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Vision
Camelot owns Golden Sun.
So changed was the city that when they stepped past the gates and walked right into it, few people saw reason to raise an alarm, ask questions or fight them. Mia noticed a few people were staring strangely at her, but they ended up looking away again as if they had saw nothing particularly interesting about her. They probably hadn't forgotten when a troop of Proxians returned from their plunder of Imil, Mia and Alex among their numbers. Now Alex was dead and Mia was the last of the people from Imil.
"What are we going to do now?" Isaac wondered, glancing around at the citizens of Prox. Most of them sported pointy ears and reddish eyes, but there was the occasional person who looked like the average Weyardian, just like him. It was fairly easy to tell the Proxians apart due to their noticeable differences. "Ask everybody who's not Proxian if they were kidnapped?"
"Not just yet," Felix replied, which was accompanied by a questioning glare from Garet. "I think we should at least see this person who rules Prox... isn't it a bit rude to just walk into someone's city and walk out with a bunch of people without their permission? What was his name again? Saturos?"
"Yeah." Mia grimaced. She really wasn't so sure if she wanted to see the man who had led that troop which plundered her city and killed her father, but she knew that she couldn't hold this grudge forever. It just wasn't in her nature. Maybe it was better to forgive a little. If it hadn't been for the destruction of Imil, Mia would never have been captured and she would never have discovered the legend, saved the world or met her new friends including her newfound love, Isaac. "I'm not joyful at the thought of seeing him, but I shall accompany you."
"That's sorted then." Jenna looked around and then pointed towards the palace. "I think he should be in there, that's where he usually is or at least he was. I could show you straight to the throne room if I wanted, I know my way around there pretty well." Three suspicious stares pointed in her direction and she grinned sheepishly. "I was very sneaky. Nobody ever caught me either. Sometimes they saw or heard me, but that was it."
"Impressive." Garet grinned. "I was never any good at sneaking... every time I tried, I end up knocking something over. I remember when my mom went ballistic at me when I knocked her antique vase onto the floor."
"Why were you sneaking around in your own house?" Jenna stared at him.
"Sometimes I got a little hungry at night..." Garet looked sheepish. "I didn't want to wake anybody, you see."
"Okay, let's go and see Saturos now, shall we?" Isaac asked. "We don't want to waste any time hanging around."
"Of course." Jenna grabbed Garet's hand and started pulling as she walked towards the palace. "Come on, everyone, lets go!"
"Whoah!" Garet almost skidded on the ice as he tried to keep up. "Not so fast, Jenna, I nearly slipped!"
"Well then, here we go." Isaac put his arm around Mia and walked with her. "Be careful not to slip."
"I won't," Mia assured him. "Don't worry, I'm used to these conditions."
"Why are we getting so many funny looks?" Felix muttered as he followed. "We haven't sprouted extra heads or anything." Indeed, the sight of five young warriors suddenly entering the city, and foreigners at that, was strange to the Proxians.
"I wonder if we should do trading," Saturos murmured, ignoring Agatio's complaining and questioning. "We have a lot of valuable items..."
"Are you even listening to me?" Agatio demanded, looking decidedly sulky.
"I'm sorry, what?" Saturos blinked. "Did you actually say something that wasn't just whining?"
"Forget it." Agatio shook his head, walking towards the doors. He was startled when they suddenly swung open and a soldier stood there.
"Um, Lord Saturos?" The soldier spoke up, looking straight past Agatio and at Saturos who was actually looking mildly interested now. "Some people have just arrived and they wish to see you at once. Shall I bring them here?"
"No, I shall go to them." Saturos approached the soldier. "Lead me there." The soldier nodded and led Saturos out of the throne room. Agatio watched them leave and shook his head in despair.
"Well, it really was a poor starving town once." Jenna ran her hand over a silky tapestry hanging on the wall. "And its mostly thanks to slave labour, robbery and kidnapping that this place has prospered. Not such a great track record."
