*Aleph Crater*

Ever since Mt. Aleph was pulled into the ground, a massive hole had been in the earth. Though Vale had been destroyed as well, its people had evacuated and began to construct a new town near Vault. But the citizens of New Vale were working too hard to realize or sense that something wicked had survived Aleph’s destruction.

A torn, gloved hand broke through the soil, bleeding upon it. Slowly, Alex’s light blue hair emerged from the loose earth. He crawled out, not even able to stand. “Urngh…Pure Ply.” Healed, he managed to rise. But something was wrong. “I’m only half-healed. No matter how hard I try, I can’t completely recover. Damn these ‘limits’, Wise One.”

But he had enough power to search the lands. Scanning, seeking out the Wise One. Again, Alex had great powers with limitations; the Wise One had used his own abilities to veil himself.

“What’s this? Hmm…not him, but the next best target. All of them in one place…fools! I will crush them all! Isaac! Felix! Mia…I’m coming.”

Alex prepared to Teleport but he noticed something else. “No way…I knew it existed, but…No. NO!! They’re headed straight for it! I must beat them!”

ZZAP! He materialized right into the inner chamber. A large open plain of white nothingness. A black gate was behind him, looming several feet above the Mercury Adept’s head. In the middle of the room stood a stone tablet.

Alex read it. “Ye who stand before the realm of alchemy. The powers of the moon are within thine grasp. If thy strength is great, ye shalst gain the power to vanquish thine foes. If not, ye shalst perish with them. Art thou worthy? Then place thine hand upon this monument.”

He grinned. “I have the powers of Golden Sun! That is surely more than enough strength.”

The Mercury Adept touched the tablet.


GOLDEN SUN:
LUNAR ADEPTS


*Imil Mountains*

“I can’t believe Biliblin Cave had collapsed. Now we have to walk over this damn mountain…” Garet complained.

“There’s nothing we could do about it.” Piers pointed out. “We need to go to the lighthouses.”

“But WHY are we doing this again? And why do we need to bring all 8 of us?” Jenna moaned.

Sheba explained. “When we lit Mars Lighthouse, Aleph and the other Lighthouses reacted. We know Mars and Mt. Aleph sank into the ground and destroyed anything at its base. We need to see if the same thing happened to Imil. It’s the only town so close to a lighthouse. If it was destroyed, we need to help the survivors. If there are any.”

“Don’t say it like that. I’m sure they made it out fine.” Mia said with confidence. “The Wise One warned Vale, right? And we also heard that he contacted those two…”

KABOOM! The mountain shook as a huge explosion blasted sheets of snow, ice, and rock all around!

“What the-?!” Isaac began.

Ivan began to stagger, clutching his head in pain. “My mind! It’s just like Tret! We’re being attacked!”

Everyone else began to feel the same psychic blast. “Ahh!! What’s going on?!?!” Felix yelled.

In moments they had all collapsed. It seemed as if darkness loomed over them. Watching. Observing who they were….

Mia was the first to wake up. But her friends were nowhere to be found. Instead, a familiar man stood over her. “Alex! You’re…alive?!” She stood up and began to yell. “What’s going on?! Where are my friends, dammit?!”

“I have separated you all across the mountain. This way your opponents will hunt you down one by one. Soon you will all die.”

A woman very similar to Mia materialized. She had flaming red hair and the Mercury Robes were replaced by black armor. And instead of a staff, she had a long sword. “I am Aim, your opposite. You have Mercury Psynergy, yet I wield the might of Mars.”

“Just…just exactly what are you?!”

“I am your inner darkness. The other side of you.” Aim pointed the sword at Mia. “It’s time to face the full wrath of Luna Sanctum!”

* Battle 1: Ivan vs. Vain*

“!!!” Ivan noticed he wasn’t alone anymore. His doppelganger walked forward.

“Ivan, you must face your weakness. I am Vain, your Venus incarnation. Your wind powers are nothing to me! Gaia!”

Vain blasted open the earth with an explosion! Slightly burnt, Ivan used Breeze to increase his elemental resistance. “Destruct Ray!”

“Barricade!” A protective Psynergy aura shielded him from Ivan’s thunderbolts!

“No way! Was that…a Djinn?!”

“Yes. Just as Sol Sanctum has Djinni within, Luna Sanctum had its own set. The one I used is very similar to Granite and Flash, is it not?”

“Grr…”

Vain slashed with a sword! Blood leaked from Ivan’s shoulder. Then the clone cast a barrage of status problems! “Delude! Haunt! Curse!” These afflictions hurt Ivan enough to bring him to his knees!

