Jubilation

Now that we have the fantastic news that a third Golden Sun is happening, what better than a story about celebration?

Camelot owns Golden Sun and we love Camelot very much for finally delivering a long awaited sequel in the series! Yay, Camelot!

It had been one year since the intrepid band of eight Adepts had saved the world. Vale had been rebuilt in no time at all and everyone had happily settled down in the village, ready to resume their peaceful lives.

However, today was going to be anything but peaceful. When everyone were roused from their beds at the crack of dawn, they knew it was going to be a hectic day.

Isaac stood in the kitchen, sleepily blinking as his mother gave him sharp orders to go and help his father and the other men carry out tables and chairs to the plaza. "This is ridiculous. We go to all the trouble of saving the world and our reward is even more hard work?"

"How much hard work have you actually done since you saved the world?" Dora waved a frying pan threateningly, causing Isaac to cower in terror. Yes, he had defeated many dragons and even a headless pirate, but still there were some things that terrified him. He couldn't think of anything scarier than his mother threatening him with a frying pan.

Except for Kraden wearing a bathing suit, maybe, but Isaac had not yet had to endure such a terrifying experience. Then he wondered why the heck he had thought about Kraden in a bathing suit.

"Okay, okay, I'm going," Isaac moaned, trudging out of his house. He thought his mother was being unfair, accusing him of not having done much hard work since they saved the world. What about helping with rebuilding the village? It had barely been a month since Vale was rebuilt and now they were having a party. Hopefully it wasn't going to be an annual event.

Isaac saw Garet up ahead and rushed over to him. "Hey, Garet! Did your mother force you to get up this morning as well?"

When there was no response, the Venusian frowned. "Um, Garet? Weyard to Garet." He walked around and almost face faulted when he saw Garet's head was bowed and his eyes were closed. "Oh, geez, I don't believe it," Isaac muttered, reaching out and poking Garet hard in the chest.

The force of being poked in the chest caused Garet to fall over backwards and be jolted awake by the impact. "Wahhh!" he screamed, jumping to his feet and looking around wildly. "Hey, what happened to my house?"

"Your house is over there." Isaac pointed in the direction of Garet's house, looking unimpressed. "How do you even manage to fall asleep standing up?"

"Oh, I did? Whoops." Garet chuckled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head, flashing a sheepish grin. "I'm not used to waking up so early."

Isaac shook his head wearily. "Okay, well, we've got to help take furniture down to the plaza now. Let's go over to the storage house."

"I wish I could have at least got to eat breakfast first," Garet grumbled as they started walking.

* * *

"Whew." Piers wiped away the sweat from his brow after setting down a chair. Almost all the furniture had been carried down now and it seemed like a good time to take a break. He looked around at the crowd of people clustered in the plaza, not seeing a certain brunet among them. "Huh, I wonder where Felix got to?"

The curious Lemurian wandered away from the plaza in search of his friend, soon finding him lying beneath the trees in the shade with his arms beneath his head and gazing up toward the sky. "What are you doing, Felix?" he asked, sitting down next to him.

"Watching the clouds," Felix responded. "What does it look like?"

"Well, it looked to me like you were just lying on your back and doing nothing," Piers responded, raising his head to look at the sky. "Is there something particularly interesting about the clouds today?"

"Not really," the Venusian spoke with a sigh. "Hey, Piers, do you get bored sometimes?"

"I'm a Lemurian," Piers replied, lying down on his back. "I do not have the ability to get bored."

Felix turned his head, giving Piers an odd look. "Uh, okay then. It's just that after that long adventure we had, it seems kind of dull. I don't mind having peace and quiet, but I'm missing travelling and beating the stuffing out of monsters. I know I'm not the only one."

"I suppose I know what you mean, but I don't mind it at all." Piers stared at a cloud slowly drifting across the sky, the wind caressing his turquoise bangs. "There's nothing like spending your days living out your life in peace and quiet, not having to worry about what tomorrow will bring. Anyway, if you think this is boring, you should try spending a day in Lemuria."