"I wouldn't mind living in such a rich, beautiful place like this with lots of money and great food and everything," Garet said enviously. "And when it snows a lot, you can build snowmen and have snowball fights too! We should have a snowball fight before we leave. But the history is definitely a minus."
"I think everybody back home will be a bit mad if we take a long time to get back because we were having a snowball fight," Felix lifted a crystal statuette off a display stand and examined it, letting the sunlight filtering through the high windows play off the crystal, shining in an array of different colours of the rainbow. "But since we've come so far already, it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun, I guess."
"Everybody back home don't control our lives," Jenna said defiantly, tossing back her hair. "Maybe we should build a snowman while we're at it. Get a carrot for the nose, coal for the eyes and mouth, and then give it Isaac's scarf."
"No, not the scarf!" Isaac prostested in mock horror, his eyes widening. "My mom knitted it for me for my birthday!"
"Here they come." Mia looked up as she heard footsteps and saw the Proxians coming towards them.
"So... what brings you people here?" Saturos asked, placing his hands on his hips and looking at each Adept in turn. "I recognise the girl who was is the Princess of Imil, but who would the rest of you happen to be?"
"So you are Saturos of Prox?" Isaac queried. Saturos nodded curtly. "I am Isaac of Vale..."
"All four of us are Valeans," Felix cut in. "I am Felix, this is Jenna, my sister, and that's Garet."
"I was also kidnapped eight years ago," Jenna added. "I was one of the Valean children who were taken."
"So you are the young Adepts who were giving us the runaround." Saturos exhaled deeply. "Well, since we aren't seeking out any treasures anymore, I no longer find fault with any of you for that. So, just why did you come here?"
"We came to bring the Valeans back home," Isaac answered.
"And seek apology," Mia blurted out, looking down. "I am trying not to hate Prox too much for what has been done, but it would make it easier if..."
"I understand," Saturos said simply. "I, too, have regrets for all the bad things that Prox has done. We have done a lot of bad things to get to where we are and I am sorry for what has been done."
"Thank you," said Mia quietly.
"So, what of Alex?" Saturos asked. "I presume you must have had a run-in with him at some point. Just a few days ago, he took the Flames of Sol from our treasure room."
"We know," Felix said. "Alex told us everything in Mt. Aleph."
"Alex's dead too," Garet added. "Mia and Alex had a really big battle and Alex lost. Good riddance to him."
"I see." Saturos looked satisfied. "I won't have to worry about him then. "Well, I have pressing matters to attend to, so do as you will while you're here, take the people we captured home, they deserve it. Farewell for now." Without waiting for further goodbyes, he turned and walked back the way he had came, the soldiers hurrying after him.
"He sure was civil." Jenna was awed. "He used to be not such a nice guy. I wonder what happened?"
"Can we go and get the others now?" Garet asked, speaking hurriedly in his excitement.
"Of course. Let's go and find them then." Felix turned and walked towards the exit, everybody following. "I guess we should split up when we're outside, the city's pretty big."
"Last time we all split up, things got complicated," Isaac complained.
"This is Prox, not a village full of thieves." Jenna nudged him. "We'll be fine!" A blast of cold air hit them as Felix pushed the palace doors open and they stepped out onto the sludge that littered the steps. "Ooh... it's so cold out here compared to inside that palace." The group split up, each person going by themselves as they weaved through the snow littered streets of Prox, searching out non-Proxian citizens and prepared to ask as many questions as they needed to.
"Um... excuse me?" Mia stepped towards the woman, who raised her head slowly to look at her. "Are you okay?"
"I'm perfectly fine," the woman snapped, looking away. "Mind your own business."
Mia frowned at her coarse manner and turned away with a sigh. However, the sound of a fierce coughing coming from the house caught her attention and she turned back around, alarmed by the loud noise. It clearly was not a healthy cough. "Is somebody sick?"
"My sister," Menardi sighed, guessing that the girl would not be sent away so easily. "It is just a sickness she has had for most of her life."
