It's been a while since I did some proper writing. When I was a teenager, I fell in love with the world of Weyard, particularly after the events of Golden Sun Dark Dawn. It's a shame that the game ended on such a cliff hanger.

This is an idea of mine that has been gnawing at the back of my mind since I was a teenager; and I decided to revisit it and give it a proper telling. I hope you all enjoy it! I will be exploring some of the darker sides of Angara, particularly following the events of the Grave Eclipse which I always felt were glossed over despite the great potential they had to add to the world.

It felt - wrong.

And yet the earth still continued to answer his call, shifting, and bending to his will.

But it felt wrong.

An icy feeling seemed to be contaminating his powers, as if he was injecting something alien into his powers.

And Matthew wanted nothing more than to scream in horror and helpless rage at the sight of the soft ball of warm earth that he had moulded in his hands, which was bleeding black tendrils that were freezing, hard and cold, like a black flame, pulling everything around him closer to it, eager to devour and to expand beyond control.

Had something happened to his Venus powers for them to change so suddenly?

No. No, he was just trying to deny what he already realised deep down.

The issue wasn't with his Venus powers. The issue was with himself, and himself alone.

He had touched the Umbra Gear, knowing perfectly well how dangerous it was to humans. He had briefly bridged his soul with it, even though he was too well aware of what it would cost him.

And now he was infected. Umbra had seeped into his body, poisoning him to his core.

He had suspected…no, he had actually known about this a while. He had no right to lie to himself about this. Psynergy was not just a bonus that being an Adept came with. It was an integral part of an Adept's very being - almost like a piece of their soul that would allow them to command a specific element. An Adept would immediately feel any change in their Psynergy, no matter how minor. A change so sudden, so dramatic, so immense like being infected with Umbra? Matthew had obviously noticed it earlier, but had chosen to ignore it completely, hoping this would just disappear on its own with time…

And now, here he was, standing alone on the rocky mountainous path connecting Goma Heights to one of the only safe havens for Adepts in Patcher's Place since the Grave Eclipse cataclysm, and which by a weird coincidence also just happened to be one of the places in the world where they would murder on the spot anyone even remotely associated with the Umbra clans. It wasn't because of anything serious, of course. It's just that they happened to think that starting the Grave Eclipse was a great idea, a cataclysm that just happened to have wiped out nearly half of the world's population and knock the global temperatures down by nearly five degrees, bringing about horrifying levels of permafrost, leading to crop failures and famines all across the world, and giving life to horrific abominations which rose to lay waste to what was left. So obviously there was no reason for the rest of the survivors to feel resentful.

Nope. None whatsoever.

Oh, and if that wasn't enough, the Umbra also come with the wonderful benefit of turning monsters into even worse abominations that were so powerful that even Patcher had to-

Matthew froze. His blood running cold, the whole world tilting violently. As if his foster father didn't have enough to deal with, between supervising the Sol Sanctum, protecting the Goma Heights' residents, and training Tyrell and himself. Now he would have to deal with his own adopted son being infected with Umbra - but Matthew hadn't even told him anything about this yet, because when was the last time you admitted to your family that you did something so unbelievably stupid? It wouldn't really matter that Matthew had only tampered with the Umbra gear because it had been the only way to put an end to the Grave Eclipse.

No, it wouldn't even matter because Matthew was the one who had failed to stop the Grave Eclipse from occurring in the first place. Yes, it was he who had broken his promise and let it happen. He had chosen to run. He watched as thousands died screaming. Monsters gorging on the humans. People screaming, bugs crawling under their skin. He had to escape the bugs buzzing. People screaming, no, corpses, reaching out for him with their cold decaying hands, grabbing him. The air got thick like blood, and Matthew gasped, struggling for breath as if he was drowning in it, and-and-and-

OH MY GOD LET GO LET GO LET GO!

Matthew opened his eyes. Umbra was coating him. He violently whirled, bumping into something, the world around him spinning madly, and Matthew collapsed to the ground, banging his head hard on the rocky surface, though surprisingly no pain came - and all of the Umbra vanished from his body, dissolving into thin air as if it hadn't ever been there.

