Outsider Chronicles: Elemental Shenanigans
Honestly, I'm not sure what I was expecting. I mean, getting reborn into the world of Avatar was one thing, but finding four gems in a cave and unleashing a horde of stupidly powerful Elemental Spirits and finding that I apparently have more power over the Elements than the Avatar himself? That was unexpected.
And here is your daily reminder that Golden Sun is awsome. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
I came too in my bed. For a moment, I lay still, staring up at the wooden beams that crisscrossed my ceiling as I went over the events of the night in my head. That...had to have been a dream, right? Theres no way I could be an Adept, it was impossible. Then again, before I died, I'd have thought being reborn into the Avatar world would be impossible as well. Of course, the fact that this world was definitely the world of Avatar was one of the big reasons I was so hesitant to accept the fact I could be an Adept. No, it had to be impossible…
"Oh good, your finally awake."
"GAH!"
Jumping out of my skin was becoming an uncomfortable habit, but hearing an unfamiliar girls voice in my bedroom was definitely a good reason. I rolled out of bed, grabbing my practice sword as I did, and came up on my feet on the other side of the room. I opened my mouth to demand who the girl was, but stopped before I could and instead stared at the girl who was perched on my dresser with her arms crossed and a mildly annoyed look on her face. Well, there went my theory that it was impossible for me to be an Adept. What made me say that? Well, the girl was most definitely not from Vale (fuck me) and, as bezar as the Avatar world could be, I highly doubt it could produce a Human like this girl without help.
She looked about the same age as me, but her skin, no, scales, were a dark lavender colour, her eyes were red and her hair was reddish pink and cropped short except for her long bangs. She had pointed ears and was wearing a dark brown set of midriff baring leather top and a short skirt with a red pattern, thigh high boots and a long, crimson scarf. Her forearms and hands were covered in black gloves, but her shoulders were covered in visible scales and small spikes. Not really what I expected a 12 year old to wear, but whatever. Oh, and she also had a rather large scythe leaning against the dresser next to her.
"What are you looking at?" she growled.
"Well, waking up with a cute girl in my room isn't exactly a standard thing for me," I said without thinking.
The dragon girls eyes widened slightly and I swear her scales darkened slightly, before she scowled and snorted.
"Yeah, whatever ya squishy bastard," she growled as she hopped off the dresser, "Now come on. Now you're awake, Master Kraden will want to talk to you."
I stumbled at that. I thought the old man looked familiar! Still, could it really be THE Kraden? The old geezer who's basically responsible for Saturos and Menardi getting their hands on the Elemental Stars? I quickly shook my head as I followed the girl downstairs. I needed to keep an open mind right now or I'd probably go insane...er.
"So, you mind telling me your name?" I asked, "I'm Isaac."
"Karst," grunted the girl.
I blinked and suppressed the urge to facepalm. I shoulda known. We entered the living room where my Parents and Master Rief, who was on the council of Elders, were watching Kraden as he studied a map of the world that seemed to be glowing slightly. His guards were also there, now without their cloaks and I was completely unsurprised to see that they also had dragon-like features. Oh, and they were Saturos and Menardi, the main villains of the first game. Frankly, that wasn't as surprising as it should have been.
"Hey sis, Earth boys awake," said Karst, "Freakin finally."
"Don't be rude Karst," scolded Menardi.
Karst rolled her eyes and muttered something under her breath.
"ISAAC!"
"OOF!"
I suddenly found the air getting squeezed out of me as Mum grabbed me in a tight hug, before rapidly checking me over, ranting to quickly for me to keep up in my current state. A moment later, my Dad put his hand on Mums shoulder.
"Calm down and let the boy breath Dora," he said, "He's fine, Master Rief confirmed it himself.
"Indeed," said the elderly Waterbender, "Now then, now that Isaac has joined us, perhaps our guest would be so kind as to enlighten us as to what is going on."
Kraden let out a huff and straightened.
"Very well," he said, "I suppose I should start with proper introductions. My name is Kraden, a scholar and Alchemist. My companions are my guards and students, Saturos, Menardi and Karst of the Mars Clan. We are the last remnants of a civilization so ancient it predates the art of Bending itself. In fact, I believe I could go so far as to say we predate many Spirits."
"Thats impossible!" gasped Rief.
"Perhaps," said Kraden, "However, I do know that we predate the advent of the Spirit Worlds connection with our own. The Mars Clan is the last of those who can still use the Ancient art of Psynergy."
