Golden Sun: The Rise of Alchemy, Chapter Two Up

[Ivan10]

I'm going to revive my old fanfic with the limited time, I have in school to do so, I've also made a new topic, and have deleted the old one instead to save the hassle of editing the old one.

Revamping:

Prologue ~ Complete ~ Posted
Chapter One ~ The Lost ~ Complete ~ Posted
Chapter Two ~ Silent Screams ~ Complete ~ Posted
Chapter Three ~ Colosso Returns(?) ~ Revamping...
Chapter Four ~ Dance of the Wind ~ Writing...
Chapter Five ~ Tempered Steel ~ Inactive

[Revamp]

cool ^^ i'm waiting eagerly then. i seem to be the only one around here other than you you who likes fanfiction anyway; so be sure you'll have at least me reading it.

[Spellbinder]

Excuse me? I can't wait either, ya know!

[Ivan10]

Here's the Prologue, all shiny and new. The first chapter is at school and nearing completion.

Prologue:

Ages ago, or so the stories tell, the power of Alchemy ruled over the world of Weyard.
Alchemy wrought the base elements of humanity into thriving civilizations, like lead into gold.
But in time, man's dreams gave birth into untold strife. Dreams of endless riches, of eternal life, of dominion all over that lived... Dreams of conquest of war.
These dreams would have torn the world apart if not for a few brave and wise men, who sealed away the power of Alchemy deep in Mt. Aleph's Sol Sanctum. But, not all things were meant to be. The lighthouses who once rained down their light upon the world, were re-lit, and the power, knowledge and wisdom of the Alchemy graced Weyard with it's presence once again.

The Valeans, who were once the protectors of Mt. Aleph, , and one of the last three surviving clans of the original age of Alchemy, covered the land where Mt. Aleph once stood, with rocks and soil, and flattened the land, rebuilt their home over it, and live much in the same seclusion as they once did, but now they opened their gates for all the world to see.

Lemuria, where time waits for all, and the second clan of the three survivors, awoke from their long 'slumber', and soon their home thrived as it did long before. Many things changed, the laws were revisited and revised, expeditions were sent and a new map of the world was drawn, history books were refilled with information that occurred during their 'slumber'.

Prox, now referred to by its former name, Pyrannia, the third clan of the three, felt it's gushes of wind slowly warm, where before the wind plagued them with snow and sleet. Both the old and the young rejoiced at the feeling of warmth that now circled their town and home.

But, one of the lesser known facts is the epilogue of our heroes, the 'Restorers', as they are called. Isaac, stayed helped Vale rebuilt and has lived a fairly uneventful life, along with Garet and Jenna.

Ivan returned to Contigo, and had taken residency with his sister and mentor Hamma, and learned more of his clan, and soon received the ability to see visions, one night however, Hamma awoke to see him screaming in his bed. Eyes awake and shining a purple glow, the next mourning he had disappeared, and not even Hamma could find where he had gone.

Similarly, Felix too disappeared, without a trace and not even with a goodbye, his reasoning for this seemed would never be known. Sheba, Piers and Mia returned to their old homes, Sheba to her adoptive father, and Mia to her duties as care taker of the Mercury Lighthouse. Piers returned to Lemuria, but soon took his leave once again. With the foremost knowledge of Weyards oceans he led a fleet of Lemurian vessels to the sea, to charter it and to reveal its mysteries.
Kraden had originally tagged along with Piers to Lemuria, but had opted to stay, and runs the Lemuria's first and foremost library, the Librari Lemuri.

Many years has passed since the shining suns rising, and the peace that it brought, but if history has told us anything, not all things go according to plan.

[Ivan10]

I wanted to post this when I was at least half way through redoing the second chapter, but school reports dealyed that.
Anyways, here's the first chapter.


~ Chapter One ~
~ The Lost ~

The underground temple of Sol was hidden among the sands for eons, covered up by violent sandstorms, it lay quiet and undisturbed, a host to strange, lost creatures long thought to be only of mere legend.

Now, it was finally uncovered, for the entire world to see, but not everything was mean to last. Inevitably, it would soon sink back into the sandy desert where it had been originally hidden long ago.

Inside, the temple shook violently; dust and small rocks tumbled down from the side of the walls, creating a constant shushing sound. Pillars were crumbling, cacking and braking off all around, the ground shook violently, and sand started to pour from rectangular openings in the sides of the walls, sliding down the diagonal path, slipping and sliding it’s way down.

Felix was running as fast as he could. His feet slipping against the tide of sand that fell from the walls, and down the ramp, making him feel like he was only running in place. <Godamnit, Sand!!> Felix melted into the sand, becoming a large cluster of it himself, and he glided blissfully through it towards the exit. <Why didn’t I think of that sooner.> He thought to himself.

All good things must come to an end, and as Felix hit the stone ground of the temple where there was no sand, he now realized he was crawling across it rather foolishly. Quickly he picked himself up off the ground, and sprinted. He recognised the hard beating of wings against the stale air, and looked up to see Valerie flying ahead, her wings flapping with ease.