Matthew lay still on the cold hard ground, breathing hard, his eyes wide open, his head pounding. Above him in the trees birds were chirping and singing. There was no screaming. No bugs. It was so quiet. The silence was ringing in his ears as if he had suddenly gone deaf. His chest constricted tightly and he bit back a sob.

It was time to go. He had to move before Umbra returned again. It was cold relief to feel his Venus powers gently answer his call and aid him to his feet. Matthew carefully patted himself down. Thankfully, no bruises.

Nothing.

Good.

He really had to go.

Matthew stumbled forwards, continuing his way towards the town. But in his ears, the screams - the incessant screeching of the bugs - continued to echo.

Patcher's Place was a hive of activity. It had always been busy, but ever since the devastation wrought by the Grave Eclipse, the town had become a hotspot for many Adepts fleeing the persecution from kingdoms such as Bilibin for their alleged role in the cataclysm.

It wasn't that an average Adept had done anything to deserve such hate. The Umbra Clan, a group of Umbra Adepts, had started this… and Matthew was the one who had failed to stop it. But most people didn't know that, nor did they care. They saw someone using psynergy intentionally trigger the Grave Eclipse, and now everyone who could control psynergy - regardless of the element - was hunted down. After all, why try to figure out who is really guilty, when you can just kill everyone? Problem solved!

Their hatred for the Adepts only grew because of their ability to command the elements with their psynergy. This was already a source of tension prior to the Grave Eclipse since the Adepts would often be forced to fight in other countries' wars, but following the cataclysm, the animosity between the groups exploded; particularly after the revelation that Umbra Adepts had started the Grave Eclipse, and exacerbated further when it was revealed that the Adepts, thanks to their control of psynergy, had a bit of an easier time when dealing with the Grave Eclipse. The arguments they used were always the same. Arguments ranging about how Adepts should use their powers responsibly, to how the Grave Eclipse was part of a geocidal plan to replace normal people like them!

It's very convenient how these 'great intellectuals' somehow missed the fact that the monsters raised by the Grave Eclipse really didn't care about whether or not you were an Adept. They very thoughtfully made sure that everyone was ripped apart in exactly the same way.

'Equality, people! Flesh-eating monsters have achieved pinnacle sentience! Perhaps this is why everyone tries to be an asshole,' - Matthew always wondered why people couldn't sit down together and just eat cheese.

But that was never going to happen. And now, an entire kingdom full of morons on the other side of the mountain had decided that the Adept race had to be exterminated, which is precisely what they tried to do. And because of this, instead of being at home napping, Matthew had to go and help man the walls in what was potentially the last safe haven for Adepts in the entire world.

Luckily, Patcher's Place had at least some advantage - being mostly hidden away and surrounded by the Goma Mountain Chain in the most northern-western corner of the continent, and only accessible from the south by what happened to be a long gorge surrounded by high walls. This effectively created a chokepoint for any invading army that will have to cross it, with only a river that travelled down from the heights as their only supply route. Even if Adepts weren't being hunted, no army would be stupid enough to attack such an easily defensible position. And nobody would be stupid enough to take on a city in such a secluded area with a population of one hundred and fifty Adepts, each able to control one the elements at will.

Being nestled in such an isolated region, away from the other Kingdoms, had essentially given time for what was once a small settlement to grow into a thriving town.

'Patcher did not waste any time," - Matthew thought to himself, gazing passively at the new stone walls and the wooden beams that now dominated the surroundings of the town. "He's always been good at managing things…I just hope that there's going to be enough food for all of us this winter." With the collapsing temperatures caused by the Grave Eclipse, the harvests had been difficult, and with now over a hundred and fifty people living here, it was even more imperative to fill the food stocks before the change of seasons.

There was no point in building an aesthetically pleasing settlement if everyone starved halfway through the winter. And contrary to popular belief, the Mars Adepts couldn't just use their fire psynergy to keep the fields warm during the winter - not unless you wanted to find them all dead in the morning with the fields still frozen after they had drained all of their psynergy. Because yes, an individual Adept who burns - hehe, burns - through all of their limited psynergy, just happens to suffer a very mild case of death.