“Now it’s time to finish you. Grand Gaia!!!” Similar to his earlier spell, the earth opened with massive energy flowing out. But this time the explosion was much larger. Ivan’s image disappeared into the flames…

The Venus Adept stood triumphant. “Hah! You couldn’t take the heat….” Then he got concerned. “Where’s the blasted body? Surely it’s still mostly intact…”

“Squall!” Ivan emerged from the invisibility of Haze and stunned Vain! Then he unleashed his fourth Djinn, Waft. A massive pocket of air smashed down upon him, crushing Vain and sending rocks and snow flying!

“It’s time to finish you. Thor!!” Ivan called forth a Viking god with a mighty hammer, which charged and zapped the Venus clone with an incredible amount of electricity! Vain faded into the lightning…

* Battle 2: Sheba vs. Bashe*

“Volcano!” Sheba felt the earth shake and the rock she hid behind grow hot. Bashe is so much stronger than I am! Can I really beat her Mars Psynergy? She thought in fear.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are…” Bashe taunted. “If you don’t show yourself, I’ll just keep casting spells. Impact! Guard! Ward!” Her attack, defense and resistance skyrocketed!

I have to stop her before it’s impossible to win! “You want me?! You got it! Shine Plasma!” Dozens of thunderbolts rained down upon Bashe!

“Persistent rat, aren’t you? Pyroclasm!” Volcanoes erupted everywhere! Sheba barely blocked it, but was still blown out of the inferno. “Tempest!” She sent out an alley of tornadoes that lifted Bashe above the fiery chaos!

“Hover!” Combining a Psynergy learned at Jupiter Lighthouse, the winds of the tornadoes, and thermal updrafts from the fire, Sheba managed to fly! She soared right above Bashe and continuously slashed with her mace! “Gust!” Three huge slashes sent her fake falling! The Mars Adept was destroyed in the very flames she created…

* Battle 3: Piers vs. Spire*

Spire, Piers’s Venus clone cast…er…Spire! A stalagmite materialized and landed right where he had dodged from! Piers ran up and made a horizontal sweep! But Spire leapt up and began to slash and slash with an axe, being blocked by Piers’s blade!

“Fog!” He charged his sword and sliced, barely missing Spire and smashing the ground. He clone ran around and kicked him in the head! Quickly, the Mercury Adept swung the blade around and hit Spire in the face!

He flew into a wall of the mountain, making a small crater. Since it was the blunt edge of the sword, he wasn’t bleeding as much. Piers stabbed! But Spire quickly out of the way and cast Cutting Edge! Shockwaves of energy blasted into Piers!

Then the Venus clone cast a follow-up Psynergy. “Nettle!” Gigantic briars erupted from the earth and cur Piers to ribbons! The bleeding Mercury Adept was helplessly trapped inside them.  Until he cast his own Psynergy. “Glacier!” Amplified by the mountain winter, the spell made the entire area freeze over in ice!

Spire was frozen up to his knees in it. Nothing he did could break the ice, even repeated strikes from his axe. In one huge sword slash, Piers sliced the frozen briars to shards. Bloody and having much of his tunic torn, but he had the upper hand. Spire couldn’t move or dodge anything now.

“Diamond Berg!”” A huge chunk of ice fell and covered the Venus Adept. Then Piers slashed them both repeatedly! The finishing blow managed to free Spire from the ice, though.

One last time, their swords clashed! Piers managed to use his sword to push the axe down. Then he put a foot on it and elbowed him in the face! Piers spun around and impaled!

* Battle 4: Isaac vs. Acasi*

Isaac rushed! “Flint!” He hit his Mercury clone hard. Acasi fell back. He wasn’t fast enough to keep up with the real thing. The water-based Psynergy was powerful and could heal him, but his speed was cut down.

“Urgh…Froth!” He conjured up bubbles that sailed up and exploded into Isaac!

“Ragnarok!” He made an energy sword fall from the sky and explode into Acasi! Then their blades clashed! Isaac began to push him back. But then Acasi pushed harder!  The Venus Adept had his heels on the edge of the mountain!

“I’m gonna give you the quickest trip down a mountain face you’ve ever heard of.” Acasi grinned. But Isaac kicked is feet out from underneath him! “Bane!” In one slash, his clone was poisoned! Acasi staggered and keeled over.

“The venom is spreading throughout your body. You but a moment to live. I suggest you pray to whatever devil conjured you. Like maybe Alex.”

