Twisted

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An early warning in advance: This is not one of my usual stories. In fact, this is going to be very disturbing and unsettling, so you may want to take care in reading future chapters. Fortunately, the disturbing stuff does not start just yet so you can begin reading this story without worry. However, as a fair warning, there is some violence.

As a last note, I would like to add that Camelot owns Golden Sun and I do not claim to own anything at all.

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Alex crouched low by the tree where he could not be seen. His azure gaze rested upon the settlement of New Vale, watching villagers move back and forth as they proceeded with their daily activities. Only a year had passed since the destruction of the original Vale. How ironic was it that he had attempted to destroy it himself with an almighty storm, only for him to fail and Vale to destroy itself by sinking into the ground.

Oh, yes. That was why he was here. Alex clenched a gloved fist and gritted his teeth together. He had been left on top of Mt. Aleph, almost killed, been injured so badly that even now he still had aches and bruises in his very bones. The Mercurian healing Psynergy alone had barely been enough to prevent him from bleeding to death.

The Wise One had cheated Alex out of his dream, given part of the power that Alex desired to Isaac himself. Alex should have become all-powerful and immortal, but that dream was forever lost. How he was meant to get his power from Isaac, he had no clue.

But that didn't mean that Alex could not exact his own, special revenge.

He could hardly summon a storm on Vale with the limited power he had, but he could still stir up a disturbance among the villagers. He was still more powerful than the average Adept. A low chuckle sounded from Alex's throat and he crept around the tree, one hand grazing the bark as he leaned against the tall, wooden structure.

Nobody had seen him yet. Who would expect to see a blue haired man skulking around the edge of the village at any rate? Well, the time had come that he was going to stop hiding and simply come out into the open.

It was time for Alex to exact his revenge.

Alex casually strolled into the village, immediately getting suspicious stares. He had not noticed Isaac or his friends around yet, but getting them down here should not be too hard.

"Excuse me, what business do you have here?" A young man approached him, a stern expression fixed upon his face. "If you are simply visiting, then may I suggest that you go to see the mayor before you do anything else?"

Alex exhaled deeply and turned to look at the slightly shorter man with a contemptuous stare. "I am afraid that what I am doing is none of your business." He promptly waved a hand, an ice spear appearing out of his palm, and slammed the deadly shard straight into the man's chest.

A shout went up into the air as somebody saw what was happening. The man looked at the crimson blood running down his shirt and choked, blood dribbling out of his mouth. He backed away, looking directly at Alex's chilling smile, then fell backwards with a gargled cry. He twitched once, twice, then he froze completely.

Other people stepped forwards, bravely brandishing their short swords, as they attempted to bring down the new enemy who had entrenched their domain. One or two of the Valeans ran in the other direction.

'Hopefully noting Isaac and his friends of my presence,' Alex smiled. 'After all, only a powerful group like them could possibly bring me down. Not that I will even give them the chance.'

Alex almost laughed as people fell at his feet. Why, these innocent victims, they were almost a disgrace to Adepts. They were weak and puny, their Psynergy undeveloped. What had happened to the Adepts of old, the strong, powerful race who protected the good from the bad and brought down those who used their powers for evil? Admittedly, there were less Adepts in this day and age. It really was quite a shame considering Alex liked a good opponent, but he should at least have a decent challenge when Isaac and the others arrived.

The rest of the Valeans were backing off now as it became apparent to them that the mysterious stranger was way out of their league. Alex smirked as he walked through the shocked crowds, casually stepping over the bloodied forms of the fallen as they struggled to crawl away to safety. Adepts with curative powers were already tending to the injured.

Alex brushed a strand of hair away from his face, wiping a smear of blood off his cheek in the process, and exhaled deeply. He casually wiped the blade of his sword over his trousers until the blood came away and stained the dark blue fabric. Alex held up the sword and examined it critically, admiring how it shone in the sunlight. How he would like to see this sword penetrate Isaac through the chest, to watch in malicious glee as Isaac bled in front of him and suffered a slow, agonising death.

Somebody had shouted Alex's name. The Imilian lowered the sword and peered into the distance, his smile growing wider as a group of eight people marched towards him. They had their weapons at the ready too, clearly they were very much in the mood for a battle. Well, that was exactly what Alex had come here for. He was going to spill blood today and he would not be shy about it.

Alex moved into a battle stance, ready to defend himself against whomever was the first to move. There would be no time for talking or questions, he really did hate questions and tried his best to avoid such trivialities. Why did people always have to be so curious? Alex was simply going to try his best to finish them all off and then get out of here with the sweet taste of victory upon his lips.