'Come to think of it, that's another reason why we can't fight back against the Kingdoms…' - Matthew shook his head as he stepped on the main road that crossed through the town - "We have special powers, not an endless supply of unlimited powers…" But there was no point in dwelling on this.

Regardless, it was nice to be here again, far more than he had originally anticipated. Perhaps the activity buzzing all around helped distract him? It could be. After all, it's quite hard to stay focused on the echoes in your head with everyone running around. He should keep that in mind for next time the screams and the bugs in his head become too much. That's what he should use to distract himself next time. Even though it does feel weird to see just how big the settlement had grown compared to a few years ago...

But for now, there is work to be done. Now he needs to…to…

Green hair flashed in the distance, and his heart shot up to his throat. "Karis!"

The wind Adept whirled around at the sound of her name, and when her eyes landed on Matthew, her face lit up and she sent him one of her dazzling 'Hello Again' smiles before running towards him. "Matthew! It's so good to see you again!" - she wrapped him in a fierce hug, and tingles shot up his spine at her touch. She pulled away faster than he wanted, spinning around before peering into his eyes with an intensity that made his face flush. "You remembered the Mistral Festival! I knew you wouldn't forget it!"

Mistral festival…? Oh. OH! Oops! That's why there's so much activity today! It's the Mistral Festival, where she, and other Jupiter Adepts, will finally officially become of age! It had once been a major event in the Kingdom of Kalay that used to be home to a number of Wind Adepts. With the Purge following the Grave Eclipse, the survivors had all fled here, to Patcher's Place, bringing the celebrations with them.

Matthew grinned. Yup, he had forgotten about that, but admitting that would make Karis sad. Maybe angry. And there was no way he was making her angry. Or sad. So if there ever was a time to be suave, now was the time. Now, if only he had his guitar Don Juan to back him up.

"Haha, yep! I wasn't going to miss it for anything in the world - and - and - um - I really wanted to see how you do." He glanced in her eyes and flushed. His heart was hammering in his chest. "I mean, I'm certain you'll do great but, well, um, I know it's, well, big for you - I mean - important for you. And well, you're nice too and, so, um…yeah?"

Nailed it.

For some reason completely beyond him (then again, women were beyond mortal comprehension), Karis began to laugh. She grabbed her custom-made sailcloth and raised in the air, spinning around. "Thank you so much!" Letting it fall on her shoulders, she turned back to him. "Where are you going to watch when the race begins? I can ask dad to give you a seat in the front row at the edge of Goma Heights".

He could picture it now. Standing on the very edge of the Goma Heights. With only a few hundred kilometres separating the edge to the bottom. Right next to Karis' extremely overprotective father. The very same man who hated everything that could corrupt his sweet baby daughter. Especially guys who carried the evil Y-chromosome and all things corruptible. What could possibly go wrong?

"Um, actually, I'd rather stay here. You know, look up from down here. With my feet planted firmly on the ground, where I can safely wave at you and cheer for you! You know? Super safe."

Did that work? Maybe? Oh god, of course she's freaked out! How on earth was he going to explain to her that standing next to Ivan was a really, really bad idea, and-

"BOOKS!" - Matthew blurted out, startling both of them. - "I need to get to the library to, um, help research something." It wasn't a complete lie either, he needed to do some research about his…condition before going and meeting up with Tyrell for his daily rotation at defending the walls. He felt his stomach churn painfully at the idea of Karis discovering the truth. He couldn't bear even thinking of a world with her avoiding him, which she would surely want to do as soon as she learns what he had become...

"Matthew?"

And to make matters even worse, what if she decided that she had to kill him because of the Umbra? Oh god, she would scream, just like when they-

"Matthew!"

The blond boy blinked, and Karis reappeared back in his line of sight, gripping his arm. "Are you okay?" She gave him her "I'm sorry" smile, and oh god, he hates that smile so much. - "I didn't realise that Patcher was pushing you so hard. I'm just happy that you came all the same, okay?" She tilted her head slightly, looking concerned. "Do you need to talk? I can ask them to start the ceremony a bit later."

