Star of Venus

Chapter 9

Wheeeee! 9 chapters, and it only took me four years and a day to write it all!

Isaac: You really are terrible.

Meh, I procrastinate even more when a story's reaching the end. It's a weakness. Seriously, though! Four years (and a day)! Even if this hasn't been my most popular story, it was the first fanfic I wrote a chapter to, posted only a few hours before uploading the first chapter of my TNK series, and still holds a good deal of meaning to me when it comes to fan fiction. If anything, TNK was the fanfic I used for practicing on, and SoV was the fic I used for testing out the practice results on.

I wanted to have this chapter done by the 24th, just in time for this story's fourth anniversary, and the fourth anniversary since my FF.N account's activation. Go figure, though, that everything had to come up right at the last minute, so instead this is being uploaded the day after. Also, since both SoV (maybe) and FI are now into their last few chapters, I'll be uploading the prologue to my next GS series today as well. Phooey on not getting it up on the intended date, though.

Music to blame this chapter on: "Ship of Fools" and "A Song of Storm and Fire" from Tsubasa Chronicles, "See Who I Am" by Within Temptation, and "Fate of the Unknown" from the Kingdom Hearts 2: Final Mix "secret" ending.

Disclaimer: I own the particular town of Terra that appears in this fic, as well as the original characters. Oh, and the fic itself. Other than that, I don't own Golden Sun, but people who are against hints of Isaac/Mia or Alex/Mia are probably going to hate me soon.

&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&

Garet struggled against the monster's hold, but it was useless. His Psynergy was depleted, his sword was too far out of reach, and, from the looks of it, no one was about to save him. Mia... Ivan... The monster tightened its grip around his throat, but the pain and lack of air weren't the only things bringing tears to his eyes. Jenna... Isaac... This was it. He'd failed the one mission he'd been put in charge of, and now everyone else was going to end up paying for it. He really was nothing but a clumsy, useless oaf.

"Tempest!"

"Blue Dragon!"

A blinding light broke through the fire Adept's darkening vision, along with the horrible noise of the monster resisting the attacks. The vines holding onto him shuddered and loosened, giving Garet a chance to instinctively gasp for the much needed air, and then dropped him suddenly back to the ground. After a short time lying there, the deafening commotion quieted, and the blaring lights ceased.

"G-Garet!" Cracking open one eye, it was to see the concerned and worn face of Ivan leaning over him. The face disappeared when all Garet could do was moan, and then reappeared with a blue glass vial. "Here, drink some of this."

With a bit of help, Garet was able to do as told, then lay back again to wait for the healing liquid to take effect. "What… what happened?" His voice was rough and scratched for now, but a large part of him was grateful that it seemed to be the worst of it. He didn't take into account that adrenaline was likely hiding any other injuries.

"Um, well, you're not going to believe this, but-."

"Mia… Are you hurt?" Despite himself, Garet's eyes snapped open. He'd recognize that obnoxious voice anywhere.

Ivan laughed nervously. "Now, Garet, wait, he just- Garet?" Before the younger boy could stop him, the redhead had already risen to his feet, and was marching across the clearing. "Uh oh…"

"Alex!"

"Hmm?"

SMACK!

"GARET!"

"What's he doing here?!"

"What do you THINK I'm doing here?!"

"Nothing good, I'm sure of that!"

"Well, if a punch to the face is the thanks I get for saving you…"

"Garet, maybe if you calm down and just listen to him-."

"Why? So he can ditch us all in an erupting volcano?"

"That might be a little difficult. I don't recall any active volcanoes in this area."

"I wasn't talking to you!"

Ivan sighed and shook his head. He should've seen this one coming. At least Garet was feeling better.

"Um… Garet?"

Or not. Daring a peek at the scene, the youngest traveler spotted Garet, lying spread-eagle on the ground, with a dazed expression as though he'd just spun in circles on one foot for too long, and with Alex and Mia looking on with confusion.