“Come on Felix, if you’re going to go this fast I might as well just leave you behind.” Valerie called to him from overhead.
“And risk leaving the artefact behind? You wouldn’t dare.”
Valerie laughed. “You know me too well Felix.” Suddenly, she swooped towards him and grabbed the bundle he held under his arm. “But, not that well.” She called as she flew ahead towards the bright, white light emanating from the temple’s entrance.

The torches, that lit the temple, shook in their rusty metal stands, one fell and hit the floor, along with the carpet covering the floor. The fire spread across it, but Felix sprinted past it avoiding the trap. His feet thumped against the soft carpet of the ancient temple, but it was drowned out by the sheer groan of the sinking construct.

<God, this is worse than Sol Sanctum was…> Felix thought as he looked about.

The light at the end of the tunnel, filled the horizon of Felix’s vision, as he made his way towards it. The light spilled into the temple entrance, and suddenly.

Felix was out.

He let out a cry of joy.
Then he tripped.

Felix fell flat, face first, onto a round and rough stone ‘veranda’ that surrounded the stone double doors of the temple of Sol. Felix didn’t care though. He was out, and that was all that mattered. He was safe, and that was all that mattered.

“Felix, your not out of the clear yet. There’s some kind of whirlpool.” Valerie shouted, flying up above, safely out of harms way. Felix looked behind him, and saw the temple was being swallowed whole, sinking into a widening hole of sand. “Awwww… crap.” Felix groaned, and wearily picked himself up off the ground.

He ran. With all the strength left in him, he sprinted across the wide stone veranda. The roar of the sand drain echoed and he felt adrenaline pump through his veins urging him further, as fear took hold of him. He saw the path ahead of him, the one that would assure him safety, a thin stone pathway that led away from the temple and had originally led thousands of Sol worshipers to their holy place. He tripped over a jagged piece that rose out of the path; he tried to regain himself, but didn’t make it.

He fell and landed back first in the sand and quickly was sent speeding back to the temple and the sand drain. He struggled to get out tried to find a handhold, there was none. Instead, he drew his sword and shoved it into the ground above his head, it jangled in his grip as he flew down the sands, and then it caught in something and it gave a jerk as it found a hold, in the ground beneath the sand. Felix let out a sigh and looked above him, and saw a sleek shadow moving across the sky, and soon he felt his feet being lifted off the sand, and into the air. As he felt his lower body rise into the air he jiggled the sword a little and released its grip in the ground, and he was up flying in the air, but only a half a metre or so above the ground, dangerously close to the vicious sand.

Finally, he saw the rapid pull sand slow down and finally stop, he was hovering over safe ground, and was being slowly lowered. He tossed his sword aside, onto the ground, and reached to the ground with his arms, and they touched the ground softly and held himself, then he felt his feet lose their weightlessness and they hung above him as he tried to perform a rather unsuccessful handstand and fell onto the ground, with a thud.

Another thud followed and Felix found Valerie lying on her stomach breathing hard. “God damnit…” She breathed hard. “Felix… do me a favour… lose some weight…”
Felix chuckled softly, Felix was amazed at Valerie’s strength, she was a Jupiter Adept, one of the strangest he had encountered since the rising of the Sun, strange in the simple fact, that wings sprouted from her back, near the shoulder bones, they were grey and streaked with long white stripes, magnificent to behold, expect when they were dusty, tired and worn as they lay now lazily on Valerie’s back.

Apart from her wings, she seemed like any other girl, plain and simple. She wore light purple clothes, that matched her hair, her pants were streaked with white stripes down the sides, a plain purple tunic and a chest plate, which seemed to resemble the one Ivan had once wore all those years ago, along with leather boots, and gloves, she wielded a spear-type weapon she called a ‘Partisan’.
Felix was exhausted, and soon he drifted off into a deep sleep. When he woke, his blurry eyes saw a blanket of darkness across his vision, and it was extremely cold. He shivered and slowly got to his knees and looked around. It was night, and the heat of the day abandoned the desert, the sand dunes seemed to stretch forever off into the distance.

He saw Valerie laying down in the sand still dozing quietly, and shook her awake.
"C'mon Val, we've gotta get back." Felix told her.
Valerie shook him off, "Give me five more minutes." And she turned over, continuing to doze.
Felix chuckled lightly, and woke her properly. Later, as they gathered their belongings, and started to trek off, Valerie turned to Felix.
"So... What exactly are we supoosed to do now?"
"I'm not sure." He told her.
"What do you mean 'not sure'? Aren't you supposed to know what's going on around here?"
"I think you've got me confused with the Wise One."
"Well, don't you usually talk to him or something?"
Felix shook his head. "The Wise One is a rather seclusive being, if others knew of him, they would call him anti-social."