Congratulations, Matthew, you found a way to make her upset on her special day. "I'm fine, honestly!" He quickly waved his hands around, plastering a carefree grin on his face. "No need to worry about me! How about this - I'll finish my research quickly and come to cheer for you? I'll be near the training grounds when you begin and meet you there when you're done?"

Karis blinked for a second before beaming at him. "Yes! I'll see you there! Thank you so much!" She whirled around again, her sailcloth flowing behind her. "I'll see you later then!"

Matthew waved at her and turned around. Okay, at least she didn't seem to suspect anything (yet), and she was back to her usual cheerful self. Spinning on his heels, he marched away towards the library. First things first, he needed to learn how to properly suppress one element and extract it from himself.

After all, how hard could it be?

Okay! Reading! Not his strongest suit.

Now he was aware of that little tidbit about himself. And the worst part? It wasn't even his fault this time. He tried reading, reciting, and committing the texts to memory, but everything blurred together, and the precious little he did remember didn't make much sense out of context. There was nothing about any chance to try something different and no advice on how to try to understand the very fundamentals of psynergy.

And there was almost nothing about Umbra either, which was probably unsurprising. Everybody knew the basics of Umbra anyway - that it was cursed, it was weak to Sol, and that it corrupted the mind and that caused the body to distort and disfigure. It seemed that the books did not feel the need to go into any further detail beyond. And Matthew couldn't blame the authors. Just this was more than enough to explain why messing with Umbra was a really bad idea.

Pushing the book back onto the shelf, Matthew cautiously glanced around the library. It was obvious that no one was around but one still had to be careful.

Okay.

Maybe he could try working on this himself from scratch? Yes, that would essentially mean experimenting on himself, but then he might have an easier time understanding what was written in the books…

Taking a deep breath, Matthew reached out with his hand, calling out to his Venus powers. He felt the psynergy pulse deep inside him and visualised a rock in his mind.

The ground softly cracked, and a rock, no bigger than his fist, rose from the small fissure, hovering peacefully in the air in front of him. For a second, Matthew dared to hope that it would be nothing but the pure result of his Venus powers, but Umbra did not wait long to manifest itself. Black tendrils rose up from the earth, uncurling like slimy vines and latching on to the rock.

Frustration gripped at his heart. Using the same techniques that allowed him to control the earth, he tried to visualise the darkness separating from the rock, and returning to the surface. Yet Umbra refused to answer his call, instead choosing to cling stubbornly to the rock, enveloping it completely in a black, misty aura, with a laughable ease ignoring gravity as if it did not exist. No amount of force or focus seemed to be able to dislodge the darkness from the rock.

Seeing that sheer willpower wasn't enough, perhaps he needed to change tactics?

Instead of forcibly extracting the Umbra from his Venus powers, could he attempt to nullify the effects of Umbra somehow, essentially making it inert?

The idea seemed good on paper but there was just the minor matter of working out how to go about this.

Matthew glanced back at the rock and sighed, letting it drop to the floor. There was no point in trying to call only the earth since the Umbra was clearly infecting it. So maybe the option to do this lay elsewhere?

Matthew looked aimlessly around the room, before his eyes landed on the number of different candles. He stared for a long moment at the flickering flames, as they illuminated the room, chasing away the shadows-

Wait just one cookie monster second!

Umbra's natural enemy is Sol - light! And while it wasn't the same element, Mars is that of fire, and thanks to its attributes of heat and light, Mars has a symbiotic relationship with Sol! So maybe, just maybe, he could be able to use that to try and restrain Umbra? Certainly it wouldn't purify his body of Umbra, but with Mars powers, maybe he could try to contain it until some kind of permanent solution could be found! And not only that, but him being a Venus Adept meant that he could be less affected by Mars' flames due to his natural resistance to them!