"Really?" Mia's countenance turned sadder. "So, your sister is very sick, and that's why you are sad, isn't it?"
"You really are a nosy person, aren't you?" Menardi said in a frustrated tone. "I'm just worried that she might..."
"Please may I go to see her?" Mia fell to her knees, bowing her head. "I am a Mercury Adept and we are very powerful healers. I may be able to do something about her condition. I can't promise anything, but please, at least let me try to help her get better!"
"Why do you care so much?" Menardi stared at her, shocked at her request. "You don't even know her, and I don't even know who you are."
"Because it's in my nature to care." Mia looked up with a soft smile. "I cannot simply turn away and leave the sick to die, I must at least try to do something for them. Will you let me try and help her?"
"Fine." Menardi got to her feet, and Mia did the same. Menardi opened the door and led her inside, gesturing at the door which led to Karst's bedroom. "My sister is in that room over there. Do whatever you can."
"I promise I'll do what I can." Mia nodded happily, stepping towards the door and grasping the knob. She winced as another volley of coughs came rolling through and pushed the door open, stepping inside the room and walking towards the bed. A young pink-skinned woman lay there, her skin pale and flushed, shiny with sweat. Her dark pink hair clung to her skin in limp, wet clumps. "Hello."
"Who are you?" Karst asked feebly, looking towards her. "I don't want any visitors. Leave me alone."
"My name's Mia and I've come to help you get better." Mia kneeled next to the bed. "What is your name?"
"Karst," Karst replied, sounding tired. "Can you really help me?" She coughed again, her body jerking up as she did so, and she sank back into the pillows with a soft groan.
"You poor thing," Mia said sympathetically. She closed her eyes and placed her hands upon Karst's chest, whispering the healing spell. "Pure Ply." A soft blue aura surrounded Mia and a fairy appeared above Karst, sprinkling her with light blue dust before disappearing. The light faded and Mia opened her eyes, taking a step back. "Are you any better now?" She asked hopefully.
"Um..." Karst took a deep breath and released it, reaching up and pushing her hair off her face. "I feel better... much better!" She sat up slowly and flexed her hands, surprised at the energy she now had. "You've really made me better. I'm well again... I don't believe this."
"I'm so glad." Mia felt a little tired after the healing spell but the intense relief she felt made up for it.
"Menardi!" Karst cried out. Menardi stepped into the room in astonishment, looking even more surprised as she saw her sister sitting up, her eyes shining brightly.
"Karst... you're better," Menardi said joyfully, rushing towards her little sister and enveloping her in a tight hug. "Thank goodness!" She glanced up at Mia. "Thank you so much. What's your name?"
"Mia," Mia answered. "I'm glad that I could help." She turned and left the house, leaving the two to celebrate by themselves.
"Mia... wasn't that..." Menardi frowned but then shrugged it off. "I'm glad to see that you're well again, Karst. You can come outside, play in the snow, do all the things you did as a child again, and you won't die so young... I was so worried, Karst, I thought you were going to die on me!"
"I won't die yet," Karst assured her. "Not yet. I've still got some living to do after all."
"Yeah." The girl nodded solemnly, though she seemed surprised at the mention of Vale. "We were taken away from our home... ten years ago?"
"Eight," the boy corrected, sounding equally sad as he thought of his home. He looked up at Isaac, frowning. "You kind of look familiar."
"I'm Isaac. You remember me, right?" Isaac smiled, glad to have found some of the Valeans at last in this huge city. "Let me guess... You must be Anna... and you're Andy, right?" They nodded eagerly. "Well, can you find anybody else who's Valean, and when you're all together, go to the gate because we're going home!"
"Yay!" Anna pulled him into a tight hug. "You're the best, Isaac!"
"Pleased to hear it." Isaac looked sheepish. "I'm not the only one here though. Don't give me all the credit."
"Well, we'd better go find everybody else then!" Andy said. "Come on, Anna." He took her arm and they rushed off to look for the other Valeans.
"Excellent." Isaac was pleased. Now things were getting easier. "I wonder how everybody else is doing."
