his voice slightly and subtly softening in the end. His eyes widened slightly as the man came closer, possibly a few inches close to 'personal space'.

"So, what do the likes of you want with me?" Amiti sternly asked. Alex chuckled at the sharp tone he was given. And the coldness that he was given.

"Now, now, I don't recall Veriti to ever act that like."

Amiti dropped the bow.

He looked into his eyes. They were turquiose. Like his own.

His hair was a silvery blue. Like his own.

He was an Adept. Like himself.

His eyes narrowed right into slits as he somehow got the Sylph Rapier out of his bag and right to Alex's neck.

"How do you know my mother?" It was more of a demand than a question. Fury raged through his system. Clearly, most visible through his eyes.

He was smart enough to do a little math.

He was smart enough to know what was going on.

"...I-I..." Amiti looked up to the man, whose face had darkened, and the aura around him went gloomy. Someone of his stature rarely stammered, and rarely showed their emotions whatsoever. To simply say, Amiti was already shocked. He dropped the sword.

"...I never knew that Veriti had..." Amiti didn't want to know what he was trying to say. He already knew. He was smart enough to figure it out. Right now, all he wished for was something to turn back time, so he could stay innocent about everything surrounding his parentage.

"I never knew Veriti had my child..." Alex finished.

But on the other hand, it would've been better in the long run if he had known the truth.

Amiti went blank. It wasn't much of a shock to his system, since he could pick up implications quite quickly, but it was still a shock to his system.

He fell down, his body immobilized. Alex looked at Amiti's body, and watched it twitch occasionally.

Meanwhile, Amiti was struggling to stay in reality. He could already see the greyness embrace his eyes, getting closer and closer to the center.

The last thing he could remember was Alex picking him up on his back before everything went black, and the howling wind stopped howling.

By the time the group arrived in Kalay, it was near night time. All five of them had decided the best thing was run across the border, and run past Biblin, rather than do a little shopping, their intentions before the situation quickly changed.

No. Rest. What. So. Ever.

"Karis! Tyrell! Matthew! You're alright!" They heard the moment they ran into the village. The village was no different to before the Golden Sun. The structures remained the same, and the people were the same too. The only difference was that there were more people, since the refugees from Vale had settled down there too.

"Dad!" Karis shouted as Ivan ran towards them. There wasn't much of a difference between the Ivan pre-Golden Sun, and now. Maybe for the fact that he was just an inch or two taller and had longer hair, along with a stubble. However, his clothing was quite different. He wore a light green tunic, with a small purple cape coming from his chest, covered by a red button that was hooked onto the string on the other side. He also wore red baggy pants and tan boots, which overlapped the leg of the pants on each side.

To be basic, he had his tunic, and cape invert colors. And the connectors were different.

"What happened at the Goma Plateau?" Karis asked her father. He looked into her eyes and shook his head, signaling a negative answer.

"We don't know, Isaac and Garet refused to tell us before you guys get here." Ivan replied to his daughter. The rest of the group look at each other before following Karis to his father's house, the exact same house Hammet and Layana once lived in, before they passed on a couple of years before.

"Matthew! Sap got to you then?" Isaac asked, before hugging his son. Tyrell laughed a little behind them.

"Haven't you got enough hugs from your girlfriend?" Karis taunted, which made Matthew splutter, let go of his father, and make his face turned a deep crimson once again. Everyone within a foot in the radius of the circle let out a huge laugh. Which was almost everyone.

"Oh, a girlfriend? You never told us about this in your last letter, Matthew." Isaac stated, huffing a little bit from laughing too hard, which made Matthew flinch, and shiver a little bit. He heard a laugh from behind Isaac, which was quite feminine, and very familiar. As he looked behind his father's head, he saw his mother sitting on the couch, with a cup of tea in her hands.

Who he hadn't seen in a while.

Not ever since a couple of months before the day when they left on the journey.

Jenna's hair reached to her shoulders in length. That was really the only difference between the Jenna before the Golden Sun and now. Well, she matured a little bit, as there was no baby face on her anymore, compared to Ivan, who actually kept much of his baby face features. She wore a pair of shorts that went half way down her thigh, which were tan in color and had many, many pockets, along with a red t-shirt, which had an embroidery in the middle, closely resembling a flame in decoration. On top of that, she wore an opened long sleeve jacket, rosy pink in color, with white buttons, and a white rimmed edge. And on top of that, she wore a red cape, that was connected by two orange buttons that clipped onto her jacket.

Basically the same jacket and cape combo as in the game. Except buttons, not the hook type connecting things.

Matthew left his father's arms to walk over to his mother, and sat down next to her, recalling tales of their journey.

"Dad, where's mom?" Karis asked her father, who sighed at the question. Karis's mother, Cynthia, was quite the opposite to Ivan. Loud, obnoxious and had a huge temper, mainly showing where Karis got her tantrum behavior from.

"She's in Imil..." He slowly said, sighing again.

"Imil?" Rief asked, only just making his presence known to the whole group. Ivan nodded.

"Is she, by chance, getting my mother?" He asked Ivan, who looked at the boy for a second before nodding.

"Ah, Mia's kid?" Garet asked, bumping into the conversation. Tyrell was right behind him, his head poking out from the gap between his father and where Kraden stood at that moment. "Yeah, she is, that is, the last time I checked. Ivan?" Garet looked at Ivan for a confirmation. And all Ivan did was nod in response. The only thing that scared him now, was his wife.