Mia copied Ivan's sigh and massaged her temples. "Ivan, could you please bring my medicine bag over for me?"

&&&&&&&&&&

Isaac watched the narrow strip of visible sky through his bedside window, although he barely noticed whenever pairs of birds would flit in and out of view. His mind had been wandering elsewhere for a while now. He had revisited the Vale from before the storm, had relived the visits to Kraden's house for Psynergy lessons, and remembered those moments in Sol Sanctum, when everything the storm had left intact had been shattered the rest of the way.

"Be careful, guys…" he said quietly to his friends, but he was the only there to hear it. It was his fault they were out there now, trying to save him against Sol knows what. Yet, he couldn't help smiling lightly.

Even if he had always felt responsible for those around him, now that he thought about it, he'd never really noticed how much he counted on them instead. He even remembered the day Jenna and Garet had first talked him into meeting Kraden.

"Isaac, why don't you come outside with us?"

Isaac sat on his bed, his arms wrapped around his knees, hugging them to his chest and hiding his face in the gap. "I just don't feel like it, Jenna."

"Can you at least open this door?"

"No."

There was a moment's pause. "Listen, Isaac. Garet has this idea. See, that old guy Kraden knows a lot of stuff about Psynergy and alchemy, and I know we aren't supposed to learn Psynergy until we're sixteen, but Garet thought that maybe we could convince him to start teaching us early. We'll have a head start of two years that way! He might even be able to teach us techniques that we wouldn't learn from anyone else in this place. What do you say? Want to come with us?"

Isaac raised his head slightly. A two year lead? Wouldn't that help him get stronger faster? Or was it too little, too late? He could hear Jenna moving on the other side of his door, then the creak of the top stair.

"Jenna?" She's gone. You idiot, you're too slow. No wonder they're all gone.

"Yeah?" She came back?

Isaac swung his legs off the bed and moved to the door, opening it a few inches so he could see the red head on the other side. She really had become pretty over the years. Isaac hadn't noticed it before, but now he understood why Garet always blushed when he was embarrassed in front of her. Maybe that was why Felix had started making it his business to follow Jenna almost everywhere. Felix is gone now, too. "Y-you really think he would agree?"

Jenna smiled. She had lost nearly everything, and yet, she could still smile.

"What do you think, silly? He's an outsider who's obsessed with Psynergy. Of course he's going to agree!"

During all three years after the storm, Garet and Jenna had never left him, no matter how many times he had tried pushing them away. Maybe it was because they both knew what it was like to have siblings, and had somewhere along the line adopted Isaac into their families. Whatever the reason, he was just glad they had been there, or he might have stopped trusting in people altogether. He and Garet wouldn't have made it far in the journey if they'd allowed him to be that way, and who knew where that would land them if they hadn't met their new friends.

Garet was the biggest comedian Isaac had ever known, despite the Mars Adept being from the Mayor's family. Ivan was sometimes considered the baby of the group, but he was quick, smart, and had a knack for knowing just what a person needed to hear. Maybe being a psychic was what helped him understand people, so well, but then that would make the psychic-less Mia even more of a natural. Garet might try to be fair to others, and Ivan might try to think things over before judging, not to mention eager to "forgive and forget," as Hammet had once said, but Mia was the one who looked for the good in a person first, before ever considering the bad. Isaac chuckled. She'd even been near ready to heal Dodonpa's leg after his own monster had fallen on him, something Isaac's untrusting side wouldn't have thought to do for the thief.

Isaac's smile left him, remembering that Felix wasn't the only person who had once been considered a friend by someone. Mia never talked much about Alex, but when she did, she'd always have a look about her that Isaac could understand. After all, it was close to how he had felt when he learned that Felix wasn't on their side anymore, except Mia refused to think Alex's intent was to cause harm.

