There was a lot of room on the throne- Lucas lay with his head on his mother's lap, just like he and Claus had when they were little- he watched the people come and go- his mother's hand rested gently on his head, stroking it now and then.

The people coming to his mom didn't bow- but everyone smiled when they saw her, and they all spoke very, very respectful to her- and most of them spoke to him too- not very respectfully, the way they spoke to his mom, but they did speak nicely to him.

"…am I dead?" Lucas asked softly, in between people.

"No sweetie, you're alive. But it is true that you're not in the normal world right now. This is the world of Magicant- it was created from your hopes and fears, the deepest parts of your heart- and also, the deepest parts of your brother's heart."

"Claus is here too?" Lucas asked, raising his head to look his mother in the eyes. "Is he nearby? Is he okay?"

Hinawa smiled sadly. "He was supposed to come to this castle with you- it exists for the two of you, after all. But he's not here- he's nearby, but outside the town…" she trailed off, deep deep sadness in her eyes.

"…he's not okay, is he?"

"He's been worse." his mom answered with a sigh, then smiled. "He's better than he was- but I am worried. Lucas, can you go get your brother for me?"

"Okay." Lucas answered without hesitation. "Is Boney here? Are Duster and Kumatora? What about Dad?"

"I'm sorry Lucas- you have to do this by yourself."

He looked into her eyes then dropped his head. "I- Mom, every time I try to do something myself, it all falls apart."

She kissed the top of his head. "That's not true Lucas. You've accomplished many things." she then pulled away a little bit- studying him. "Lucas, how much do you remember of how you came to this place?"

"…I don't remember much of anything Mom." Lucas answered slowly, honestly. "I mean…I remember the village. I remember that you're supposed to be dead, but I can't remember how or why…and something happened to Claus…something bad." Lucas shook his head. "But everything- it's all jumbled together in my head Mom."

"I see." it was spoken softly, and Lucas's head dropped even more.

"Sorry Mom."

Another pat on the head. "It's okay sweetie. I know this must be hard for you. Besides, all your memories are still there- a trip through Magicant will sort things out for you again. But Lucas- do you remember the Dragon?"

The Dragon.

Lucas sat bolt upright.

The needles- seven of them, each one watched over by one of the Magypsies- if you pulled them all, the Dragon woke up-

"I pulled the last needle." Lucas said numbly, then turned to face his mother again. "Is this- is this because I pulled the last needle?"

She nodded. "I don't know exactly what the Dragon wants- but I know the Dragon is waiting for you at the end of this place."

"…after I meet the Dragon, will I wake up?"

"Well, that depends. And remember Lucas, Claus pulled some of the needles too- part of this land comes from his heart as well."

Lucas looked down- not avoiding her eyes, just trying to think- his mother put her hand underneath his chin and gently tilted it up.

"It's okay Lucas- this journey will be difficult, but in the end, you and Claus will win- I believe in you. In both of you. But first, you need to go find your brother."

Lucas nodded- slowly, but firmly.

"See that man at the door? He has equipment for you and will show you the path you must take to find your brother, alright?"

Lucas nodded once more, then, slightly reluctantly, left the chair and stood up- he turned to face his mother. "Will you be here when we get back?"

She smiled at him and placed one hand over his heart. "Lucas, I'm always here."

He placed one hand over hers and shut his eyes- focusing on the warmth and the presence of her hand. "Okay." he said softly- and smiled. "Okay, I understand. But what if Claus is hurt or something? Because I think he is- can I bring him back here?"

"This place will be here as long as you need it."

Lucas opened his eyes- met his mother's smile and responded with one of his own. "Thanks Mom. I love you- and I know Claus does too."

"I love both of you too." and she hugged him, then moved her arms away and then hugged him again. "The second hug is for Claus- make sure you give it to him when you see him. I'll give you both another one when you return here, but give him this one when you find him, okay?"

"I will Mom." Lucas promised- he backed up a step, waved, and then turned, slowly and approached the man at the door. "Um… excuse me, sir?"

"Going to find your brother?" the man asked with a friendly grin. "I've got everything you need, Lucas. Follow me!" the man left the room and after a final wave at his mom, Lucas followed.