"I think I can already imagine what that's like. Anyway, I wonder if we'll ever get to have another adventure?" Felix mused. "Or maybe we'll just all get married, have children, grow old and die. Then something will finally happen and our descendants will have to sort it out instead of us. What a pity."

"You should be careful what you wish for, Fe." Piers turned his head, giving Felix a sly grin. "Surely you don't want some crazy megalomaniac turning up out of nowhere tomorrow and declaring his desire to take over the world."

"Don't call me Fe," Felix spoke in a peevish voice. "Of course I don't want crazy megalomaniacs trying to take over the world. I just wish the Elders would actually let us get out of here once in a while so that we can go chop up some monsters and help people out, anything like that. What's with the whole no leaving Vale rule anyway? Was it really necessary to keep it?"

"You, Isaac, Garet and Jenna are probably the only Valeans who aren't paranoid freaks," Piers replied.

"Hey!" Felix exclaimed. "They are not paranoid freaks... they are just... er, a little cautious, I guess..." He trailed off uncertainly, a frown creasing his features.

"Sure, whatever you say." Piers smirked. He turned his gaze back toward the sky and raised an arm to point. "Hey, look. That cloud's shaped like a dragon's head."

* * *

Ivan stared at the wall with a very serious expression on his face, his purple eyes narrowing. He took a deep breath and then raised the object in his hand.

Said object was a pencil with a nice sharp tip of lead. Ivan clasped it tightly and approached the wall.

This was very serious indeed and that was why Ivan was taking it very seriously.

Now his nose was pressed up against the wall, and with his free hand, he found the place on the wall that was parallel with the tip of his head, not counting that cowlick that always stood up for some bizarre reason.

No amount of hairgel could ever get that cowlick to stay down, but Ivan didn't care. As far as he was concerned, that cowlick made him feel just a little bit taller.

And speaking of taller... Ivan raised the pencil and scribbled a tiny mark just underneath his hand. He then stared at it, his gaze sliding to another mark right next to it. Immediately, he could see that it was just barely lower than the new pencil mark.

The Jupiter Adept lowered his head and let out a pitiful sigh.

Suddenly, the door opened. Ivan gasped and whirled around in surprise, seeing Sheba standing in the doorway.

"Hey, you could at least knock before you enter!" Ivan exclaimed once he had recovered from the surprise.

"What are you doing?" Sheba asked curiously, walking over and seeing the pencil in his hand. She raised an eyebrow, mystified by Ivan's actions.

Ivan blanched and immediately pressed his back up against the wall, waving his hands in front of himself hastily. "Nothing! I wasn't doing anything! Really!" he exclaimed, unable to come up with a good excuse for why he was standing in front of a wall with a pencil.

"Ivan." Sheba placed her hands on her hips and gave him a long, strange stare. "You weren't actually checking your height, were you?"

Ivan lowered his head and bit on his bottom lip, feeling sheepish. "Well, er..."

"Sheesh, Ivan, you're not worried you're going to be a midget for the rest of your life, are you?"

"I'm not a midget!"

"Sure, whatever. Anyway, are you going to help prepare for the party or not?"

"You're not going to tell anyone about me trying to measure myself, are you?"

"Uh... no. Of course not."

Judging by the look on Sheba's face, Ivan suspected she wasn't being entirely sincere. Great. She was surely going to tell Jenna, who would tell Garet, and then about half of Vale would know. He just hoped the innkeeper wouldn't get mad at him for making teeny tiny pencil marks on the wall. They were only teeny tiny after all. Nothing to get mad about, right?

"Whatever." Ivan sighed. "Let's go then."

* * *

"There we go!" Jenna said triumphantly once she had tied the ribbon firmly around the branch. Tethered on the end of the ribbon was a balloon, drifting in the air as the wind tried to pull it away to no avail. The Mars Adept leaped down from the tree and backed away to look at her handiwork. "It was a neat idea to tie balloons to the trees, wasn't it?"