Felix and Alex weren't the people they had once been known as. They had become traitors, in every sense of the word. Maybe Mia just needed more time before she'd be able to accept that.

&&&&&&&&&&

Garet was unhappy. No, worse than unhappy. Garet was mad. Garet was furious. Garet… had his arm back in a sling and a makeshift brace around his neck, and was fuming alone under a tree while everyone else talked a short distance away.

And Alex was there. Talking. With Ivan and Mia. Without them trying to clobber the creep. Plus, to add insult to injury, Mia was also refusing to give Garet a Psy Crystal. Which he knew they had plenty of.

It was an unhappy day for Garet indeed.

"So, I followed the source of the Psynergy, and, before I knew it, I stumbled upon your battle," Alex concluded, finishing his tale of how he had arrived on the scene. Garet was busy thinking of all the attacks he would've loved to stumble Alex with. He hadn't quite mastered Pyroclasm yet, but it was starting to sound very nice.

"Wait, so does that mean Felix and Jenna are nearby?" asked Ivan.

Alex shrugged. "Them? They should be past Gondowan Passage and moving on to Suhalla Village by now."

Ivan lowered his head. "We'll never catch up at this rate."

"Really? I wouldn't be so sure of that." Alex smirked. He started to withhold his knowledge, seeing just how much he could push the patience of this small group. It was hard to believe these children could cause any trouble for someone as experienced a fighter as Saturos.

"What makes you say that?" grumbled a still unpleased Garet. "If you dare say anything's happened to Jenna, I'll-."

Alex rolled his eyes and cut the Mars Adept off. "Relax, nothing's wrong with Jenna. Besides, Felix would never allow it." Not to mention that Felix would be needed in the upcoming Lighthouse, so now was not the time for the Proxans to mess with the kid sister anyway.

Mia hung her head as well. This was getting them nowhere. "Please, Alex, if you're going to say it, then just tell us." As glad as she was to not be fighting her former friend, it was still… hard. Especially now that a friend she didn't doubt the morals of was waiting on them. "We'll be moving on just as soon as Garet's recovered, whether you've said anything or not."

Alex's grin wavered briefly as he looked at her, then quickly turned and leaned back to gaze at the sky instead. "Isn't it obvious? After Suhalla Village, they'll come to Suhalla Desert. Can't very well traverse through a desert when they're in too big a hurry for proper planning, now can they? So, I doubt they'll be going much farther until I rejoin them."

"Then why don't you hurry on back, then? Or are you really not as alone as you claim to be?"

Alex frowned at Garet's accusation. "I'm hurt, Garet. Honestly, I save you from becoming plant food, and this is the thanks I get."

Garet rose awkwardly to his feet with a pained groan. "We're wasting time here. Ivan, Mia, let's go." Mia started to protest, but Garet ignored it and stuffed the sling and brace into his bag.

"What's the hurry?" Alex called, smirking once more as he too stood. "Did your oh-so-fearless leader run on ahead without the rest of you? Or did he finally turn chicken and throw in the towel?"

"Alex, don't," Mia warned, but the other Mercury Adept was already on a roll.

"Not that I'd blame him. This ordeal wasn't meant for little children."

"Alex, I mean it."

"I don't get it, Mia. I mean, I would have been more than happy to let you join me, but you've always been so set in your ways when it came to the lighthouse and our clan. Amazing how quick you left it behind to travel with this ragtag group instead."

That did it. Turning back, Garet was fully ready to give Alex a sample of his returning Psynergy. The Adept of water, however, simply teleported out of the way, and then reappeared in the same spot. "Say what you want about me, Alex, but leave Isaac, Mia, and Ivan out of it!"

Alex crossed his arms as Garet stalked off again. "Sheesh, I know fire Adepts are known for their hot tempers, but that almost made Menardi look innocent," he muttered, mostly to himself as the other two travelers started to leave as well. Something bigger than a bad mood was going on here. "Mia?"