The man led him to a smaller room off the main one and Lucas saw almost every item he'd ever had spread out all over the room.

He equipped himself- swinging the bat, he smiled at the whistling sound it made as it moved through the air.

The Franklin badge lay on a shelf at the end of the room. Lucas paused, staring down at it- he couldn't have told anyone why- but something- something-

Struck by a thought, he picked it up, but instead of putting it on, he shoved it to the bottom of his pocket. Once he found Claus, he'd give it to him- Lucas had had it for a while now, so it was only fair that Claus got a turn, right?

Lucas also packed some supplies (like some food, in case Claus was hungry) and then walked back to the man, who was waiting by the door.

"Do you have everything you need?"

Lucas nodded.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, I'll show you where you need to go." The man led him out of the castle, through a courtyard and to a gate- trees, growing tall and strong, stuck their heads over the top of it.

"Be careful." the man added, as Lucas walked towards the gate, "there's a lot of strange monsters out there."

Lucas stopped, glanced at the gate curiously, then looked back at the man and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm stronger than I look. I'll be fine."

The man nodded and Lucas waved once before walking out the gate.

Outside, it was a forest- trees pressed closely together, branches overhead, locked together, blocking out the sun.

It was quiet- but not silent. A bird swooped across the path- for a moment, it startled Lucas, but then he smiled.

It was a lot like the Sunshine Forest back home. It was darker here- quieter too- and the monsters would probably be tougher. But this place had the same feeling it did- and the familiarity was nice.

Lucas had always loved walking in the forest- in the beginning, the monsters had never scared him, because he'd never been alone. Then, when he had been alone…he'd been scared, but he hadn't had a choice. But that had been a long time ago. Lucas wasn't scared, not anymore, because he knew he could handle monsters. It was the other things that scared him- things like Claus being hurt.

He walked deeper into the woods. Right now, with no monsters attacking, it was peaceful- a deep, soothing quiet- but he was here to find Claus- Lucas quickened his step- to find his brother, who might be- or probably was- in trouble. Claus had always been good at finding trouble- he didn't mean to- it was just that sometimes he didn't think things through. Sometimes he just had an idea and ran with it- and sometimes those ideas got them in trouble- because Lucas had always been a part of his plans.

They'd always been together. Always.

Something moved.

Lucas tightened his grip on the bat and stopped- waiting.

Another rustling- and then something burst out of the bushes at him.

Lucas leaped backwards, avoiding its blow and landed and readied himself- and blinked.

He was being attacked by a tree.

Well, his dad had told him about monsters like that- wait. Didn't monsters of that type tend to blow up when damaged enough?

The tree moved forward again, lashing its limbs at him and Lucas dodged again, to the side this time- he darted at its less protected side- he landed two blows- and then it started to turn and Lucas dodged again, landing in more blows- the thing started to roar and shake and stream and Lucas quickly backed up as fast as he could- it exploded.

Lucas yelped and threw his arms over his face- the explosion flung him backwards and knocked him to the ground with a grunt.

The last remaining pieces of the monster crackled as they burned out of existence.

Lucas groaned and pushed himself up- he'd be a little sore, but other than that, he was fine.

He wondered how close Claus was- if he'd been close enough to hear the fight.

Was he close enough to hear Lucas if he called him?

…well, it was worth a try, right? There was only one way to know for sure…

Somewhat hesitantly, Lucas took a step forward- looked around- called out. "Claus?"

No response.

Lucas sighed. His brother must be further in- further away-

Something rustled again- a flash of red at the same height as Lucas's head- mismatched eyes met his own, only for a moment, before disappearing into the forest.

"Claus! Wait!" Lucas plunged into the woods, branches and plants scratching at him as he left the path.

"No!"

"Claus!"

"I've been bad Lucas, leave me alone!"

"No, I won't!"

Lucas was keeping up at least- his brother wasn't leaving his sight- and then Claus tripped, and with a yelp, went flying.

"Claus!" Lucas almost fell himself as he scrambled to his brother's side- "Claus, are you okay?"