“….Gah…Potent Cure…” He healed himself, only for it to be undone by the swift poison.

“You only delay the inevitable. You will roll over and die on this mountain. When you return to the hole you crawled out of, tell everyone there this: Never show yourselves on Weyward again. Anyone who comes to this world again from Luna Sanctum will meet their maker.” He walked away. “Farewell.”

“…Erg…I’m not finished yet…..Froth Spiral!” Hundreds of bubbles flew at Isaac’s back!

“Mold!” A very special Djinn. Foes strike each other. Enemies that stood alone had every attack redirected at themselves. The spheres changed direction and blasted into Acasi!

* Battle 5: Felix vs. Lexif*

“Grr…he’s too fast!” Felix realized how much quicker he would be with Jupiter powers. Lexif was playing hit-and-run. A game Felix was getting very tired of. As Lexif charged again, Felix dashed to the side and hit him with a Djinn called Echo and the Sol Blade! The Jupiter clone was hit hard and slid through the snow and into the mountains.

“Iron!” Felix used the spare time he just bought to improve his defenses. Lexif got back up. “Shine Plasma!” Lightning rained down! But Felix ran forward, right next to him! “Steel!” One slash and Lexif’s health was stolen!

“I believe that’s mine. Drain! Psy Drain!” Lexif took back the stolen energy and more! “Blue Bolt!” Heavy blasts of electricity zapped Felix! The very ground he stood on was electrocuted enough to hurt him even more!

“I…don’t…think so! Petra!” Lexif’s body from the neck down was turned to stone!

“What the?! Urngh! Gah!” He tried to break free. But he no longer controlled his limbs.

“It’s over, you freak. Do you know what this is?” He held pointed his sword at his clone. “It’s the Sol Blade, a weapon connected to Golden Sun. I don’t get any powers like the Stone of Sages, but it’s the best sword around. And it has a special ability. Care to see it?”

“RAAAH! Curse you!!!”

“Megiddo!” Felix leapt up into the air, his sword glowing. A massive ball of flaming solar energy floated down. He struck the small sun and it flew into Lexif! Slowly, the clone faded into the light...

* Battle 6: Jenna vs. Nenja*

Their staffs clashed! Jenna leapt up and kicked her Mercury doppelganger in the head! “Flare Wall!” She cast up a small barrier of flames!

“Deluge!” Nenja sent up a pillar of water, removing the flames and tossing Jenna into the air!

“Shine!” Jenna sent out a Djinn that flowed with light and exploded!”

“Wave!” Nenja too used one of the mystical creatures, hitting her with a tidal wave!

“If it’s a Djinni contest you want then you got it! Char!” A small flamethrower stunned Nenja! “Cannon!” A concentrated ball of fire shot into her!

“It’s time to finish you, faker! Tiamat!!” A huge dragon floated down and blasted Nenja away with a huge inferno!

“Hah! Too easy.”


* Battle 7: Garet vs. Great*

Garet slashed his Jupiter doppleganger’s chest! “Heat Wave!” A thick beam of fire rolled through Great! “There’s more where that came from! Fireball!” Great got hit by balls of fire! But he retaliated! “Plasma!” Garet was zapped by a bolt!

But he charged up and stabbed! Great jumped up and bashed him on the head with his staff! Garet backed off and used Reflux on himself, along with Kindle and Corona to reinforce his attack and defense.

“Heh heh! Giving up already?” Great taunted. Then he used 5 different Luna Djinni! “Twister! Aero! Atmos! Cough! Exhale!”

Garet endured the assault, having Reflux shoot out a counterattack blast for every blow. “It’s time to end this! Catastrophe!” A giant angel of death clothed in heavy knight’s armor descended!

“Impossible! How can you summon him with only Mars Djinn?!”

“It’s something Felix learned about a monster called Valukar. He used our Djinni for his own summons. I just used the same technique on you.”

“Nooo!!” The pyramid of destruction landed and exploded in an electric storm!

*Battle 8: Mia vs. Aim*

“If you want to beat me, you’ll have to catch me first!” Aim ran down the mountain.

“Wait! Come back! I’m not finished with you yet!” Mia managed to follow her. I know where she’s headed. It’s Imil. She thought.

Then Mia stood on a cliff she knew overlooked the whole village. She had gone there ever since she was a child. In the distance was a crater where Mercury Lighthouse and Imil once stood.

Mia gasped in horror. “It c-can’t be….I…I…” Mia began to cry. “No! NO! Come back! Don’t leave me! NOOO!”