He paused.
"Or rather, they were," he said, "With the explosion up on the Mountain releasing so many Psynergy Stones, and the energy of the Elemental Stars it wouldn't surprise me in the least if more Adepts began to appear. Hell, the other Clans may well resurface."
He paused when he caught the look of confusion on everyones faces.
"Ah, sorry, I should start from the beginning," he said, "This will take a while, so let us be seated."
Once we were all seated, he began the tale. I don't feel like writing it all down, so I'll summarize it. Basically, I was right and this world was Weyard only far FAR into the future. Like, so far that it was basically impossible that I'd meet anything to do with the original story...or at least, thats what I thought. As it turned out, Kraden wasn't like everyone else in the room (with the possible exception of Rief) with an uncanny resemblance to the characters, he was the Kraden from Golden Sun, made immortal by the Golden Sun event and excessive use of the Elixir of Youth he'd managed to replicate and perfect. According to the old geezer (emphasis on old), the use of Psynergy and Alchemy had become extremely prevalent after the events of Dark Dawn that we know of, but over time Human nature came into play and war broke out. The end result was a huge amount of destruction and Death caused by Psynergy and Alchemy, resulting in those without the abilities to develop a fear of those who used the powers. Over time, that fear became hate and someone decided to do something about it and opened a gateway to the Spirit World with the aid of Vaatu, bringing about the start of the history revealed in Avatar.
The regular Humans were only able to survive thanks to the creation of the Lion Turtles through a rather impressive Alchemical ritual that used the power of the Lighthouses and the Djinn to create the massive creatures, while the Psynergy using clans remained in the wilds, able to survive thanks to their incredible powers. Still, over time, the Clans began to diminish until only the Mars Clan remained, largely thanks to the isolated nature of their home. There were still descendants of the Clans throughout the world, a result of those Clan members who either lacked the power to survive or had 'ahem' rendezvous with normal Humans when they came hunting for food.
Needless to say, once Kraden had finished the story, Mum, Dad and Rief were completely stunned. Hell, even I was a little poleaxed, and I already knew most of it!
"Thats all very well, but what about the explosion up the mountain?" I asked.
"Ah, now that is an event I truly never believed would happen," said Kraden, "This village sits upon the exact same place that the Village of Vale once stood, at the foot of Mt. Aleph, the center of the Seal that once held Alchemy. It was the spiritual center of our World, so, upon their Deaths, the Lion Turtle's elemental powers returned here where it has slept for thousands of years. However, last night, all that power was released once again upon the world and returned to the Elemental Stars that once served as the Lion Turtles hearts."
"That...can't be good," I said.
"Indeed," said Kraden, "However, the Stars will be safe for now. I have kept track of the gems that will have become the Stars and all of them are in the hands of powerful individuals. Besides, they cannot even be handled by someone unless they are an Adept of the corresponding Element."
"But you said that this release will result in these 'Adepts' reappearing, correct?" asked Dad.
An awkward silence fell over the room.
"Like I said, we have time before that will become an issue," said Kraden, "Besides, its unlikely anyone will realize they are different from Benders, despite the power difference."
"Power difference?" asked Mum.
"Adepts are far more powerful than Benders," said Minardi, speaking up for the first time, "For example, despite her youth and lack of training, Karst could easily overpower just about any Firebender the Fire Nation has to offer. With training, Isaac will probably become powerful enough that he could stop the landslide from last night without breaking a sweat."
This time, I joined my fellow Villages in their utter shock. I knew that Adepts were powerful, hell, Isaac and his party regularly proved that considering some of the shit they fought, but that was frankly insane. However, that shock was quickly replaced with a dark grin on my part as I started cackling.
"Ohhh, this is gonna be fun!" I said, "When do we start?"
The two older Mars Clansmen shared a glance then grinned at me in a way that did NOT foster good feelings.
"Immediately," said Saturos
Three Years Later
Three years past in the blink of an eye, although that was largely thanks to the sheer amount of training I was put through. Oh, and by training, I meant torture. Saturos put me through absolute hell to train me in the way of the sword, axe, mace and in the use of my Psynergy, although he could only teach me the basics since I was a Venus Adept. I had to figure out how to use my connection to the Earth myself. To help with that, I convinced some of the Earthbenders to teach me the basics of Earthbending and used that as a base for my Psynergy, even though I technically didn't need to use movements to use my powers in the same way a Bender does. Still, despite the bruises I regularly had to heal with judicious use of Cure Psynergy, I have to say that it was a ton of fun.
