I've always wanted to write a long fanfiction. This will be my first attempt, so I hope it works out. I plan to have other chapters longer than this, but this is just a brief introductory chapter to kind of open up into the actual story. Well, I hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Mother franchise. Mr. Shigesato Itoi does.

Beacon

Dear journal,

Hi. My name is Lucas, and I am fourteen years old. I've never actually had a journal before. A couple of my friends thought that I should get one because apparently, I've been acting depressed lately, and they thought that a journal would help ease the stress that they think I have. Well, I'd be lying if I said they were wrong. I have been sad recently. Actually, I've been sad ever since I pulled that needle one week ago. What can I say? Wouldn't it be natural to feel sad if someone lost their mother? Or if someone lost his or her brother, especially if that someone lost his or her brother only seven days ago? For me, it's as if I'm on a never ending roller coaster of emotional turmoil. My brother, Claus, meant a lot to me. Sure, I had to cope with his three year absence, but I still had hope left that he'd return. But, that hope was shot down when I witnessed him commit suicide. Somehow, I feel that it's my fault. What if I had gone with him to confront that drago three years ago? What if I would've actually tried harder to stop him from going instead of being a coward and not trying to rebel against his decision? What if I would've told Grandpa Alec that Claus left sooner? Would he and Dad have caught him before he faced the drago? And then, there is the one scenario that could have happened that makes me upset every time I think of it: what if I would've pulled off the Franklin Badge before Claus committed suicide? Would I be dead? Would Claus have reconsidered and stayed alive? If I would've survived that, would I be living in a happy family right now with him, my dad, and my dog? I'm not saying that our family isn't happy right now. It's just... lacking. I do appreciate my dad and my dog. There's just this void I feel right now that will probably never be filled again. Dad tells me that it's not good to dwell in the past, and that I should look forward to the future because he thinks that I'll have a bright one. But, I can tell that Dad is sad, too. How sad he is will remain unknown to me, but it's obvious that he hasn't completely ditched that feeling of sorrowfulness. Anyway, I'm not sure what else I should write. It's 6:07 PM and Dad is getting dinner ready, so I suppose I'll stop here.

Lucas closed the journal that looked like a composition notebook, set his pen down, and sighed, laying his head down on the new and polished wooden desk that he had recently been given. After finishing his entry, he could not stop thinking about his mother or his brother. Even though he did not write about the thought, he still had a small speck of hope left. When the last needle had been pulled, he, his friends and family, and every person on the Nowhere Islands witnessed a cataclysmic scene. For a moment, everybody had thought that the world really was ending and that they were living their final seconds. However, everything had suddenly gone black for what felt like a good thirty minutes before there was a huge flash and the Nowhere Islands had regressed back to how it had been before Fassad came in with the Happy Boxes. Was it possible that Claus had been revived and was now out there somewhere, lost? Lucas did not want to think about that potential circumstance and quickly shook off the thought, thinking that it was a silly idea. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard his father call, "Lucas! Dinner's ready!"

Lucas got up, stretched a bit, and slowly went down the wooden stairs of their house to meet up with his father at the kitchen table. He was wearing his typical attire, donning a yellow and red striped T-shirt and blue shorts. The boy saw Boney, their dog, sitting by the table, obviously waiting for either Lucas or Flint to accidentally drop food. Lucas took his seat at the table across from Flint. "I made your favorite," stated Flint, gesturing towards the omelet on Lucas' plate. Lucas smiled.

"Thank you, Dad," Lucas quietly said. They quickly got into their omelets, eating at a moderate pace. As per usual, the meal was mostly silent. Flint was not the type of guy that would talk a lot, and Lucas knew that very well. After a quiet supper, Lucas offered to wash off Flint's plate, to which Flint accepted. Lucas took the plates over to the sink and began washing them along with the silverware. Afterward, the blonde boy put the plates and silverware back in their respective cabinet and drawers and sat down on the sofa next to his father, who was quietly reading a book. Lucas looked up to the clock and saw that it was 6:44 PM. Hmmm... there's plenty of time to go and visit Mom and Claus' graves. Hopefully, Dad will let me, Lucas thought while shooting Flint a quick glance. After several more silent seconds, Lucas spoke up, asking, "Dad, can make a quick visit to the graveyard?"

Flint set the book he was reading on his lap and sighed. Without turning his head, he answered, "Lucas, I realize that you miss your mom and brother. Believe me, I do to. But, don't do what I did in the three years that they were gone. I visited your mom's grave and searched for your brother everyday. In the process, I almost completely ignored you. After reflecting on what I did, I felt really bad about that. Additionally, doing that everyday caused me to cling onto the past even more." He then faced Lucas, looking into his shining blue eyes. "It's okay to miss your dead loved ones, but don't let it take control of your life." Several more mum moments ensued. Flint then answered Lucas' question, saying, "Go ahead. Just take my words and think about them, okay? I really care about you, and I don't want you to take the road I took."

Lucas gave Flint a small smile. "Don't worry, I won't. Thanks for looking out for me, Dad."

"Anytime, son," Flint responded. He then gave Lucas a quick hug, a rare action for Flint to take. Flint normally did not hug anyone, for he was on the reserved side of the social spectrum. Lucas truly did recognize that Flint only wanted the best for him. After breaking contact with his father, Lucas stood up and made his way to the front door. There, he put his shoes on and proceeded to make his way toward the graveyard. "Make sure that you're back before dark!" Flint called after him.