Claus was just lying there, curled into himself, sobbing incoherently- he didn't resist as Lucas gently moved him and tried to feel where he was hurt.

His shirt was a mess of barely connected rags- there were bruises and cuts, but nothing large, nothing life threatening.

His sobbing had softened- Lucas turned his worried gaze towards his brother's face and frowned at his brother's matching eyes. Before, hadn't they been different? It had almost looked like-no, must've been a trick of the light. "Claus- Claus, are you okay?"

He shook his head, but he was meeting his eyes now-

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everywhere." he said softly, so softly Lucas had to bend close to hear it. "Here." he added, frowning- and touched his heart.

"Oh." Lucas said, almost as softly. He covered his brother's hand with his own- and then took a deep breath. "Can you stand?"

Fear swarm in his big brother's eyes- and stabbed at Lucas's heart. Claus was supposed to be the brave one- "Where are we going?"

Swallowing, Lucas pointed in the direction of the city. "There's a castle- it's really nice, and all the people there are really friendly…" Lucas hesitated, and then added, "Mom's there."

"Mom?" and now there was confusion-

"I know- she's dead- but this place- it's like we're dreaming, but it's real too…do you remember the Dragon?"

Not a single flicker of recognition in those eyes. Claus shook his head.

"The Dragon- it was sleeping. We were pulling the Needles to wake it up."

"Needles?"

"The seven Needles- they're golden and they have this glow to them…" Something flickered in his brother's eyes as he winced. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah- I think so. I don't really remember, but they do sound familiar- is that why we're here?"

"I think so…we pulled all the Needles and now the Dragon is waiting for us- we have to cross to the end of this place- it's called Magicant- to find the Dragon- and then…"

Claus studied him- and then, slowly, sat up. "And then?"

"…someone wanted to do bad things to the world…that's the only reason I was pulling the needles…I'm…I'm not really a hero or anything…I just- I couldn't let the world be destroyed. If the world was destroyed-"

"…everyone would die." Claus finished for him.

Lucas nodded.

"So the Dragon is really powerful?"

"Uh huh."

"…could it bring Mom back to life?"

"…I don't know Claus. We could try though- but first, we need to make sure the whole world is safe."

Claus looked a little doubtful. Before he could say anything, Lucas said "Would Mom be happy with us if we caused the world to be destroyed in trying to save her?"

Claus looked a little rueful- he shook his head.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot- speaking of Mom-" Lucas stepped closer and hugged his brother.

Claus stiffened at first, surprised- and then relaxed and slowly, slowly hugged him back.

"Mom said this was for you- she's got another one waiting for you, but this one is to let you know she's waiting for you."

Claus said nothing- relaxed and shut his eyes- let out a deep breath and rested his head against his brother.

Adjusting to his brother's weight against him, Lucas felt something shift in his pocket. Then he remembered what it was.

"Oh!" Lucas broke away, putting his hands in his pockets-

Claus stood there, silent and motionless, watching him.

Finally, Lucas found it and pulled it out, and reached for Claus, carefully pinning it to his brother's shirt.

Claus pulled away, trying to get a better look at it- plucked at it with his fingers.

"It's supposed to be called the Franklin badge- Dad called it the Courage badge though. It used to be his, back when he was a kid. I wore it for a while, so it's your turn now, okay?"

"My turn?"

"Yeah, you know… like how we take turns with everything." The far away look in his brother's eyes scared him- Lucas stepped closer, hugging his brother tightly again, making sure he didn't disappear again. "It's your turn, so you wear it now, okay?"

Slowly, Claus's arms slipped around him, returning the hug. "…okay. I'll wear it for now."

Lucas sighed in relief. "That's good Claus."

For a moment, the brothers just stood there.

In his mind, Lucas's memories bobbled and circled about- he watched, waiting for them to rise to the surface, but they didn't.

Instead, his mind turned to the present. Claus was a mess. He was calm now, and Lucas didn't really want to disturb him- but he needed to get his brother back to the city- had to get someone to take a look at him…

Lucas tightened the hug and then let go and stepped back.

Claus looked at him, slightly confused.

"…let's go." Lucas said softly, and held out his hand.

Claus smiled- and took it.