"Um, I guess." Mia was holding onto a thick bundle of ribbons while many balloons floated over her head. She looked critically up at them. "I just wonder if it was really necessary to have so many balloons?"

"Well, sure. It's a party after all and how often do we get to have them? We have to celebrate in style!" Jenna raised a fist enthusiastically.

"You seem pretty excited about this," Mia commented.

"Sure! I love parties!" Jenna was about to take another balloon, when she caught sight of Sheba coming over. "Hey, Sheba, do you want to help out with the balloons? I'm putting them up on the trees."

Sheba looked up at the decorated tree. "That looks pretty cool. Hey, you'll never guess what I just saw." She glanced furtively over her shoulder, seeing Ivan in the distance. He had wandered off and did not seem to be paying any attention to them.

"Oh? What did you just see?" Mia asked, blinking curiously.

"Ivan was checking his height," Sheba replied, giggling. "I thought he'd stopped being so self-conscious about it, but I guess not."

"Seriously?" Jenna grinned. "I'll have to tell Garet about that."

Mia let out a long sigh and hung her head. "I really don't think that's such a good idea." She knew Garet would be teasing Ivan about it for weeks and that wasn't an exciting prospect in the least. Ivan had been known to react rather violently when being teased about his height and was incredibly fond of using Spark Plasma.

"So, putting balloons on the trees, huh?" Sheba glanced at Jenna, raising an eyebrow. "Is it really such a good idea for you to do it?"

"Huh?" Jenna tilted her head, looking blank. "What do you mean?"

Sheba's eyes dropped downward. Jenna looked down as well and realised where she was looking, causing her face to flush crimson.

"It's really not very ladylike to climb up a tree wearing a skirt," Sheba commented, placing her hands on her hips and sighing.

"I-idiot!" Jenna squeaked out, waving her arms up and down. "It's not like I was going to let anybody look!"

"More like you just didn't think about it, am I right?" Sheba teased, grinning.

"Argh!" Jenna turned around and stomped off in annoyance, her face still red. She couldn't even come up with a good comeback.

"Now who's going to put up the balloons?" Mia was still holding onto them, looking utterly clueless.

"It's okay, I'll help," Sheba said, walking over to take one of the balloons. "I'm wearing shorts so it will be fine."

* * *

A shadowy figure crept outside the boundaries of Vale, concealed by the bushes as he gazed into the plaza within. A smirk spread across his face.

"Look at them," the mysterious figure whispered to himself. He didn't realise that talking to himself was a sign of insanity. Or maybe he really was insane. It was hard to tell sometimes. "Preparing for the party of their lives."

He continued to watch, as the people of Vale prepared for the party. The tables were swiftly laden with food, the trees were decorated with balloons and streamers, and people had even brought along some drums.

One thing was for sure, Vale was about to celebrate in style. It was going to be a very big party and they would all be having fun and merrymaking. He simply couldn't wait to crash this party and claim the one thing that he desired most of all.

"Oh, yes," the probably not all that mysterious person whispered, grinning even wider as he reached up to pull his hood further over his head. "Very soon, I shall have what I want." He ran a tongue over his lips and silently turned around to retreat, resisting the urge to burst into maniacal laughter.

* * *

The party was about to begin, but unfortunately there was just one thing preventing everyone from getting the chance to start having fun. For some reason, the Mayor of Vale wanted somebody to deliver a speech to start off the party.

To the horror of many people, the chosen person was Kraden himself.

A year ago, nobody minded listening to Kraden that much, considering that he usually had intelligent and useful things to say. So he might have gone on a bit and tended to state the obvious, but at least he knew stuff. However, as time had passed, Kraden had been struck down with the curse known as senility.

So now, the Valeans could only watch on in horror as the old man who was steadily going senile stepped up onto a box and began to speak. They could scarcely imagine the horrifying experience that they were in for. How could the Mayor have started their party like this?

"What an honour it is to be chosen to deliver a speech!" Kraden waved an arm. "I am quite excited about this party. The food looks very delicious. The balloons are a nice touch indeed. I also like the banners and the streamers. Indeed, we are going to have a great party, aren't we, everybody?"

Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad after all.

"A year ago, I entered Sol Sanctum with Isaac, Garet and Jenna. I could not have imagined at the time the amazing events that would be set in motion. Who could have known that we would end up on a great quest? At first, everyone was split into two. There was Isaac, Garet and their friends, Ivan and Mia, trying to prevent the lighting of the lighthouses. While I was with Felix, Jenna, Sheba and Piers, on our mission to light them, an action that would save the world. It brought me great joy when the two parties finally united and we went off to Mars Lighthouse, where everyone battled bravely against a fierce dragon and at last, the final lighthouse was lit."

"He's just rambling," Garet moaned. Jenna elbowed him and he winced.

"Sadly, on that day, Vale was destroyed in the collapse of Mt. Aleph, but in the end everybody was alive and that was all that mattered. Everyone worked hard to rebuild the village and now here we stand in a brand new Vale, one year after the world was saved..." Kraden gazed off into the distance with misty eyes. "It is too bad that Lord Babi could not have lived to see this golden future."

"If you ask me, it was a good thing," Sheba muttered, remembering all too well that Babi had kidnapped her. Why Isaac and co. had agreed to try and save his life, she had no idea. People who kidnapped young girls did not deserve mercy.

"I couldn't agree more," Piers whispered. Lemurians greatly disliked Babi after all.

"I was just four years old when he took me in," Kraden spoke. "I can't even remember the place where I came from. Sometimes I wonder, but I know there is no point in wondering. Any family that I had would probably no longer be alive. My parents would be dead. Did I have any siblings? Ah, I do not know that fact either." He let out a long sigh.

"And off he goes." Isaac twitched.

"But it is incorrect to say I have no home, for Vale is as good as my home, here with everybody else. I could simply not think of a better home. Though, Tolbi was pretty fun too. I used to spend some of my days standing in front of the Lucky Spring, throwing in coins and trying to get them in the circles."

"What does the Lucky Spring have to do with the anniversary?" Mia asked.

"It was full of crabs and turtles," Kraden went on. "Crabs and turtles taste quite nice actually. Have you ever eaten crab cakes or turtle soup? I greatly recommend trying them sometime, you might just like them."

"I'm hungry." Garet clutched his stomach, looking piteous.

"This speech is going to end soon, right?" Ivan asked desperately.

"What did I have for dinner last night?" Kraden wondered. "Oh yes, I remember now. It was roast lamb. It was in fact very delicious. Aren't lambs just cute little things? Have you ever seen how they frolic and dance in the meadows..."

Suddenly, Kraden's head dropped and he began snoring. The crowd of Valeans unenthusiastically clapped and cheered, while someone went to help Kraden off the box.

"Well, that was interesting," said the Mayor as he stepped up onto the box. "Now that Kraden's speech is over, it's time for the party to begin. Have fun, everybody!"

Now the party was in full swing. People beat away on the drums, creating music, and some people danced, while others helped themselves to the food. They were all in high spirits, enjoying the party as they celebrated the anniversary of Weyard's salvation.

An hour later, something very bizarre happened.

"Hey, Jenna." Garet had slung his arm around her shoulders and was grinning like an idiot. "I just wanted to tell you one thing. You... are... so hot... and I really, really like you and... er..."

"Garet, are you alright?" Jenna stared at him.

"Heh... never felt better..." Garet mumbled in a slurred voice. "So can we get married?"

Jenna stared at him some more.

"Garet, what do you think you are doing?" Felix walked over and scowled at Garet, crossing his arms over his chest. "Stop harassing Jenna right now or I'm going to... why is your face so red?"

"Geez, Felix, you're such a grump." Garet stepped away from Jenna, somewhat uneasily. "You want a fight? I'll give you one." He then swung his fists in random directions and for some inexplicable reason, fell over onto his face. "Oof."

"Is everything alright?" Isaac came over to see what was going on. "Garet, you can't just sleep on the ground."