"Hmm?" Mia slowed, and waited for him to catch up and walk with her. She was expecting to hear another smart comment against her new friends, but what she didn't expect was a straight faced Alex to say what he said next.

"What happened?"

&&&&&&&&&&

Fortunately, things were far calmer back in the town of Terra. There wasn't much else for Isaac to do other than to read, and it just so happened that the small journal was still conveniently hidden beside him. Pulling it out again, the Venus Adept started flipping through the pages, this time reading over small excerpts of the writing.

"Grandma says we can not go home again. We can not go home because home is no longer there. I don't care, though. I still want to go home. I don't want to be stuck here with Grandma and Cynthia. Grandma's not as nice as she used to be, not since she started with all her training. She won't even let us talk normally. She says we have to talk 'properly' or else we won't be able to focus right. I hate Tolbi. Tolbi took Mommy and Daddy away, so why should I have to live here and help make it bigger?

I really want to go home."

Tolbi? Isaac flipped a few pages ahead, skimming the contents of each page as he went. From the looks of it, though, pretty much every entry was about the writer being homesick.

"Grandma says we'll have to help the Star's bearer when the time comes. Why did she only tell me, though? If both of us will be responsible, why doesn't she want Cynthia to know anything? Only one of us is able to inherit her title, afterall. Poor Cynthia. She lost more than me in the attack, and now it seems even Grandma doesn't trust her."

By, "Star's bearer," it was probably talking about him. He turned a few more pages.

"Cynthia was really happy today, but she wouldn't tell me why unless I followed her out of town. I finally did, and she led me out of town to the place everyone calls Altmiller Cave. She said she'd found something inside that could help us get back everything that had been taken from us. I didn't see it, though. I chickened out and ran when it appeared, because it wasn't one of the ordinary creatures that live in the cave. Cynthia's changed. She's not the cousin I used to know anymore. But Grandma can't know what happened today. No one can ever know."

So Cynthia was the writer's cousin then? Isaac was starting to lose any doubts as to who the journal's owner was.

"Cynthia found out that Grandma's making me the next Celestia, and she wasn't happy about it. She wasn't even in the house this morning when we woke up. I could tell Grandma was worried, even if she wouldn't say she was, and she sent me to find her. She wasn't in town as I had hoped, so I snuck out to the cave. I was only about half way to the room she had led me to last time when that thing appeared. I thought it was going to kill me with its vines, but Cynthia came and told it to stop. She says she can talk to it, but I don't know how. I've never heard it speak."

Vines… Isaac's suspicions were confirmed on the next page, where the journal's young owner had scribbled the drawing of the vine monster. It was starting to make sense. There was no doubt about it now; the writer had to be the person they knew as Celestia, and the two stick figures must be she and her cousin, Cynthia. Celestia really had been lying earlier. She knew exactly what it was that had attacked him, and for all he knew Cynthia could still be the one controlling it. As all the collected pieces were running through his head, some fitting together and others being set to the side, he could hear a faint voice managing to break through to him from the inside.

Get away. Run. You must get away!

"What?"

"What are you reading?" Isaac jumped as his train of thought suddenly derailed, and looked to the doorway. Celestia was standing there, complete with tea tray in hand. Something was different, though. Her presence wasn't as friendly as it had been before, and her gaze was colder as she glanced between him and the journal.

When he didn't answer immediately, she repeated the question. "What are you reading, Isaac?"

&&&&&&&&&&

"So then… Isaac is…"

"Bed bound," said Mia with a sad nod, finishing Alex's sentence for him. "After he made it back to the inn, he couldn't even walk on his own anymore. He still looks normal on the outside, though there's no telling how much longer that will last for."

They walked in silence for a moment as Alex processed everything she had told him, with the two of them following a short distance behind Garet and Ivan. To say it was hard to believe would be an understatement, and to think that such a power source had been so near for that entire time… It was mind blowing, to say the least.