"Are you Valean too?" The girl asked suspiciously. Felix hastily nodded and walked off, eager to find more Valeans. "Hey! Wait, at least tell me who you are. I don't remember." He quickly disappeared into a crowd, looking around intently. Felix was pleased to have found at least one of their people so far but he didn't have the time for idle chit-chat. They would have plenty of time for that on the ship, it was a whole day's journey back to Vale after all.
Jenna stopped, startled by the sound of someone calling her name, and turned to see a familiar girl with short brown hair run up to her. "Oh, Alice." So she'd managed to find another Valean at last. This place was just too crowded.
"Where have you been?" Alice exclaimed. "We were all wondering where you had gone and we were so worried too."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Jenna paused, wondering what she should say. It wasn't the time to tell everyone Isaac and the others had come to rescue them and she'd ended up going with them before everyone else, even getting to see home at last. "Some people came to the city and I left with them."
"Oh, how lucky... you kind of escaped, huh?" Alice smiled. "But why did you come back?"
"Because Isaac, Garet, Felix and I came to bring everyone home," Jenna replied happily. "That's right, you can all go back to Vale now. So, can you find everyone else and tell them to wait at the town gate?"
"Huh?" Alice looked confused, yet happy. "You ended up reuniting with them? How did that happen? And... didn't you have memory loss? Did you finally get it back?"
"Yes," Jenna replied, sounding somewhat impatient. "We'll explain everything later. Now please go find everyone and go to the gate."
"Okay then..." Alice turned and hurried away. Jenna sighed, shaking her head. She hoped she wasn't going to have to go through this with anyone else she found. They still seemed to have the amazing ability to get on her nerves, or was it just her? Maybe it was, now that she thought about it.
"Kay?" Garet muttered, watching her intently. "Is that really her? It's got to be... hey, Kay!" He rushed towards her and the girl stopped in her tracks, looking curiously at him. He came to a stop and caught his breath. "You remember me, don't you?"
"How do you know my name?" Kay frowned, looking intently at him. "The strange spiky hair definitely looks familiar... you're Garet? Is it really you? What are you doing here? How did you get here? Do Mom and Dad know? When did you-"
"I just got here." Garet smiled happily. "Me, Felix, Isaac and Jenna. We came to rescue everybody, including you! Mom, Dad, Grandpa and Grandmother, Aaron... they are all waiting for you back home, in Vale."
"What took you so long?" Kay asked, tears shining in her eyes. "We've been waiting for so long for you all to come and take us back home. I'm so glad to see you again. You've grown so much in eight years." She rushed forwards and pulled him in a tight hug. "Well, have you found everybody yet?"
"Not yet." Garet shook his head. "I guess they're going to send everybody to the gate. We're just going all over the city, looking for everybody who's from Vale, and we're going to take everyone back home. Felix got a ship from this guy named Babi and we used it to get around. You wouldn't believe what's happened to us on our adventure!"
"Well, you can tell us all about it on the way home," Kay grinned. "I'll help round up the Valeans."
"Well, thank goodness for that," Felix said, looking relieved. "I'm glad to see that everyone is okay after all."
"Yeah. I can't even begin to imagine how hard it would have been on anyone if we came back to Vale with everyone, only to tell someone their child couldn't come back." Isaac sighed in relief.
"Alright, let's hurry home," Garet said, sounding impatient. "Everyone in Vale is waiting for us to come back."
"I guess we aren't going to have any snowball fights then?" Jenna asked jokingly. "Yeah, you're right, we should hurry back. Everyone's waited long enough already."
The excited chatter started up again as everybody walked through the snow towards the ship, leaving the city of Prox behind. The quest was over and they had finally done what they originally set out to do, recover the lost people of Vale. Now it was time to go back to Vale and bring them home again. The ship set off, a loud cheer rising in the air as it glided over the sea.
"We're home!" Jenna announced, rushing into the plaza, shouting as loud as she could. Several people gasped and either rushed to the crowd or hurried off to let other people know of their arrival. "This has got to be one of the best days yet."
