Disclaimer: I do not own Golden Sun or any of its sequels. They belong to their respective owners.
A/N: This is intended to be a collection of one-shots (finally posting has finally begun!) on the children of the Warriors of Vale and those that join them as they ponder their lineage and what it means to them. First up is our favorite child for conjecture!
Warning: This is a collective conjecture, so unless you've read another fanfic(s) that had this theme or have finished Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, there might be some spoilers.
Amiti - Part One : Shame
It used to be so simple.
His life—or, more to the point, his purpose in life—had been so clear-cut that he had never questioned it.
Amiti had been the Blessed Child of Ayuthay, son of the woman who restarted the Alchemy Well with the same powers that had conceived him. His powers had been a reflection of her, and he had been loved because of his existence and his mother. He had watched over Ayuthay as the prince with his uncle, King Paithos, and Ayuthay had in turn watched over them. He had never suffered true hardship, and he had always been secure in his identity.
That security had been the innocence and naivety of his childhood. Now, Amiti was forced to face the realities of his life like an adult.
He needed to know the truth. That was both his vocalized and unspoken goal on their journey that was first to claim a Roc feather and now to fix the world that they were manipulated into injuring.
Amiti looked out over the gently undulating ocean, the sea breeze quietly caressing his hair. On a normal day, he would have been entranced to stand and watch the mesmerizing waters of the world. Now, he could only stare at the ravaging shadows that he had helped spawn and lean upon the sword of guilt stabbing him, knowing the irreversible deaths that resulted from breaking their promise to Laurel left their blood on his hands. His eyes narrowed on the shadows on the faraway mainland, the sunlight dancing upon his arms doing nothing to chase the darkness away from there or in his heart. Amiti leaned against the wooden rail of Brigg's ship and pondered the words of the Waelda's partner that haunted both his waking and dreaming mind.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
A pit sank into the depths of his stomach. Knowledge was what he had come on this journey to claim, but now, Amiti was uncertain if this possible—no, probable—truth was one that he wanted to acknowledge.
He now knew that his father was a Water Adept. A Water Adept's power was required to start the Alchemy Well, and as his mother had no psynergetic power, the only source of his powers was conclusively his father. Therefore, it was further conclusive, also in line with his uncle's testimony, that his father was a Water Adept.
The only problem was that Water Adepts, outside of Lemuria, were about as scarce as Wind Adepts.
He knew how scarce they were, because he had discussed the adventures of the Warriors of Vale—it was still amazing that they were his friends' parents—with them. There were only two sources of Adepts with Mercury psynergy: Imil and Lemuria. From there, the only Lemurian that had left was Piers, and he had been exiled for fulfilling the orders of his king. There were no other Lemurians outside of Lemuria in Weyard, let alone a colony. Imil had once been a colony, but due to the sealing of Alchemy, the Mercury Clan had dwindled until there remained only Mia and her cousin, the traitor Alex, who disappeared after the famed quest was over. He was presumed dead.
After assessing his pool of information, he had toyed with the idea that Piers was his father. After all, Piers had been traveling the world; it was plausible that he had gone to Ayuthay and could have restarted the Alchemy Well. He even had a ship with which he could have left in. It was a faint hope, but one that went unspoken and was short-lived following the visit to the Waelda Tret and Laurel.
First, he had feared his aloof treatment by Tret was due to his misplaced belief that they had been gods. He believed that he had offended him in spite of Laurel's forgiveness, but then his comments spoke otherwise.
Tret was cold to him because of his lineage.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
Amiti gripped the edge of the railing, still refusing to stare the truth in the face. He couldn't believe it. He wouldn't.
The truth was too painful.
It sat on the outskirts of his mind, waiting to be acknowledged as he deliberately pushed it away. He couldn't avoid it for long, however; the pieces of the puzzle fit together too snugly.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
There was only one person would have wanted to have hidden his existence, even among a group of strangers. There was really only one answer, just as there was really only one person it could have been.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
Mia had only had one other relative.
Staring truth in the face, Amiti wasn't sure if he wanted to scream or cry. He turned his back on the immediate calm waters and the faraway shadows on the mainland. Losing his desire to stand, he slid down the railing and sat on the deck, staring at the rotting wood of the splintering floor.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
Not only had significance in his birth been stolen when his uncle told him that he had had a father and his mother was not the real person to reawaken the Alchemy Well, now… he wasn't a blessed child.
He was a cursed child.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
He gritted his teeth.
He wouldn't accept the truth.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
He pounded his fist on the deck, mirthlessly surprised that the wood didn't give way beneath it.
He wouldn't face it.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
He drew his knees up against his chest, his clenching fingers gripping them tighter to himself as he squeezed his eyes painfully shut.
He wouldn't face it.
He couldn't.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
He was afraid of the answer, of the implications of it; but, as he rested his forehead on his knees, his desperate struggle gave away, and the truth whispered itself in his mind.
The truth he couldn't ignore.
A descendant of a relative of Mia's…
His father was Alex.
His father—the traitor of the Warriors of Vale, the one who had attempted to steal the Golden Sun and gain immortality instead of assisting to save the world.
Amiti had never felt ashamed of his existence, of his powers, until that moment.
He—it—was the reflection of his father, the one he had wanted to know and now wished he didn't. The one who probably didn't even know that he existed.
The one who probably didn't even love him or realize the pain he was causing his only child. (If he was his only child.)
The one who almost made him ashamed to face his friends, the children of the enemies of his father.
If they learned the truth, would they treat him as an enemy as well?
Would they see his father instead of Amiti?
And based off of his previous comments, had Kraden already guessed and simply been afraid to speak of it?
Had Kraden already told his friends, or had they guessed on their own?
Would they shun him?
Amiti's strength went slack as he gave in to his warring emotions. Grateful his friends—if he were still allowed to claim them as such—were not near him on the deck, he did the only thing that he had the strength left to do—
He cried.
A/N: Wow. That turned out angsty-er than I'd thought. Thanks for reading; please share your thoughts!
With the exception of a verb tense change, shameless plug is shameless. Thank my bud Leoshi, lol.
Next is Matthew…