"Why are you here, Alex?" Isaac demanded, pointing his own sword directly at Alex's chest. Mia hung just behind him, her face a pale mask of shock as she stared intently at Alex. Alex briefly tried to read the expression in her eyes. There seemed to be some pain, anger, shock, the typical stuff he would expect from Mia. Clearly he was not back in her good books and neither did he actually even want to be. If it came to the point where Alex could slaughter them all with a stroke of his sword, Mia would be brought down along with her companions.

"Answer the damn question!" Garet shouted. Clearly, he was in a hurry to chop Alex up into tiny little pieces. Garet had always been the hot-headed one and clearly quite impatient. Alex briefly glanced at him, sizing him up. He recalled how Garet fought in that long ago battle against Saturos atop the Mercury Lighthouse. A slow opponent, yet his power and stamina made up for that. Garet was the type who went down still fighting.

"No, I will not answer the question," Alex said calmly, swinging his sword and stepping forwards. "Instead, I will watch you all die by my hand. Now is the time to suffer and feel the pain of losing."

The battle had commenced. Alex moved swiftly as various weapons danced around him, as he was surrounded by all the elements of Psynergy. He was much stronger with half of Alchemy and within minutes, Ivan had fallen unconscious as he slammed into a rock wall. Sheba turned to run to Ivan and Alex swiftly cast Geyser, causing Sheba to fly into the air screaming and land on top of the cliff above her fallen companion. A loud crack sounded through the air and Sheba groaned in pain, clutching one arm to her chest.

Alex found himself face to face with Mia. For a moment, the two were frozen in time and space as they looked into each others' faces and old childhood memories rose to the surface. However, those memories were quickly pushed away and they were enemies once more. Mia swung her mace with all the force she could muster, slamming it into Alex's chest. Alex quickly pushed the offending weapon away, merely wincing as bloodied spikes were forced out of his flesh. He yanked sharply and Mia gasped as she found herself almost suspended clear off the ground, her arms hanging onto the weapon above her head. Alex prepared to stab Mia clear through the chest, relishing the sight of fear in her eyes.

However, a flurry of flames meeting with Alex's back was enough to distract him that he dropped the mace and Mia quickly backed off, startled by her near death experience. Isaac rushed to her, making sure she was not harmed, as Alex turned to face Garet and Jenna. He darted forward and sliced at Garet's arm with his sword. Garet cried out in pain and clutched at his wound, blood leaking out from underneath his clenched hand. Jenna stood in front of Garet, aiming to defend him, and cast Serpent Fume in rapid succession. Alex brushed off the scalding heat of the flames and strode briskly up to her, knowing fully well she was not going to move away from Garet. He parried her sword with his and lashed out with a fist, catching Jenna on the chin. She flew backwards, her head hitting the ground with a hard smack. It had not knocked her out, but at least she was dazed.

Felix charged, anger blazing in his brown eyes. Alex stepped away from him, parrying each of his furious strokes of the sword. Felix stopped and started casting Psynergy. The ground underneath Alex began to shake and then it exploded underneath him and he was thrown upwards in a flurry of earth and pure Earth energy that threatened to rip him apart. This was a powerful attack and it told him in plain terms Venus Adepts were not meant to be messed with. Still, Alex had some advantages, no matter how unfair they might be.

Felix blinked in confusion as Alex warped out right in front of him. A warning shout from Piers told him that something was wrong, but as Alex smashed the block of ice into the back of his head, it was too late for him. Alex grinned as Felix fell to the ground, blood pouring profusely from his head and staining his dark hair crimson. His face was already taking on a ghastly pallor.

Piers and Mia immediately rushed to Felix's side to administer some healing. Jenna also rushed over, Garet following, but they hung back to allow the Mercurians to do their work. Alex chuckled in amusement and turned to see who was left. Ah, yes, Isaac was the only one left and he was staring at Alex with cold, unbridled fury in his eyes.

"So, Alex is nothing more than a coward who cheats in order to take his enemies down," Isaac's voice was hollow. "You are no warrior, no brave fighter, you are simply a violent, brutish monster out for blood."

"Yes, that is all I am now," Alex answered. "Cheated out of my dream without knowing until it was too late, spending months trapped in a rock prison while my entire body was in agony, it is amazing I have not lost my mind altogether. Yes, I am a raving monster out for blood, but I have enough honour not to hack you down while your friends are occupied or injured. However, I swear to this, one day I will kill you and bathe in your blood, Isaac." He turned around and walked towards the town gate. Nobody attempted to stop him as they all turned their attention to the fallen Venus Adept lying flat on the ground.