"Definitely." Garet agreed, standing besides her. "My sister's back and my family's going to be happy again, what more could I ask for?"
"How about me as your wife?" Jenna suggested, a mischevious sparkle in her eyes.
"Huh? Already?" Garet blinked at her in confusion. "Really?"
"Not yet!" Jenna chuckled, nudging him in the side. "I was just kidding. Maybe sometime in the future."
"Wow, everybody's very excited about this," Mia commented as she looked around at all the excited Valeans, hugging and crying tears of joy. "But I don't blame them if they've spent eight years apart."
"Hey, Mia," Isaac spoke up as a thought occured to him. Mia looked questioningly at him. "Have you thought anymore about... well, what you'll do next? I'm not trying to pressure you or anything. You can take your time."
"Actually, I think I have made my mind up now," Mia said firmly, slipping a hand into his and squeezing tightly. "I don't want to go back to Imil just yet. I know that I have responsibilities of my own there, but there are other people who can run the city while I'm away and... I just don't think I am ready to go back home just yet. It's too full of painful memories. If I go back now, all I will be able to think about the fact my father is no longer around and Alex betrayed me. It's just too painful."
"Mia..." Isaac said softly, a sad expression on his face. He couldn't imagine what it was like to dread the thought of going back to the place where one was born and raised. Mia really was hurting deep inside, wasn't she?
"I don't know when I will ever be ready to return to Imil, but for now my home is wherever you are, Isaac, so I want to live here with you." Mia leaned forwards and the two shared yet another passionate kiss. They had had plenty of those on the ship but were definitely not in the mood to stop now.
"Looks like everything's going perfectly," said Felix in satisfaction. "Just the way it should be."
"Garet, you're really back for good?" Aaron alighted in the middle of the crowd, looking eagerly at him. "Really?"
"Of course!" Garet responded.
"That really you, Aaron?" Kay approached her little brother, looking down with a big smile. "The last time I saw you, you were just so tiny."
"Who are you?" Aaron blinked, looking confused. "Are you Kay?"
"Of course I am." Kay nodded, smiling happily. "I'm not surprised you don't remember me, you were only five-" She broke off as Aaron let out a delighted squeal and wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her a tight hug.
"Kay!" Their mother came running through the crowd, tears of happiness springing from her eyes. "You're back! And so are you, Garet... you're both safe!" She immediately drew all three of her children into her embrace, her husband arriving and joining in so that they enjoyed a happy family reunion, all of them back together at last, the Mayor of Vale and his wife watching on from behind.
"Mom, Dad!" Isaac exclaimed as he saw his mother and father, and he rushed to rejoin them happily. "I'm home for good now, you don't need to worry about me too much anymore."
"Oh, we'll always worry about you, Isaac," Dora told him. "You're our only child after all."
"And we nearly did lose you a few times," Kyle patted his head.
"Yeah, several times," Isaac chuckled dryly. He momentarily wondered if he should tell them about the bandit who almost slit his throat, but then he immediately decided that they didn't need to hear such a thing, it was better to just enjoy this glad moment. He was back home and so was everyone else.
"Mom, Dad," Jenna beamed as she hugged her parents. "Look, we brought everybody back home as quickly as we could."
"We considered having a snowball fight, I think, but decided against it," Felix added. "We just all wanted to get home as soon as possible and now we are."
"Do you think we'll have more adventures?" Jenna asked thoughtfully.
"Well, that ship won't go to waste, but I've had enough of sailing to last me a long while," Felix responded with a smile. "Lets just concentrate on catching up with each other now that we're back home."
"I'm glad to be back home." Jenna smiled.
"Me too," Felix answered, hugging her.
The rest of the day passed in a swirl of happiness as everybody was so happy about the children finally returning and now Vale was surely restored, just the way it had used to be. With the threat of Prox dimnished, there was little cause to worry about the possibility of the village being attacked again and they could all relax and no longer worry.