Alex Teleported behind her. “Those who escaped either had no food and starved to death or were frozen solid. There are no survivors. What did you expect? You allowed Felix to light Mars Lighthouse. You knew it would mean destroying your home.”

“No we didn’t! We had no idea! But I think you did, Alex! It was your home too! And you’ve chased this dream for ages! You’re the one who betrayed Imil!”

Mia charged at Alex, but her staff was blocked by Aim! “You’ll have to kill me first! Blast!” A small fountain of flames blew Mia back!

“Farewell, Mia: The Last of Imil.” Alex Teleported!

“Glacier!” Mia conjured a huge sheet of ice over Aim and the fire fountain! But she destroyed it with one slash of her sword! “Banish!” She charged it with a Djinn, making the blade swirl with alchemic symbols. Then Aim stuck! Mia blocked with her staff, but the intense heat began to burn her! She quickly ducked, charged her blade with Chill, and slashed!

“Serpent Fume!” Aim conjured up a flaming dragon that blasted into Mia! The Mercury Adept fought through the pain. “Diamond dust!” Large chunks of ice shattered into Aim! “Violent Cool!” Stalagmites of ice erupted and slashed her!
“Enough! It’s time to end this! Fiery Blast!” An even larger fountain blew up! “Fume Dragon!” Again, a powered up Psynergy dragon flew into the flames! “Pyroclasm!” Volcanoes and erupted everywhere! The very ground began to shake and melt! “Searing Beam!” Aim shot a large beam of concentrated Mars Psynergy into the inferno! Then she blasted more and more!!

“Serac!” Aim was trapped in a stalagmite of ice!

“What the-?!”

Mia stepped out of the raging wildfire, severely injured. Her Nebula Wand had burned away, but she used Psynergy to forge a new ice-sword! “It’s over!” Mia charged and impaled Aim through the ice!

*Imil Outskirts*

Their battles completed, Isaac and the other 6 Adepts rushed to face off against Alex. They sensed a great force over where Imil is supposed to be (They did not know it was destroyed yet). But they stumbled upon an area completely scarred by Mars Psynergy. Aim was nowhere in sight, but they found Mia’s body.

“No…” Garet breathed.

Isaac got on his knees. “This is not happening…”

“How…why?!” Ivan cried.

“Piers, hurry!” Jenna yelled.

Piers kneeled next to Mia and cast Pure Ply. But he stood up and shook his head. They all stood in horror and silence.

Felix glared towards Imil. “He’ll pay for this.” As they rushed into the Imil Ruins, he didn’t realize he had dropped the Sol Blade at Mia’s body.

*Imil Ruins*

They ran into the shattered and crushed buildings of the town. Alex floated down. “So, you’ve survived.”

Sheba pointed her staff at him. “You monster.”

“How could you do such a thing?! Mia was like a sister to you!” Isaac yelled.

“Oh well. She’s dead. Dead dead dead. Nothing you can do about it. So who cares? I have the entire powers of alchemy at my grasp. I am the master of the Golden Sun and the Full Moon! I can conquer death! And bring her back to life if I wish it! All you have to do is beg and I’ll bring your precious Mia back.”

Isaac got on his knees and bowed. Tears streamed down his eyes, evaporating in the snow. “Please….bring her back……please…”

Alex’s eyes grew wild in triumph. “Oh how I’ve waited for this day. Aside from the two alchemic holy artifacts, this is the next best thing. You’ve been against my ultimate goal since the beginning. And now you are at my mercy…”

“P-p-please…bring Mia back…” He sobbed.

The Mega Adept crouched down in front of Isaac. He leaned close to make his word crystal clear. Alex grinned.

“No.”

Isaac slashed! But Alex quickly backed off. “DAMN YOU!!!” Isaac roared. “You scum!!”

“That was just low!” Jenna yelled.

The 7 Adepts charged at Alex…

*Imil Outskirts*

Mia managed to get up on all fours, but she fell down. Darn it! They think I’m dead! If I hadn’t escaped that fire at the last second, I would’ve been. I used all my remaining power to kill Aim with Serac. I succeeded, but I can barely move!

Then she noticed a sword in the snow, upright. As if it had been put there on purpose. Is that the Sol Blade? What was Felix thinking?! I don’t care if it’s the only grave I’ll ever get; he needs that sword!

Grab it. Grasp the hilt.

“Ungh…what?”

Take the Sol Blade. It will heal you.