"And… you really care about what happens to him?"

Mia gave him a look as though it should've been the most obvious thing. "Of course I do! He's been a really good friend to me, Alex. They all have been, ever since- I mean…"

"Ever since I stopped being your friend, is that it?"

"What? No! That's not what I meant. Really!"

Alex laughed and waved it off. "Don't worry about it, Mia." He may have smiled and said it was nothing, but, as Mia watched him, she felt that wasn't the case. For one thing, he wasn't talking as he normally would when others were around to hear.

"I'll tell you what, Mia." Mia pulled out of her thoughts as Alex spoke. "I'll help you get this 'Star' back before I return to my group, if you promise me something in return." When she hesitated in answering, Alex continued. "Saturos and Menardi have their reasons, but they've become obsessed, and will do anything they feel they have to do to reach their goals. Promise you'll be careful if you ever go up against them, and... well, just give Felix a chance. Believe it or not, he's not completely crazy in everything he does." He turned his head to face her as he walked, waiting for her response.

Mia studied him a few seconds more, then smiled and nodded. "Sure, Alex. I think I can do that." She thought she caught a glimpse of a relieved smile as she said it.

Alex suddenly realized he was starting to redden, for whatever reason, and quickly cleared his throat and looked forward again. "So, where is it we're going again?" he asked, louder than how he had been talking before.

"You mean we haven't lost you yet?" called Garet over his shoulder. "For crying out loud, he's worse than a cockroach!"

Mia bit back a laugh and some other responses she could've made. "Celestia said to check to the east of the Gondowan Passage, but without crossing the bridge. Lucky for us we've already explored this area in the past."

Alex looked shocked. "You have? When did this happen?"

"Right after Colosso. There was something that needed taking care of in Lunpa, but the only way we could return to the main region of Angara from here was to find a cave through the mountains."

Amazing. Alex knew Saturos and Menardi had been moving slower than planned since the abduction of Jenna and Kraden, but if these four could travel all the way to the northern regions and back in such a short frame of time, it was a surprise that they hadn't already caught up and rescued the three Valeans by now.

Not that he was complaining.

Ivan stopped abruptly, almost causing Garet to walk into him. "Um… guys?" The boy pointed ahead as the other two caught up. "Look familiar?"

The trees had gradually thinned enough to show a low wall of mountains to their right, and another low wall directly ahead. Also before them was a dark hole, which lead into the rock.

"Gondowan Cave," breathed Mia. "I didn't think we had managed to come this far already."

"What do you say, Ivan?" Garet put a hand on the psychic's shoulder. "Inside, or outside?"

"Definitely inside," announced a small voice. A light appeared on Ivan's other shoulder, and faded to reveal a tiny Jupiter Djinni. "The level of Venus energy has most definitely been increasing as we've gotten closer to here!" Garet grumbled something about the Psynergy creature holding out on info, but no one was really listening to him anymore.

Ivan furrowed his eyebrows uncertainly. Now that Gust mentioned it, he had been feeling more and more uneasy as they had neared this area. Gust, are you sure you should be out in the open like this?

Gust nodded its head as the party started to enter the cave. Don't worry about us, Ivan. We Djinn all made promises to protect our Adept partners, and we'll do everything we can to keep those promises.

But what about that monster? If it appears, won't you be hurt again?

The mental connection was quiet for a moment, before finally the calm response came. If I am, at least I'll have kept my promise.

Not much had changed since they had last been there, but not much was standing out to catch their interest, either. There wasn't even an, "Evil creatures of Venus alignment, this way," sign to point them in any particular direction. Finally, after traveling through a few of the cave's inner chambers, Alex pointed out a narrow tunnel the other Adepts hadn't noticed during their last visit. With no other leads to go by, they decided to at least check it out. Gust, however, shuddered and faded away as Ivan followed his friends through.