"Well, when you do have to maintain the balance of the whole world, it does leave very little time for a social life." Boomed a great voice.
Felix spun around to look behind him, while Valerie scanned the horizon for signs of the voice's source. The Wise One was nowhere to be found.
A soft chuckling seemed to emenate all around them, the Wise One's voice followed. "It seems you have recovered the hilt artifact, took you abit longer than expected, but no matter."
"What do you want us to find for you know?" Felix shouted.
"Now, now, Felix I can hear you well enough." The Wise One responded. "For now, there is nothing you can do for me, execpt keep that artifact safe, and relax abit. I hear Colosso is starting soon, you should go see--"

Felix cut him off, laughing madly. "Colosso? As in Tolbi's Colosso!? Are you crazy!! We're nowhere near Tolbi, hell, I don't think we're even Weyard anymore, and you expect us to get there!! How do you expe---"
"I'm the."
Felix paused.
Valerie laughed. "You fell right into that one, Felix."
The Wise One chuckled, but then took on a serious tone. "I'll teleport you to Tolbi, and you should try to find an Inn before they start filling up, I believe you have enough coin for at least a full month at one."

Felix nodded, still trying to find where the Wise One was, when Valerie tapped his shoulder, and pointed upwards. The gigantic rock that was the Wise One hovered above them.
"Now that you can see me, I suggest we should be on our way. Ready?"
Felix and Valerie secured their belongings in place and tightened the straps of their backpacks. "We're ready." Valerie told the Wise One, who nodded sagely and began to channel his psynergy, Felix felt the potency of the Wise One's power flow around him, then a flash of brilliant, pure white light enveloped his vision and then he was at the gates of a huge city. He turned to Valerie, they nodded and walked into the gates as dawn broke over the horizon, and spread it's warm giving rays across the silent streets of Tolbi.

[Ivan10]

Shorter than planned, but it's not like I care what you guys think, is it?

~ Chapter Two ~
~ Silent Screams ~

The cave was freezing. It was dark and had very little light. Stalactites and stalagmites branched out almost everywhere, and it made progress almost as slow as a crawl. If you didn’t bump into one you were sure to trip on one of the many small creatures that inhabited the forbidding cave.

Piers and his small search team stumbled, tripped, and slipped their way through the cave, trying to find the chamber they were looking for. Piers held out his small lantern out front as he scanned his eyes the area he could see ahead, which wasn’t very far, if not at all. They were in deep now, and he knew they should turn back soon, the rope tied to his back pack which extend all the way to the few men he left at the cave’s entrance was sure to run out soon. He sighed in disappointment, and was about to give out the order to turn back when he saw something out the corner of his eye.

On closer inspection, he found a crack running down the side of a wall, it was narrow at the top, but slowly enlarged as it went down, and at the bottom where it touched the cave floor it left enough room for a man to slide through easily. Piers signaled to his men, and three of them came forward, he put down his backpack, motioned towards the crack and signaled them to follow. Making sure his sword was secure by his side, he crouched and began to crawl through the tunnel, silently the three other Lemurians followed suit and were crawling not far behind Piers. Going was slow due to the tight, cramp, and almost claustrophobic space, and the lamp Piers held in one hand, while helpful in the fact he could see anything ahead, it was difficult to crawl one handed.

Slowly the space began to widen, giving more room to manoeuvre, normally Piers would have sighed with relief in a situation like this, but before they entered the cave, all were sworn to a vow of silence, just in case, the sound of voices arouse anything unwanted. Further down the track, the space heightened, and allowed space for Piers and his men to stand, finally able to walk comfortably the group continued down the path at a leisurely pace.

Finally, the path opened up to wide chamber, ice covered everything from the floors to the walls and even the statues. Carefully, Piers and his men walked across their icy path, trying not to accidentally slip. The torch was no longer needed since the roof of the chamber itself was mad of pure, crystal clear ice and light shone through it from above. As they went further into the chamber they saw at the end stood an altar, with several statues standing around it. To hasten their speed Piers and his crew started to ‘skate’ across the ice, and quickly reached the pillar. Piers reached the altar first and found a small book, hardly bigger than his hand. The other men had caught up to Piers and were all staring at the book trying to read the title through the layer of ice that had encrusted on it, all except one. Piers reached a hand out to clear the ice layer, but another man stopped him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, sir.” The man named Clyve told him.
Piers gave him a puzzled look, to which Clyve pointed in front of him.
Piers turned to Statues; he hadn’t paid much attention to them, thinking they were statues. Now, he saw something else.

The four, ice statues, or what Piers thought were Statues, all stood around the altar. Their faces were frozen in wide-eyed fear; some were looking down at their feet, one at his hands as if they had become as fearsome as a chimera. Clyve reached his hand to that sculpture, and touched its raised hand, which promptly cracked and fell to the floor with a loud smash. The hand lay in pieces.
“Last time I checked, sir.” Clyve told him. “Statues aren’t painted on the inside...”

Piers mouthed dropped at the site of the broken hand on the floor, and his eyes turned to the book. “Shiva, have mercy.” He said in a low voice, “What have we stumbled on?”