How hard did Aim hit me? Mia thought. I must be going crazy! Voices in my head!....I’ll take it. Better than lying here waiting to die.

Again, she started crawling. After a few feet, she collapsed and vomited blood. But Mia persisted and made it to the sword. In the blade, Mia saw how beat up she was. And having her hair horribly messed up wasn’t even a fraction of it. Her Mercury Robes were torn to shreds and had an enormous amount of her blood on it. Large cuts across her face and arms. Legs broken and arms bruised. Her right cheek was swelling from a heavy blow. Her face was beat. Mia had been burned, crushed, and scarred.

But she was alive. The Mercury Adept grasped the hilt. The blade began to glow golden. Brighter and brighter until Mia was bathed in the light…

*Imil Ruins*

“All of our attacks are useless!” Piers yelled. They had done nothing to damage Alex.

“Ruin!” The Mega Adept floated into the air and shot at them with a single massive beam. It was in essence, one of many beams from Doom Dragon’s Cruel Ruin. Everyone was enveloped in white flames!

But a familiar voice said “I’ll handle this.” With one sweep of the Sol Blade, Mia blew the flames away!

“You’re alive!” Ivan yelled.

Isaac and Mia hugged. “I…I thought…I thought we’d really lost you…”

“…” Mia remained silent, knowing what she had to do. Isaac cried for joy. But she cried for sadness.

A giant stone-like being materialized. They realized it was the Wise One. “The time has come. The battle between Sol and Luna will soon begin. Alex, take this.” A sword with a crescent moon for a hilt was conjured in Alex’s hand. “The Luna Blade. You are to become Luna with it. Mia, do you, as the holder of the Sol Blade, accept the powers of the Golden Sun, including those given to Alex?”

“I’m not marrying him! So don’t make it sound like that!”

“Whoa whoa whoa!!! Wait a second!” Garet yelled. “What’s going on here?!”

“I had to choose someone to wield the Sol Blade once Alex’s clones were destroyed. Acasi’s prolonged death made sure it didn’t happen until Felix dropped the blade in front of Mia.”

“So you placed it near Mia yourself! I can’t believe you! What about all that ‘cannot interfere with the actions of man’ crap?!” Jenna demanded.

“Don’t you see? He didn’t interfere with our actions because the Sol Blade wouldn’t have made a difference in fighting Alex. He simply made it fall out of my inventory.” Felix explained.

“Yes. And whoever holds it has temporary power transferred to them. The sheer aura of the Sol Blade is what brought me back from the brink of death. In fact, without this sword I’d be dead at worst. At best, I’d be a cripple, unable to speak, move, or anything. Just living, and nothing more. The Golden Sun may have been an object of greed to Alex. But to me it’s a second chance at life.”

“Mia. If you accept, you will be reborn as an entity known as Sol. But you will be unable to go back to being human. And even if you were able to, you’d be just as you were before.” The Wise One revealed.

“Half-dead and unable to even move…”

“Mia…” Isaac begged. “I don’t want to lose you again…”

“Isaac. Alex betrayed me and my people. He was like a brother to me. As the last of Imil, and because of that relationship, it is my responsibility to stop him. On top of that, I’ve got nothing left in this life. Imil’s destroyed and everyone in it. I am only able to truly exist while carrying around this sword. That’s not a life. The only thing I’d miss now is…is you, Isaac.”

“Mia, no…”

“I accept, Wise One. I’m sorry, Isaac…goodbye…”

Mia began to dissolve into small orbs of light. She and Isaac hugged. Both of them were crying too hard to say anything. Soon she completely faded into the sky, while still in his arms.

Isaac dropped to his knees and wept.

*Space- Earth’s Orbit*

The lights that were once Mia floated up into outer space and materialized into Sol. She looked exactly like Mia, except the Mercury Robes had been colored golden and she was the size of Coatlicue.

She wasn’t alone. The 9 major summons were there too: Judgment, Boreas, Meteor, Thor, Eclipse, Azul, Catastrophe, Charon, and Iris. They were all ready to fight Luna/Alex. He was clothed in purple and black robes. But Alex had help too: Lexif, Nenja, Bashe, Spire, Acasi, Great, Vain, and a much less-threatening Aim. Mia’s new powers made her considerably more powerful to be concerned about being hurt by a mere clone. But Alex’s imitation was there too; Xale looked exactly like him, but in red robes.

A great battle was about to begin. The last two of Imil. Mia and Alex. Sol and Luna.

“Let’s finish this, Alex.”