Here's another chapter, coming right up. There's going to be quite a bit of action, and my other OC Torang will make an appearance. After another glance at the Golden Sun wikia... I realized that Umbra would be the name of the Dark Clan of Adepts... I should go back to the previous chapter of this fic and correct that...
Disclaimer: The Golden Sun series, characters, locations, etc. are a product of Nintendo/Camelot.
Chapter VII: The Phantom Parasite
The trek to Kolima lasted until a little into the afternoon as Matthew, Tyrell, Sveta, Karis, Amiti, Kenneth and Alexa got closer to the village. Kenneth glanced around some as they walked"This is my first time in Kolima, I heard of it..."
"It is my first time as well. Morgal rarely has any dealings here with Kolima" shrugged Alexa.
They entered the village, taking note of strange yellow-colored fog that obscured some of the buildings. Beneath each of the fog-covered buildings stood either a petrified villager or a morgal beastman.
"It appears to be worse than we heard" mussed Alexa.
Sveta glanced around"I sense that everyone's alive, but something appears to be off. And not just that strange fog, either... Why didn't the builder mention it?"
"He must have not seen it" muttered Matthew, looking around.
One of the villagers, a young woman approached"Is that Matthew? Its good to see you again."
Matthew turned to address the villager"You remember me?"
The villager nodded"Yes. You came to save Kolima again, right?"
"Yes. And what happened to the builder who informed Sveta of the trouble?" asked the blond Adept.
The female villager replied, sadly"That horrible fog took Trevor not long after he sent out a carrier pigeon... He's now lying in bed in my house. Some dark-clad soldiers came by yesterday, I wondered if they were going to the forest to investigate the source, but they didn't come back, either."
"We'll take care of the problem, ma'am" said Karis.
"Thank you" said the villager, going home.
"Dark-clad soldiers... Has Tuaparang infiltrated Kolima?" mussed Alexa.
Matthew headed towards the woods"We'll deal with them, either way."
Kenneth stopped following for a moment"My father spoke to me of Tret. I fear going into these woods, as it is my family who had attempted to chop him down. Even now, I wonder how I could eventually erase the stain from the noble McCoy name. And yet, how were my parents supposed to know that there were living trees that actually have feelings?"
"I do not think Tret will take offense to your presence. Your parents' fault is not yours to bear" assured Alexa.
"True enough, I suppose" shrugged the Biliben Prince.
The group headed north into the Kolima woods, which now had patches of the strange yellow fog here and there. Sveta's nose wrinkled"This is no mere fog... This is some sort of Miasma."
"I don't like the smell of this, either" grimaced Karis.
Matthew calmly led the way deeper in until they came to a familiar clearing that now had a purple vortex above it. Matthew frowned"Another Psynergy Vortex... But what happened to Laurel and Tret?"
"They are merely sleeping, thanks to my spell" said a female voice as a woman with dark hair and black eyes emerged, accompanied by a white-haired man with dark colored clothes and a purple cape. His eyes were a familiar reddish color, his skin a deep shade of blue.
"What have you done to Kolima?" demanded Tyrell.
"How rude to even say that without first asking our names. My name is Relena, second in command of the Tuaparang army" growled the woman.
The man calmly put a hand on Relena's shoulder for a moment to calm her down before speaking"We may not have met before, but you must be the ones my younger brother warned me about. I am High Commander Torang Vong of Tuaparang, the High Empyror's right hand man."
"What is the leader of Tuaparang's army doing in these parts?" questioned Sveta.
"My mission here is already complete, you did not remove all of the magma shards from that silly Mountain Roc, I had him changed back to stone when it woke and tried to challenge me. I was about to leave when one of my squadron told me someone was approaching" replied the man.
"The Mountain Roc wasn't dead? But Matthew, Tyrell, Rief, Amiti and I saw it die as it became a stone statue" asked Karis, confused.
Sveta shook her head"The Mountain Roc is a very resilient creature, I was told that if bested in battle, it would go into a deep sleep to regain itself and rise again from the ashes like a phoenix. It would take a very strong force to kill it, but it does not have a endless lifespan."