"Something's wrong with him." Jenna knelt next to Garet, frowning concernedly. "In fact, it seems like he might be drunk."

"Drunk?" Isaac repeated in surprise, looking toward the table. "But I thought we didn't have any alcohol at the party?"

"That's what I thought too." Felix looked around. "Actually, don't you think the others seem a little strange?"

Indeed, some people were singing a little too loudly and dancing rather clumsily while their faces were flushed. It was quite an interesting spectacle to see, but it was also a clear sign that something was not right.

Isaac caught sight of Ivan and Sheba sitting together and laughing raucously while holding cups. "Hold on a second," he said, hurrying over to the two Jupiter Adepts. "Hey, what are you two drinking?"

Sheba motioned for Isaac to come closer and Isaac did so, only to receive a sharp punch to the shoulder.

"Ow!" Isaac exclaimed, clutching his shoulder and looking wounded. "What was that for?"

"That's what we're drinking, silly!" Sheba giggled, not seeming ashamed for having punched him.

"Get it?" Ivan asked. "Punch!" He and Sheba dissolved into helpless laughter.

Isaac silently snatched the cups out of their hands and emptied the contents onto the ground, ignoring their cries of protest.

"Everyone!" Isaac cried out, running back to the crowd. "The punch is spiked!"

Mia had at that moment just taken a sip of punch from her cup and proceeded to do a giant spittake. "Seriously?" She looked at the punch in disappointment. "And it tasted so nice too."

"Geez, spiking the punch?" Piers shook his head. "Could anyone be any less original?"

"But who would do such a thing?" Jenna wondered.

"So, my evil plot has already been discovered," a male voice spoke. Everyone, except those under the influence of alcohol, turned in shock to catch sight of a mysterious cloaked stranger. "Too bad, I was hoping it would be a little more successful."

"Take the cloak off, Alex," Jenna said tiredly. "We know it's you."

"What do you think you're playing at?" Felix asked as Alex removed the cloak.

"Mia, is that you?" Garet blinked sleepily as he stared at Alex.

Alex just threw Garet a dirty look in response. "Why, indeed?" He shook his head and smiled. "Why would I take it upon myself to do something like spiking the punch? It does seem like such a trivial thing to do, but there was indeed a reason that I went so far as to pour alcohol into the punch when nobody was looking."

"Stop waffling and get to the point already," Isaac ordered.

"Relax, I shall get there soon." Alex waved a hand dismissively. "What I was hoping for was that everybody would get drunk and therefore they would all be completely useless and unable to stop me when I finally came in."

"Looks like your plan failed," Felix pointed out. "So just what were you coming in for anyway? Stop talking so damn much by the way, it's annoying."

"It's obvious!" Mia exclaimed, stepping forward and glaring at Alex. "He obviously came here to do evil and despicable things while our guard was down because he is an absolutely evil person!"

"I came for one thing," Alex spoke in a mysterious voice. "The one thing that I desire most of all right now."

"The one thing that you desire most of all?" Jenna echoed.

"Yes, my dear-" Alex squeaked and ducked as a Dragon Fume shot over his head.

"Don't call me dear!" Jenna shrieked angrily. "Argh, I hate it when you do that. You are such a jerk, Alex!"

"Nobody loves me. It's such a pity really." Alex sighed and bowed his head. "Enough of that. Now, about that one thing... I absolutely had to come and claim it, even if it meant getting you all drunk in order to do it." He chuckled under his breath.

"Will you just tell us what it is already?" Felix exclaimed impatiently.

"Sometimes I think Alex goes on and on more than Kraden," Piers observed, raising an eyebrow.

"Why, thank you for the insult, amateur Water Adept." Alex stuck out his chest haughtily, trying to look down his nose at Piers. However, that didn't work out so well. "You people are so impatient, always wanting to just get to the point." He smiled and reached up to brush away his long strands of blue hair.

Isaac, Mia, Piers, Felix and Jenna were all starting to look very bored listening to Alex. Garet had managed to fall asleep and was now snoring heartily as he lay on his back. Ivan and Sheba were grinning and laughing like hyenas.