"Will do!" Lucas replied. After taking his first glance outside, he saw that the sun was getting ready to set. That gives me about an hour, Lucas thought, taking into account how close the sun was to dipping below the horizon. Just to cut down on time taken to get there, Lucas ran to the graveyard. Within about ten minutes, Lucas made his way across Tazmily Village's central square and north into the graveyard. Along the way, he quickly gave a hello to various people he passed, being the courteous boy he was. Although he was out of breath, he arrived quicker than he if he would have walked. After catching his breath, Lucas made his way up to the graveyard's east side and went up the small, grassy hill.

Sitting at the top was Hinawa's grave with her name and years alive etched in the stone elegantly and professionally. When he got up in front of the graves, he knelt down to take a good look at it. He stared at the grave, vividly remembering of all of the good and not so good memories he shared with her. As each memory entered Lucas' mind, he wanted to cry even more. Even though he let one tear out when he remembered his witnessing of her death, Lucas nearly kept all of them in. Eventually, Lucas became aware of the chirping crickets around him and looked up to see that the sun had almost gone below the horizon. That was quick. I guess I should go home before Dad worries himself to death, Lucas sarcastically thought. In reality, though, he really did not want to break his promise of being back before nightfall.

With that done, Lucas stood back up and began walking down the hill and back to the cemetery's exit. As he entered the gray cemetery, he could not help but notice how eerie it looked when the outside became dark. After reaching the halfway point to the exit, Lucas heard rustling. He turned around and saw a small bush shaking. As soon as he looked, though, it stopped. Lucas' heart started hammering. He never liked being in gloomy places at nighttime, especially graveyards. Somehow, Lucas knew he was being watched. It could have been his psychic powers telling him that, or maybe his intuition. Regardless, Lucas wanted to leave posthaste. He sped up his walking and finally saw the outlet. Suddenly, without anybody prompting the action, the cemetery's gates shut. Lucas ran up to them and shook them a few times, confirming his fear that they had locked.

Lucas was now starting to get really frightened. Sure, bushes could shake a bit with a significant breeze, but gates did not shut like that. What was worse was that the night sky began turning into a dark blue, and everything around him was darkening. Upon turning around, Lucas was greeted by a ghastly sight. Because of the ensuing darkness, the trees and graves could have been described as black shadows that popped up out of the ground. Great, the panic-stricken Lucas thought. I can't get out, and now it's almost too dark to see.

"Where do you think you're going, little boy?"

The masculine voice that had just popped up made Lucas jump ten feet in the air, startling him to no end. "Wh-who said that?" Lucas called out, almost sobbing out of fear. "I-I'm warning you! I can defend myself!" he stated, automatically anticipating that the being who had spoken was there for a malevolent cause.

The voice that he heard earlier started chuckling. "Right. I'm sure you can," it answered with a sarcastic tone. Lucas was being underestimated, which did not surprise Lucas at all. "You will be the first demonstration of what my race is capable of!"

Lucas had not had a fear any greater than what he was experiencing as of now. Obviously, whoever or whatever was attacking him had every intention to kill him. Wait, I can light this place up and see who my attacker is! Lucas remembered. With a loud voice, Lucas cried, "PK Flash!"

A flash of light formed a distance away from Lucas and, as the name hinted, gave off a glorious light, briefly illuminating the graveyard. "Agh!" the voice cried, clearly stunned by the brightness.

Even though the light lasted for about three seconds, that gave Lucas enough time to see the form of his assaulter. Before Lucas could power up a blast of PK Love, though, a stream of fire streaked toward him and scored a direct hit. Lucas cried out in pain and rolled around the ground in an attempt to put out the small flames that had formed on his clothes. After succeeding in subduing the flames, he tried to stand up, but found that he could not move. He had been paralyzed. A feeling of dread filled Lucas when he heard footsteps approaching his location. The unknown assailant spoke up, saying, "So, we have a PSI user, eh? I'll have fun torturing you!" He started powering another fire attack, but gave out a cry of pain when lightning streaked towards him. "What? Who? Where?" the aggressor cried out.

His short questions were answered with several more streaks of lightning and a punch to the head. After hearing a thud, Lucas assumed that his attacker had been killed or at least knocked unconscious. What was more was that he could move again, so he wasted no time in standing up. Lucas was about to turn and run for his life from another potentially dangerous being when this being spoke up. "Wait! I'm not going to hurt you!" The voice sounded like that of a teenage boy's. Lucas even managed to make out the boy's form in the dark.

Lucas hesitated to respond, but eventually asked, "You're not?"

"No. Why would I save you if I wanted to hurt you?"

He had a point. Lucas then asked, "Who are you?"

The boy then chuckled and said, "I'm surprised you don't recognize my voice. Lucas, Lucas, Lucas," the boy trailed off in an almost joking tone.

Lucas searched through his mind for who this voice could belong to. After coming up with a seemingly inane idea, Lucas said, "It can't be..."

"Or can it?" the boy responded.

"Claus?" Lucas almost yelled in complete and utter disbelief.

He's alive! Hooray! There will be more details next chapter. I'm not planning on having Lucas continually write in his journal, though, because I'm afraid it will interrupt the flow of the story. Its main purpose was just to give a brief recap of Mother 3 and sort of explain Lucas' feelings right now. Once again, I hope you all enjoyed!