In other news, while I was the first Adept to emerge thanks to taking what amounts to pure, crystallized Alchemy through the stomach, it wasn't long before others in town began to show signs of developing Psynergy of their own. In fact, just about everyone who wasn't a Bender or over the age of 50 became an Adept within two years. According to Kraden, the reason was due to our close proximity to Mt. Aleph and the old man seemed to be really enjoying teaching everyone how to properly use their powers. Very few chose to truly take it to the same level as me though, but I did gain sparring partners in the form of Garet, Felix and Jenna. By this point, I'd pretty much accepted that my life was a cosmic joke, so it honestly wasn't that surprising and having a fellow Venus Adept in the form of Felix made mastering our powers far easier. Jenna and Garet had it 'easier' since they were Mars Adepts, although calling it easy probably isn't accurate considering that they were taught by Menardi and she was just as bad as Saturos.
In that three years, I also formed a sort-of friendship with Karst, despite her fiery (HAH!) temper, rude demeanor and sarcastic comments. I think it helped that I had no trouble whatsoever in meeting her sarcasm in kind and quickly reached a level of skill where I could spar with her without one of us simply steamrolling the other or having to hold back, other than to prevent causing permanent damage to the environment. We also proved to be a deadly tag team, taking advantage of our Psynergys natural synergy to great effect to the point that we were able to defeat Felix, Jenna and Garet at the same time and even hold of Saturos and Menardi for a short time. That was pretty impressive as those two were strong enough that the Elders said they could probably match a fully realized Avatar.
Of course, it wasn't all training and Psynergy. The war was still raging and, as isolated as we were, we still got plenty of news from the outside world, including the apparent revival of the Avatar. Then again, the fact that the statues in our shrine lit up was a good indication of that. With that revelation, the council was convened and promptly devolved into arguing over what we should do. Opinions were split between the idiots (those who thought the War was none of our business, completely missing the fact that sooner or later, the Fire Nation would MAKE it our business) and the people who wanted to go out and actually do something about it. The argument was just about the get physical when a massive pulse of power erupted from the altar, knocking everyone in the room over.
"What the…" started someone, only to trail of as he and everyone else saw the thing that was now floating above the alter.
It looked like a massive boulder with a huge eye, but the power it was putting out was frankly insane. Kraden was the first to recover and bowed to the floating rock.
"Greetings Wise One, it is good to see you again," he said, although I got the distinct impression he was gritting his teeth.
"Do not lie to me, Kraden of Tolbi," said the Wise One, its voice rumbling to the point I could feel it in my stomach, "I did not return to this world to exchange pleasantries."
"Of course," said Kraden, "So what do you want?"
"The return of Alchemy and Psynergy has not gone unnoticed," said the Wise One, "The ones you call the Fire Nation have noticed and are already making plans to attempt to harness the powers. They will fail, however, they have an ally who will not. As much as I wish I could wait a little longer, I fear that if I do it will be to late."
The floating eyeball shifted his gaze to me where I was stood at the back of the room.
"You of the blood of Isaac, I have a task for you," it said, "You must travel forth and reclaim the Elemental Stars before the old Foe can claim them. Should he succeed, not even the Avatar will be able to save this world."
"Of course," I muttered.
"Wait, why Isaac?" asked Dad.
"Because he is very powerful, the strongest Venus Adept on the planet," said the Wise One, "Not only that, but your ancestors saved this world three times, making him the best chance for success. However, he will not be able to complete this alone. He will need help."
The artificial beings single eye scanned the silent room.
"I'll go."
I blinked and looked over to where Karst had just stepped forwards.
"Karst…" said Minardi warningly.
"I'm the best choice," said Karst before her sister could protest, "I'm stronger than almost everyone else here and Isaac and I work well together. Besides…"
She smirked at me.
"Someone needs to watch his back so a racoonbear doesn't sneak up on him."
My eye twitched.
"One time," I growled under my breath, "One time I let my guard down and she never lets me hear the end of it!"
And that'll do. Bit of an odd ending, but I really don't care overmuch.
So, Kraden is still around, Human nature fucked the world and Alchemy managed to save the day. I did plan to reveal all this over time but eh, this works to.
Hmm, I wonder who's the ally who may be able to harness the power of Alchemy?
Yes, the villains of the first two games have a role as allies in this, but I couldn't make it exactly the same.
Anyway, please leave a review!