Hope breathed life into his body. There was no time to waste! Matthew raised his hand, calling upon the psynergy that dwelled deep within him. Just as he expected, the earth, despite being shrouded in darkness, rushed to answer his call. His arm was shaking with anticipation - wait, he needed to be careful not to set the building on fire… Most buildings in this town were largely built using wooden beams to help support the weight. And with the dried paper from the tomes lying around, a simple spark was all that was needed to make things spin completely out of control…

Focusing back on the present, Matthew carefully moved his rock closer to the candle's light. He nearly jumped at the crackling sound that resulted and quickly moved the rock away. Nothing? No, there were little cracks in the dark mist covering the rock. The Umbra itself was coiling around, swirling, as if injured from the flame's light.

Progress?

Matthew carefully guided the rock back towards the flame. Once again, the Umbra swirled and hissed, as if trying to escape the flames. It cracked violently, quickly becoming unstable -

BOOM!

The world exploded, and Matthew was sent hurling across the room and slammed against the wall. Rocks and dust crashed down as the building's structure came apart, almost burying him alive. Wood cracked painfully and gave under the blast, sending the entire roof smashing onto the floor. He barely heard someone screaming before finally everything around him fell silent.

Coughing, Matthew rubbed his head. For some reason there was no pain…but Matthew clambered to his knees, busy looking around in anticipation and fear. Had he hurt anyone? Oh god, if someone was injured…No, no-no-no-no, please don't let there be - he froze. His hands…no, not just his hands, his arms and legs were completely covered entirely by Umbra. Panic rose in his stomach as he started waving his arms around, hoping against hope that somehow it would shake it off. Go away - go away - go away! Please go away! He couldn't let the others see this, they'll kill him. They'll -

"Someone help! Help me please!"

Matthew froze. A woman? Here? The world spun. Just like in Belinsk. The screams - the screams - oh god the screams -

'They're inside the house!'

No no no no no no-

'Keep running! Don't look back!'

It's not real, it's a nightmare! Open your eyes, OPEN YOUR EYES-

Bugs burst from the bodies. Screeching. Green horns dripping with blood. It's hard to breathe. So much blood. Corpses in Belinsk. So many. The bugs are eating them. They are eating them - they eatingandeatingandkillingand-

"I'm here, please help me!"

Matthew inhaled, his eyes snapping open, and suddenly he was no longer in Belinsk. Exhale. He was still in Patcher's Place. Still under the debris. But the screams were real. Not again - not again, he will never let it happen again!

His palms slammed onto the floor and psynergy surged down his arms and through the earth. Vibrations ripped through the earth, and Matthew felt the world buckle and transform as he felt Venus answer his call.

He felt it. The buildings. The trees. The feet of the people running around. He felt the frail body of someone near him, buried under the debris, a woman. He felt her pain and the blood seeping into the soil.

He gritted his teeth.

And pushed.

Psynergy flashed in his eyes.

And vines erupted from the ground. Like a geyser, they shot skywards, wrapping themselves around the debris, crushing the boulders and splintering the wooden beams. Gravel shattered and spilled down. But the vines ignored it. Nothing would stop him. Matthew gently had the veins wrap themselves around her. He felt her tense up. Her heartbeat accelerated. But a gentle caress from the vines calmed her.

He was careful. The vines lifted her out of the hole and to safety, where he felt the others rush to help her.

He released his grip on his Venus psynergy. As if abruptly waking from a dream, he felt himself fall back into reality. Earth ceased to respond to his call, and rocks and dirt fell back down, exhaustion gripping him where energy flowed only moments ago. Releasing an explosive sigh, Matthew allowed himself to fall down back on the debris. She was safe…whoever she was. That was good…

The rumble around him shifted, and there was a loud crash as the boulders and beam were moved aside. Light streamed from the dug up hole, briefly blinding Matthew. He blinked a few times to adjust to the beams of light.

"Matthew! Are you hurt?"

Only one person had that voice, and Matthew found himself staring at the face of his best friend. Tyrell shot him a cheeky look and reached down to offer him a hand.

The blond youth glanced wearily at his arms. Nothing. Whatever Umbra was there before the building collapsed, it had dissipated from his body as if it had never existed…

"Matthew?"

For some reason, despite being aware of the redhead's presence, Tyrell's voice startled him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you, Tyrell."