That night, Mia, who was staying in the spare room of Isaac's house, was about to drop off to sleep when she heard a gentle tapping on her window. She got out of her bed with a confused look on her face and walked over to the window, surprised to see a pigeon standing on the windowsill. Mia pulled open the window and let it in. The pigeon flew around the room for a minute before alighting on her shoulder and sticking out its leg. Mia realised that it had a piece of paper tied to it and gently loosened the string, pulling out the piece of paper and smoothing it flat to read the note.
'Mia,
I hope that this note reaches you safely. The pigeon is specially able to find certain people so it should be able to get to you. When you're sending it off, just tell it who to go to and where. How is the world now? It is difficult to know as we do not often leave Lemuria. I also hope very much that you were well.
Piers'
Mia smiled and walked over to the bed, reaching towards the bedside table and pulling open a drawer, taking out a pen and a sheet of paper. She gently scribed her note on the new piece of paper in her neat, scripted handwriting.
'Piers,
Thank you for the note, I was quite surprised to receive it. The world is safe, Alex was defeated in battle and lost his life. Now I can concentrate on rebuilding my life as the adventure is over. I am not planning to return to Imil just yet. Maybe someday I will, but for now, I wish to spend my time with my dear friends.
Mia'
Mia tied up the note with the string and tied it to the pigeon's foot. "Take it to Piers in Lemuria." The pigeon chirped and flew out of the window, disappearing into the sky. Mia rested her head in her hands, wondering how it was possible the pigeon could do this. She put her hands down and rested her head in her arms, exhaling deeply as she relaxed. The house was so quiet at this time of night and so was the village outside. It was peaceful and calming.
"We didn't bring Mia along either," Garet said, looking around in confusion. "It's kinda strange, isn't it?"
"It's a Valean thing," Felix assured him. "We aren't purposefully singling Mia out, it's something just for the four of us. I think it's time we spent some time together just like this, right?"
"Yeah, that makes sense." Garet nodded. "I understand now."
"Hmm." Jenna looked around the plaza and pointed. "That way!" The four of them hurried towards the shops, only to go behind them and approach the cliff wall, feeling around until they found a cluster of hanging vines. Isaac swept the vines aside and clambered in, finding the ground a lot rockier than he remembered. The other three followed him in until they reached the end and sat against the wall in a row, just as they had done eight years ago.
"It's been a long time since we've done this, hasn't it?" Isaac said wryly. "It's the same dark and musty cave as it has always been. Remember the ghost stories we told while we were in here?"
"How this was the resting place of a long dead Adept?" Felix recalled. "And Garet made up some stupid story with a snake in the chest?" The chest was still there, looking quite dirty and neglected.
"And I held Isaac's toy rabbit hostage," Jenna added.
"And I scared Jenna." Garet grinned. "It was quite funny then. Hey, Jenna, do you want to hear another scary story?" Jenna just shot him a dry look. "I guess not."
"And this was the best hiding place in the whole of Vale!" Isaac finished. "You just couldn't find me no matter how hard you tried. That was a fun game of hide and seek, wasn't it?"
"Except I gave myself away by laughing," Jenna recalled, shaking her head. She really hadn't been any good at that game.
"And my hiding place was the worst!" Garet exclaimed.
"Never mind, at least you two made my job easier," Felix said cheerfully. Jenna scowled and punched him.
"It's been eight years since we last sat in here." Isaac ran a hand through his blond spiky hair. "We were only children then, but now we're nearly adults. It sure is good to be back together again, the four of us."
"You bet," Garet said eagerly. "Sure, we can't play games anymore without people thinking we're weird or anything, but at least we're together again!"
"And maybe this time we really can go into the caves of Vale," Jenna said, her eyes shining in excitement. "We're older, we have Psynergy, and we're not afraid of anything!"
"Not anymore, no." Felix grinned and brushed away a spider that had crawled onto him. "After everything that we've been through, I think we can handle pretty much anything. So long as we stick together, the way it should be."
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