"The one thing..." Alex paused, trying to look as suspenseful as possible.

"MOO!" Kraden ambled past them on all fours.

Alex fell silent and stared at Kraden, his jaw dropping.

"Ignore him, he's senile," Isaac said quickly. "Go on, Alex."

Alex let out a long and exaggerated sigh. "Very well then. The one thing that I have come for is..."

"The bologna sandwich is mine!" Garet suddenly cried out in his sleep. "At last, I have it!" He then made a strange laughing noise.

"Mia, can't you heal him?" Jenna looked at Mia pleadingly.

"But I can't heal drunk people..." Mia said uncertainly.

"Well, what about Cure Poison?" Jenna asked. "I mean, alcohol is a poison, right?"

"I don't know..." Mia shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, might be worth a try." She hurriedly knelt down next to Garet and cast Cure Poison.

Alex stood calmly, veins bulging on his forehead. Despite his previous lack of getting to the point, it was annoying him how everyone suddenly seemed to be trying to prevent just that.

"Ugh..." Garet opened his eyes and looked around. "What just happened? Why am I lying on the ground?" He rolled over and weakly got up, staring at Alex. "Hey, what is Alex doing here anyway?"

"Alex was just about to tell us." Isaac glanced at the Mercurian. "Weren't you, Alex?"

Alex exhaled heavily and massaged his forehead. "Finally. The one thing that I came here for was... food."

A long silence followed, eventually broken by Felix.

"Are you crazy?" he yelled. "You went to all the trouble of sneaking around the village and spiking the punch with alcohol just to get some food?"

"I haven't eaten in almost a week," Alex whimpered.

"Good. So go starve to death in a cave or something." Mia gave him an evil look.

"That's not nice, Mia..." Piers started to say, only for Mia to suddenly brandish a mace in his face. "Uh... I mean, you're totally right!" He chuckled nervously, sighing in relief as the mace was taken away.

"You could have just asked us," Jenna said. "If you had just come and asked nicely, we might have let you eat. You don't have to sneak around and put on some dumb evil act just for food."

"But sneaking around and acting evil is what I like to do!" Alex whined. "So... uh... I don't really like to ask... but..."

"Yes, Alex, you can have some food." Isaac sighed. "Just don't try putting on any more of your ridiculous evil acts again."

"Yay!" Alex danced over to the food table with a grin on his face.

"So, uh, anybody want to fill me in?" Garet looked perplexed.

The punch was disposed of and the party continued to go on. Alex eventually left, but not without swearing that he would be back. Nobody really cared, except for Mia who despised his guts. The party went on well into the evening and then it was time for fireworks.

Everyone gathered together, watching on in awe as the fireworks went off with loud bangs and spread their colours across the night sky, lighting up the area.

"This is the best party ever," Mia commented, smiling.

"Yeah, it sure is," Isaac agreed.

"So, Garet, about that confession of love thing." Jenna looked at him curiously. "Did you mean it?"

"Eh?" Garet's face flushed red and he suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Uh... er... well... I was drunk and... er... I don't know..."

"Don't worry, I was just teasing." Jenna grinned at him.

"Sheesh, don't do that..." Garet moaned, hanging his head.

"It's been quite the party. I can't wait for next year's already," Felix said. "I just hope we don't have to deal with spiked punch again."

"Too bad. I wonder what you would be like when drunk." Piers smirked. "I bet it would be interesting."

Felix gave him an odd look, but decided he absolutely did not want to know and went back to watching the fireworks.

"Sure is fun to celebrate," Ivan said. "We worked so hard to save the world and we made it. A year later, here we are, having the party of our lives." He looked at Sheba. "Great, isn't it?"

"Uh huh." Sheba nodded. "I even got to find out what it was like to drink. That was pretty cool."

"I wonder what lies ahead in the future," Isaac said faintly. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it's going to be good. We worked so hard and saved the world so that there would be a future and here we are."

The last of the fireworks went off and the sky grew dark once more. The party had come to an end.