Tyrell's grin was back in full force, and clasping his friend's hand, he pulled the teenager out of the hole with a level of ease that surprised Matthew. No matter how many times Tyrell lifted things or fought, it was hard not to be surprised by just how physically strong he was. Then again, the boy was the literal embodiment of the phrase "all brawn, no brains".

"You know, you're not allowed to prepare for our bet since that's cheating. We made a promise!"

Okay, Matthew needed to nip this in the bud now. "I was already downstairs when the building collapsed, Tyrell. Besides, a house isn't a cliff."

"Convenient excuse! Don't think that I'm not on to you! You're trying to weasel out of us jumping off a cliff!" - the redhead announced, posing dramatically, his finger pointed straight at Matthew's nose.

"Matthew, what in Weyard's name happened?"

The two boys turned around, now facing a rugged blond man, clearly in his forties. Despite the severe glare, he gently grabbed the two boys and pulled them away from the debris, and towards a growing crowd who had arrived quickly to investigate the collapse. It was not uncommon for Patcher to come down and talk to the people of the town, but with the sudden dramatic influx of refugees, this had all but become a rare occasion. So long as Matthew did not cause any issues, Patcher would usually simply be content to leave him be.

Matthew felt his heart hammer in his chest. He had forgotten just how small the town really was. It had been designed that way too - should an incident occur, everyone could quickly coalesce to a specific area to organise a defence or rescue.

"I…um…" - he couldn't let him know about Umbra. His stomach churned painfully. "I…um..."

Play it smooth, Matthew.

"I - I missed a step going down the stairs, tripped, and accidentally knocked down one of the stone pillars? My bad."

…nailed it?

There was complete silence. All conversations and talks in the entire immediate vicinity halted and everyone who heard those words stopped and stared at Matthew, stunned into muted stillness at the utter absurdity of the explanation. Even the usually talkative and hyperactive Tyrell could only stare with his jaw open.

Everyone looked at Matthew, then at the destroyed house, then back to Matthew, who felt mildly insulted that everyone seemed to agree that he was that clumsy. Couldn't anyone show just a glimmer of doubt?

Finally, Tyrell finally found his voice. He crossed his arms in frustration and irritation, proving once again to the world that the ability to speak does not necessarily make you intelligent.

"Oh, I see. Matthew can destroy a building anytime he wants, but when I do it, it's a problem?"

And at that moment, Tyrell, the loyal Tyrell, found himself in as much trouble as Matthew.

Reeves shot straight up from his seat by the border town's front gates, his heart pounding violently in his chest.

Vibrations.

His gaze darted around in alarm, his arm shot out and grabbed his sword and rushed from his position towards the noise. There was a rhythmic drumming, almost like the sound of a downpour crashing against the meadow.

What was causing this? His heart hammered violently in chest. Did those Demons launch an attack? No. The marching of troops wouldn't be so aggressive nor as fast-paced. And even the Adepts were smart enough not to announce their attacks like that.

The fields beyond the walls of Bilibin were empty. Quickly signalling the other sentries, he leapt over the edge of the wall and rolled to break his ground, quickly rushing up the hills.

There was no sign of any birds, insects or boars. The drumming had scared away all life, and had drowned out all other noises.

Quickly realising that no one would hear him, Reeves gave up any pretence of stealth and jogged up to the top of the hill, carefully slipped behind a tree, and looked down at the opposite side of the hill.

And his eyes widened.

"Sweet Weyard", - his breath escaped him.

Monsters. Dark scuttlers. Dark Devourers. Zombies.

Thousands of them. No. Maybe even millions.

The entire horizon was packed full of monsters which ploughed forward into the ground, rushing. Like a tsunami of darkness and filth, it swept through the plains, crushing the ground and killing everyone and everything in its path. Their pace was chaotic and fast, their feet kicking up dust and rocks as they hurtled forward.

And yet none attacked him. None even glanced in his direction. They were all seemingly completely hypnotised, focused on a single point, somewhere at the Goma Mountain range, as if they were all answering some kind of call. The Kingdom of Bilibin's existence did not appear to even register to them.

Reeves gulped and carefully stepped backwards. Once he was certain he was out of the horde's sight, he spun around and sprinted towards the walls.

The Queen needed to know about this.