Hi. My grade is going on a field trip tomorrow, so once again I have NO HOMEWORK! That's two updates in two days.
Disclaimer: I don't own Psychonauts, but I want Raz, Lili and Dogen for Christmas! Tim Schafer can keep the rest.
Chapter Four: My Name Is Onyx
"Who are you?" The girl stood up, and her voice cracked slightly when she spoke.
"Please…" she said, "You have to help me…"
"Answer my question and maybe I'll help you." Raz pressed. The girl sighed.
"I'm looking for Truman Zanotto. I thought he'd be in here."
"Truman Zanotto has been kidnapped." Sasha said, stepping forward, "Why are you looking for him?"
"I'm a member of the Galochio family." She said quickly, "My name is Onyx, and…"
"The Galochios?" Sasha cut her off in disbelief.
"Who are they?" Raz asked.
"They're a very prestigious family of psychics. They went into hiding years ago. Someone had been hunting them down." Sasha looked at Onyx, "You have to tell us, where is the rest of your family? We could certainly use their help, and we haven't been able to track them down." Onyx's face fell, and she turned away from the German man.
"They're dead." She said sadly, "All of them. I'm the last surviving member." Raz had never met this girl before, but something about her seemed familiar…Galochio…he had heard that name before…
"They're dead? How?" Sasha seemed quite interested in this girl's family. Onyx turned to face him, and Raz could see that she was fighting back tears.
"They've been murdered." Her voice cracked, and a single tear slid down her cheek, "The killers said something about hunting down their leader next. That's why I wanted to see Truman."
"Wow…" Raz said, "Do you think the kidnapping could be connected to the murder?"
"Well, duh," Lili said, "we should probably tell Adrian about this…"
"Oh, that's just perfect." Adrian groaned, "My first day as head and I find out that the Galochios have been murdered." Raz, Lili, Sasha and Onyx found Adrian and the others in the Archives. Apparently, that was where Truman was last seen.
"Well, sir, what do you propose we do?" Sasha asked. Adrian gave him a look of pure hatred.
"What do I propose? I propose that we forget it and focus on rescuing our leader." As he said this, Adrian didn't raise his voice once. His was more of a quiet anger, which, when he used it, was much scarier than loud anger. Ivy quickly covered for him.
"What my brother
means is that rescuing Agent Zanotto is our top priority right now.
We don't have time to worry about a murder."
"But I think the kidnappers are connected to my family's murder!" Onyx cut in. Everyone looked at her in surprise. Adrian's lip curled dangerously.
"And what, little girl, makes you say that?" he said venomously, "Do you have any proof?"
"Proof? I heard the murderers say that they'd be hunting down the leader next! How's that for proof?"
"Not very good, I'd have to say. 'Leader' could mean anyone."
"Yeah, including you…" Onyx muttered under her breath. Adrian's lip curled even more.
"And what, may I ask, is that supposed to mean? You have no say in this. You're just a little girl coming to us with some pathetic sob story about how your precious family died…"
"Shut up!" Onyx snapped unexpectedly. Adrian looked as though he were about to set her on fire.
Then, something strange happened. Adrian's look of hatred faded, and turned instead to a look of…fear? His face turned even paler than usual, and he slowly started back away.
"No…" he muttered, "What are you…?" he seemed to be staring at something behind Onyx, but as Raz looked, there was nothing there. Raz was considering using clairvoyance when Adrian fainted dead away.
Everyone turned to stare at Onyx.
"Um…why is everyone looking at me like that…?"
After Adrian had been revived, he seemed ready to tell someone off again. But when he caught sight of Onyx, his eyes widened ever so slightly. He agreed to let Onyx stay at headquarters, as long as she didn't bring out the screamers again…whatever that meant.
Raz, Lili and Onyx headed up to the dormitories to find their rooms. Finally, they found suitable ones.
After Lili had gone to sleep, Raz crept into Onyx's room. He found her sitting in a metal chair by a wall-length window. He sat down without a word.
"What is it?" Onyx said finally, when it became clear that Raz wasn't going to talk.
"I want to know what happened down in the Archives." Raz said, "I know you did something to Adrian." Onyx was silent for a moment, as though debating whether to answer him or not. Finally, she said,
"It's called a Brain Illusion (Yeah, I know. Lame name.) It's a type of astral projection that makes someone believe they're living their worst fear."
"Wow…that's awesome. Could you teach that to me?"
"Uh…maybe when I know you better." She responded, "I'm only supposed to teach it to people I really trust. It's an ability known only to the Galochios."
"I know this sounds weird, but I feel like I've heard that name before." Raz said, "Galochio…Wait a minute. I remember. The Galochios were…"
"…the ones who cursed your family." Onyx finished for him. For several long moments, there was only silence…
Ehh…not sure how I feel about this chapter. I was kind of sugar-high when I wrote it. I hope it's okay. Review please. Oh, and just so we're clear, I am not planning on Raz and Onyx getting together…unless any reviewers think otherwise…No flames, please!