Garet let out a long, low whistle as they entered a new chamber. "And here I thought Sol Sanctum had huge rooms." The ceiling was high enough to be barely visible, if it weren't for the narrow beams of light streaming in through various holes. As for the chamber itself, it seemed large enough to easily house both the Kalay and Tolbi plazas together.

Alex crossed his arms and leaned back against the stone wall. "It's large, however, I don't see any signs of this being our target." Mia gasped and cupped both hands over her mouth. "What, you were expecting the hidden room to just happen to be the one you were looking for, with a shiny bright orb thing and a plant monster with vines everywhere?"

Garet shrugged. "Can't say it wouldn't have been a nice change."

"No, I-I… Just- Just look over there!" The boys all followed her gaze as she pointed to the other side of the room. It looked like a normal cave wall of earth, until they were actually looking for something. That's when they saw what she already had. At first, it appeared to be an odd rock formation, but as their eyes continued to adjust, it seemed more like the beginnings of a human-like statue cut straight from the stone. It was positioned so that the tips of the shoe toes were a half foot off of the ground, then sunk back into the rock just above the knees, then emerged again below the shoulders. The head of the statue was leaning forward and facing down, and the long, dark hair hanging from it would normally show amazing detail and craftsmanship. Except, as their eyes fully adjusted to the light and distance, it became far more noticeable: it wasn't a stone statue. "I-Is that… Celestia?!"

&&&&&&&&&&

"Grandmother passed away this week, and there is still no word from Cynthia. I have checked the cave almost daily since she left, but she does not seem to have gone there. Warriors have begun to arrive in Tolbi for Colosso, even though it is still a month away. With the appearance of monsters threatening the Karagol ships, most have had to travel by a different means. I overheard one team in the market yesterday, talking about how they had arrived through a small cave in the mountains to the southeast. I do not know why, but I feel I will have better luck if I search for her there."

Celestia snapped the journal closed in one hand. Even with plenty of sunlight hours left in the day, all of the shutters and curtains in the living room had been closed. The light from the main room's fireplace, which danced and cast eerie shadows on the walls, reflected in the woman's eyes as she visually traced the patterns on the cover. Interesting, how this one book had been previously overlooked. She didn't know how much her guest had already read, but soon even that would not matter.

There was a faint rustling behind her, and a thin vine began to snake its way out from under a rug in the corner. As it neared her, it raised up, much like a serpent preparing to strike.

"Yes, I think it is nearing the time to end this," she said calmly, and casually tossed the journal into the fire with a flick of her wrist. The corners of her lips turned up in a smirk as she watched the pages glow and eventually crinkle. Finally, she turned and came face-to-vine with the monster. Instead of being surprised, however, her grin merely widened. "Would you not agree… my pet?"

&&&&&&&&&&

&&&&&&&&&&

Jenna: Something tells me no one saw that coming.

Heh, and that's not even all of it yet. Told ya there were reasons for her behavior. It just took me… um, six chapters… to decide for sure on most of them. Also, another yay for this chapter, because for once FF.N isn't deleting all the "?!" moments. Anyways, since there were only 3 reviews for chapter 8, I'm going to be sneaky (ha!) and slip in the "review responses" right here.

Ed (Uber Spoonz) – Just remember this: bodily harm/lack of toes possibly no future updates. …I'll still have to go into hiding after this, won't I?

Chris Robins – Alex is one of Golden Sun's greatest mysteries… though some just say he's a jerk. XD He is pretty useful when in need of a plot twist, though. Thanks for the reviews!

Spirit Seer – Glad you liked the expression. n.n Sorry if I disappointed you on who punched Alex. It seems like Alex would have to still be kneeling for Ivan to even come close to hitting him in the face, poor kid. As for the monster… for now, let's just say it's one really messed up creature with a really messed up background. n.n;

Thanks for reading, to those who have been reading all along! Reviews, constructive criticism, and the pointing out of typos and errors I might've missed are loved as always.