"It helps that one of you is a quick study, but no more. Now, you shall perish, can't have you meddlesome insects interfere with my Empyror's plans" spoke Torang, harshly.
Relena stepped forward and cast a energy wave at the vortex while summoning what seemed to be life-energy from two nearby trees. Kenneth gripped his weapon"Stop what you're doing, now. You get on Tret's bad side and he'll curse you!"
Several Tua soldiers charged into the clearing, pointing their guns at the group. Karis summoned a tornado and blew them aside. Matthew and Tyrell charged at the two Tuaparang generals, who had already jumped onto a rope ladder suspended by a large airship above. Relena had finished casting and yellow miasma started to form into a strange apparition.
Sveta got into a stance"Is that the source of the miasma?"
"Could be, and that vortex in the sky... This sort of reminds me of the plantlike monster that Matthew, Isaac, Garet and I defeated at the abandoned mine in Tanglewood" mussed Karis.
Tyrell shot a fireball at Torang, only for it to be blocked by the older man who retaliated with a dark vortex spell, knocking him backwards. Matthew tensed as he readied himself for battle against the monster materializing before them.
Torang grinned as the airship moved away from the group"Heh. You'll be the perfect fodder for Relena's and my little creation. Kolima will soon be polluted and its citizens immobilized, and Morgal will follow shortly after."
"That's what you think" said Sveta, though the airship had flown away and Torang was now out of earshot.
No sooner had she said that, several more Tua Soldiers rushed into the area. Matthew bit back a curse and focused his attention on the monster. Alexa, Kenneth and Tyrell turned to intercept the soldiers while their comrades stood face-to-face to the monstrosity.
"I'm getting annoyed at this situation, myself. But we mustn't lose focus" said Sveta, as though she read Matthew's mind without using psynergy.
The apparition was but a cloaked figure with a sword and nothing but darkness underneath. Legs that looked like plant stumps supported it. Matthew rushed at the phantom and swung at it, only for the blow to deflect. The creature slashed back and shot forward a torrent of dark energy waves. Sveta knocked Matthew out of the way and took the blow.
While Karis hurried to heal Matthew, Kenneth and Alexa knocked down two Tua soldiers while Tyrell fought a third one, toying with his opponent until finishing him with a fireball.
The Phantom shot another torrent of dark energy before swinging its sword again. Matthew, Karis, Sveta and Amiti dodged as they shot back with their psynergy and weapons. Finally, the monster shot forward a wall of pure darkness before turning into what looked like a large plant-like monster with two limbs thrashing at the group and miasma spewing out.
"Now's our chance" Sveta used her slap psynergy while Matthew followed up with Quake. Amiti fired a water torrent at the parasite, only to be countered by a fume of miasma. Karis healed Amiti and cast tornado, blasting the parasite, which countered with a stronger wave of darkness, blasting the group back.
Tyrell helped finish off the last Tua Soldier in the area before turning his attention to the parasite, throwing a fireball. The monster countered with another spew of dark magic before fading into mist. Tyrell charged and swung his sword, but the blade failed to pierce and the fire adept was blasted back.
"We should probably stick to Psynergy" gasped Matthew.
"Hold on, we still have all our Djinni from our previous journey, correct?" piped Amiti.
"Some of them are still with Himi and Eoleo. But we might have enough for a summon. We probably shouldn't use a fire-based summon, though" acknowledged Karis.
Amiti addressed Matthew"Our best chance might be the Crystal Dragon Summon, as we cannot risk setting the forest ablaze with any of Tyrell's fire-based psynergy, for which Tret and Laurel would be most displeased. Do you have enough Venus Djinni?"
"I think so" nodded Matthew.
"We'll distract it" said Karis, hitting the Parasite with another Tornado. The creature shot forth a torrent of Miasma again, only for the green-haired Jupiter Adept to dodge while Tyrell shot the monster with a fireball, staggering it.
Matthew and Amiti focused their energies on summoning a massive dragon, while, Kenneth, Alexa and Sveta clawed and slashed at the Parasite, dodging counterattacks from the phantom creature. Karis supplemented her allies and threw a Tornado Psynergy, stunning the monster further.