"I'm Rief, nice to meet you, Mr. Garet." Rief said, stumbling over a couple of words on his way through. The atmosphere was tense, so there was no reason for him not to be as calm as the others. Not to forget that Rief bowed right after. Garet let out a hearty laugh.

"Hey, the kid's got manners, Tyrell, you have to learn off him!" Garet shouted at his son, who nodded, grimacing at the loudness his father was. And the fact that his father slapped his back, hard.

"Ahem."

They all turned around to the small 'ahem', which was made by Isaac, who had just gotten Sap and Flint back from his son. Well, it didn't matter right now anyways, Matthew was still strong without the two anyways.

"Long story short, what happened was that..."

"We were ambushed."

Garet finished for Isaac.

Silence is, was and always will be, deafening.

Everyone looked at the two.

Slightly worried.

"Hey, what's going on in here?"

Everyone looked at the door, which was slammed opened.

And everyone gaped.

Apart from three clueless boys, and one confused girl.

Amiti opened his eyes to find himself in the inn. In a inn, to be more precise. He immediately pushed the blankets off his body and looked around. The inn looked quite familiar, but quite abandoned.

"So, you're awake." Well, apart from one person, it seemed. Amiti turned around to see Alex, sitting right next to him, his leg overlapping the other, with his arms crossed.

"You... you weren't lying, right?" Amiti wanted to cut to the chase, he didn't want anything but the truth, and he had the look that showed Alex that he wanted a true answer.

"Why would I lie about... Veriti?" Alex asked Amiti, answering a question with a question, something that he was used to, in a way. He looked around and internally questioned his surroundings. But he didn't know he could be read like a book.

"I healed Paithos for you." Alex answered. He turned around and pushed himself out of the bed, picking up the bow and sword that was on the bed side table. He just put them back into their correct places and sighed.

"I guess I should thank you..." Amiti muttered in amidst the silence. Alex smirked at him before getting up.

"Don't hold back next time you see me, Amiti." Alex said as he started to leave the room.

"My son." He added, making it sound like he was just simply correcting his point, which didn't help much. He stood there, the title of him being the son of the enemy just not feeling right for him. He sighed as he left the room and left for the royal chambers, which he walked up the stairs and a couple of more stairs, before the 'shortcut' door to the royal palace, where he found his uncle in his usual place on the throne.

"So, that Alex... helped us." Paithos said, as he saw his nephew kneel on one knee. He wasn't expecting that. "A little ironic, seeing as he's now against us, being in Tuaparang..."

"Uncle, please, give me a little bit of time on my own." He said curtly, not bothering with whatever his uncle was blabbing on about. All he was was a human just merely confused about everything. His uncle was confused for a little bit at the tone, but then laughed it off. He signaled for Amiti to stand up, which he did with no problem.

"I know you're dancing around the truth, Amiti, just say what you want to say." At that moment, a carrier pigeon came into the room and landed on Amiti shoulder. Paithos looked at the bird, confused at its arrival.

"Carrier... pigeon?" He asked himself as he pulled the small piece of parchment off the birds leg. The pigeon didn't seem to leave the moment it was taken away from him, so that signaled that it needed a reply. Either that, or it wanted food.

Amiti unraveled the piece of parchment.

The message was short and sweet. Bittersweet, more like it. Almost to the point that it was sickly sweet. And there was no name on it. But he knew who wrote it. And he knew what it was about.

Bad news. It's a code red.

He so badly wanted to give it the food.

Eoleo and Himi were still on the boat by night time. Unfortunately, a storm had started near the island where Yamada was situated, so Eoleo had to take Himi with him to Champa, which was quite a while away from the island anyways.

"How you think everyone's doing?" Himi asked Eoleo, who grinned at her and lightly hit her back.

"They're all probably doing just fineee." He replied, exaggerating the 'fine' part just a little bit. But, oh, the irony as he had said that. The sun was just about to set under the horizon, as they could see Champa Camp. Citizens of Champa still stayed there, since it would take a couple of days to move everything, not to mention a couple of weeks to repair the whole town itself.

"You seem quite happy." Himi tiredly stated. She was exhausted, and when tiredness came to a young girl, generally, they became grumpy. Generally. She was just innocently tired though. Well, she thought so, anyways.

"Well, yeah, I mean, I avenged my old man." Eoleo replied, in which Himi nodded. It was silent for a couple of minutes, as the ship ripped through the water, creating ripples in multiple places.

All of the sudden the silence was broken by the flapping of wings.

Himi took the parchment off the pigeon's leg, who, immediately after, left the two.

Eoleo walked up behind her to read the note.

They both paled. Significantly.

A/N: Well then, I guess I delayed the bringing out of this chapter by... two days :L Yeah, that's 'cause I had to research a couple of things before I was 100% sure that I could bring it out... and I'm still not sure about it (actually the real excuse is that I procrastinated editing this chapter... well, mainly that reason). Anyways, not much lovey-dovey action here, 'cause that's kinda hard to do in a 'we're all leaving' situation. But I promise for move lovey-dovey-ness for the next couple of chapters to come, if my brain can process it.

(I still haven't screwed this up yet :L ... I think.)

Well, I'm just gonna keep this one short, so, byees :L

...Would be nice if I could get some sort of opinion though...