Okie-day. My sincerest apologies on my updating times, and while I could give a long explanation on exactly why I’ve taken so long, you don't want to hear that, so I won’t tell you.

Aspen: Procne does not own Golden Sun, but you knew that already.

And Aspen is my original character. I’d say “all rights reserved,” but that would be lying. Pretend she’s copyrighted and all will be well.

……………….

The archer hesitated, and Garet took his chance. Dropping his axe in haste, he rushed forward and knocked the bow out of the way, holding his belt knife to the archer’s throat.

“This isn’t over, Adept,” the man said, pulling away to stab himself with his own poisoned arrow through his heart. The archer staggered back, laughing madly before his eyes rolled back and he dropped dead on the ground. Thoughts on what the man meant raced through Garet’s mind, but he paid no heed to them. There were more important matters to deal with. He snatched a few arrows from the man’s quiver before rushing back to where the others were, forgetting entirely about his axe.

The scene was not at all what Garet had expected. Mia lay in a heap beside Jenna, her head in Isaac’s lap. The back of her dress was cut in a thin line below her hair, where the arrow must have hit. Four arrows lay on the ground, all but one of them stained with blood. Garet sat down beside Isaac, handing the arrows he had grabbed to Piers without saying anything.

“What—” Piers began.

“That archer won’t bother us anymore,” Garet stated simply. He would go into more detail when they had time. There were two lives on the line; it wasn’t the time for talking.

Piers nodded and moved away, pulling items from his pouch and making it clear that he didn’t want to be disturbed. There was nothing to do but wait and hope they weren’t too late…

Isaac gasped and clutched his chest, and Garet wasn’t too far behind him. It felt like a part of him had just been wrenched away, the exact opposite of when Mars Lighthouse was lit and his Psyenergy had strengthened. The Lighthouse! he thought, turning to look in that direction. Piers, Felix, Sheba, and Isaac, had reached the same conclusions; each were looking where the Lighthouse of their Element had stood; the Lighthouses that they all helped to light. One year after the Lighthouses were lit, someone finds a way to put them out again. Coincidence, probably; Garet was desperately hoping that whoever had extinguished the Lighthouses wasn’t that good of a planner.

“Did the archer…say anything?” Isaac asked quietly. He almost sounded as if he didn’t want an answer.

Garet looked over to where Piers had returned to working on his antidote. “Go ahead. You won’t distract me,” he said, as if he had read Garet’s mind. Honestly, at times Garet could’ve sworn the man was a Jupiter Adept!

“He didn’t say much. When it was clear the he would lose, he stabbed himself through the heart. Before he committed suicide, he said ‘This isn’t over, Adept.’ I don’t know about you guys, but I’m a little confused.”

Felix looked thoughtful for a moment before responding. “He killed himself to avoid questioning,” he stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“And he has a partner, here in the woods,” Isaac added, with a glance towards Jenna. Sheba nodded her agreement, but Garet was even more confused. Isaac sighed and explained. “Jenna was obviously shot by two archers, by the angles of the arrows. That, or our archer friend can move inhumanly fast. And his statement says that he has companions; if he was a merely a bandit, it would be unlikely he had assistance, and this whole thing would end with his death.”

“And he would want to avoid questions because they could lead to whoever is employing him, or the location of his companions,” Felix concluded. Garet was amazed they could turn so little information into a conspiracy in a matter of seconds.

Piers’ eyes shone with worry. “There’s another archer?” he asked, looking up from a vial full of a cloudy liquid.

“He’s gone too,” Garet said. “I saw him running from the forest when we were looking for Jenna.” Piers looked immensely relieved, but a second later, he was barking orders.

“Isaac, I need you to find me periwinkle. You know, the white flowers in you Mother’s garden. Sheba, if you could find—Sheba? Are you alright?” Sheba looked horrified. Her eyes were wide, and both hands were clasped over her mouth. She shook her head weakly at Piers’ question.

“What the—” Isaac said, putting a hand to his head as if he were dizzy. Felix muttered a stream of curses. Both Earth Adepts fainted simultaneously. Sheba screamed, looking southwest.

“What in Mars’ name is going on?” Within seconds, he knew. Mercury’s power had just multiplied tenfold of what it had been when the Lighthouse was lit. His head spun until it was a struggle to stay standing. His vision blurred. Garet felt himself losing consciousness, fighting to stay awake. He had too; Mia and Jenna needed that antidote. They needed him!

Jenna needed him…

……………………

Cliffie! Please don’t kill me! Okay, seeing as I actually have reviews, I’m going to reply to them. Only the three since I posted the last chapter, even if two of them are from November.

HaWk98: Death threats? Really? Someone actually cares enough to threaten my life? That’s pretty cool! Those were the originally planned pairings, but they might change. However much I love windshipping, I’ve been reading too many lighthouseshipping stories. ’

HaWk98: Hi again! I’m afraid I can’t tell you, mostly because at the time I wrote the chapter, I didn’t know, myself. Not that I wanted to blow up the Lighthouses, but that’s how it turned out.

Rozzlyn: I’m glad you think it’s interesting!

Aspen: Now please review! Maybe she’ll update faster (as if).

See ya!

Procne