"Ha! This guy has nothing on us, now" smirked Tyrell, throwing another fireball at the monster, receiving a blow to the face in retaliation. Karis hurried to heal Tyrell while Matthew used his and Amiti's Djinn to call forth the Crystal Dragon.
"Hm?" Kenneth and Alexa stopped their attacks to witness a Crystal Dragon fly up to them and blast the Parasite with a torrent of energy. The creature dissolved into Miasma and vanished into thin air. Above them, the small vortex shrunk down and vanished.
"What was that, just now?" whispered Kenneth.
"Summoning magic, Adepts can harness the Djinn's power to summon powerful creatures to aid them in battle" explained Alexa.
"Kolima should be back to normal, I hope" said Sveta.
"Indeed, thanks to you. You have also freed us from the power wielded by the Dark Adept from earlier" said a voice, not too far away.
Matthew stepped forward to another clearing where Laurel and Tret stood. The male tree spirit addressed them"Thank you for ridding us of the foul creature, we were rendered helpless by Dark Psynergy."
"Tret, its been a while. How's Laurel?" asked Karis.
"I am fine, thanks to you all" said the female tree spirit.
"Who would've thought Dark Psynergy would be so powerful if it could manipulate such powerful beings" muttered Amiti.
"After the Chaos Chimera we fought at the Apollo Sanctum, I'm hardly surprised. But my Spirit Sense did not give off any unusual readings..." said Sveta.
"But that Chaos Chimera was Blados, Chalis and King Volchek... Wouldn't that mean that you and Laurel were transfixed in the same way, Tret?" asked Karis, shocked at the thought.
"Our souls cannot be so easily decimated, we just couldn't return to our earthly forms until you intervened. Kolima has been saved three times now, the village owes you and your parents a debt beyond repayment" spoke Laurel, gratefully.
Amiti addressed the two tree spirits"We are honored to be praised by you. While I am at it... Am I in some way related to Mia or Alex? At the Apollo Sanctum, at one point after running into him there, my mind drifted to Alex, as though there was some connection."
"You'd have to ask Mia, herself. And we did state you possess roughly the same aura. But it would seem you have no direct relation to her" replied Laurel.
"I will bear that in mind" acknowledged Amiti.
"The truth isn't always a pleasant thing to know, Amiti. But we could help you uncover answers as we go" acknowledged Sveta.
The group bade Laurel and Tret farewell and headed back towards Kolima Village, but not before Laurel spoke to them once again"Your trials are just beginning... Beware Arcanus and the two Adepts from earlier. They will surely be your most formidable foes."
"I wonder what it could all mean?" asked Matthew.
Sveta shrugged"I've no idea."
The group returned to Kolima to find the Miasma gone. The villager from earlier greeted them, along with a beastman"Thank you for saving Kolima, again."
"It was mostly small fry" grinned Tyrell.
"Don't sell yourself short, we freed Laurel and Tret from a horrible curse" said Sveta.
"You saved them? You are truly amazing" said the villager.
The beastman acknowledged Sveta"My apologies for the trouble, my queen. I was not strong enough to save Kolima from the terror."
Sveta smiled encouragingly"Its okay. You couldn't have done anything. Let's just get back to Belinsk."
As the group left with the Beastman, the Villager waved back to them"Thanks again!"
"Amiti, you never said anything about you and Alex... Is something wrong?" Karis addressed the Mercury Adept.
Amiti shrugged"It was a passing thought... Yet, I felt a sort of connection. I don't really despise him despite what he put us through on our last quest, and I don't exactly think much of him, either..."
"I hope you'll find the answers you're looking for" said Karis with a smile.
Here you go, another chapter. This is a bit random, I know, but I thought I should address Amiti's backstory, though that will probably be covered in Golden Sun 4, if Nintendo/Camelot even bothers to make Amiti playable again in said game. That, and I know that Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was a bit wordy with the action taking place mainly in dungeons. I liked it, though.
Please feel free to review.