Connor: Hey, guys! Sorry that we didn't update last week. I was feeling kinda tired and burnt out. I'll do my best to update on a weekly schedule from now on! :)

DarkFoxKit: Hey, you don't have to hurt yourself. But at least we managed to update it this week!

Connor: Hurt myself? That wasn't really the intent. xD But yeah, here we are. Since I don't have much else to say (besides moaning about college apps and how they suck the soul out of poor, unsuspecting high school students), shall we move onto the reviews? Or do you have something else to say?

DarkFoxKit: Not really, let's go ahead and answer the reviews!

Shimo no ko:

Connor: Heh, glad you think that Ness is cool. :) Honestly, I think that he could be way better (because while he does have flaws, they're kinda piled under a lot of his exterior), but this is kinda my not-tryhard story so I'm not going to worry as much. And you may not have to wonder for much longer… ;)

A Fan:

DarkFoxKit: I don't think uneventful chapters are usually that bad myself, it really depends on the writer though.

Err… like you said, this is fanfiction and well, there's not a lot of realism in video games anyways. ^^' I honestly don't have much more to say other than that, unless Connor has something to say about it.

Connor:

Edgeworth (in an intentionally snotty Edgeworth way): Mr. Wright, you the concept of basic physics. If Ness slammed into the ground, he would most certainly go splat. But since Claus decelerates him over the course of a second… let's just say that he has to apply far less force to ensure that Ness does not hit the ground. A human is easily capable of surviving this. Also, Ness has possibly hit terminal velocity by then, so he may not be falling as fast as you think (no, I don't really know what I'm talking about. xD The know-it-all attitude comes from Edgeworth. I mean no offense. :D).

Orangeflight of ShadowClan:

Connor: Nope, that wouldn't be a paradox, actually, because you're promising never to promise something ever again, which implies that you're only talking about the future and not the present. And… uh… we didn't update last Wednesday at this point in time. Does that count?

Lotta filler. Coulda been shorter and still contained all of the same information, which makes for better writing. But since I'm not getting paid… I don't see any reason to cut those worthless scenes out. Heh, I was writing Ness so I know what you mean about Bud's denial. xD And thanks. :) I've always wanted to write a cheesy entrance like that.

DarkFoxKit: Dr. Andonuts isn't exactly brainwashed, but something did happen to him. Of course, I won't spoil it. Evil glasses glint, huh? They're kinda interesting. ^^' I suppose Connor have fun using Ness a lot. XD And yeah, Claus does remember Hinawa, at least a little bit.

Connor: Yeah… I don't really like vegetables. xD At least I get to make a joke out of it (or possibly raise concern about a serious moral issue! o.0). And I share a lot of your views about Claus… which were projected through Ness. And yes, first time can be the charm. It's always the best when that happens. :) And I make no promises about Flint because I control him less than half of the time.

DarkFoxKit: Flint seems to be the type of father who's strong and silent, but can break easy if something really bad happens, at least that's how he seems to be portrayed as. ^^' And anyways, good to see you caught the Mystery Dungeon reference. XD

Guest:Heh, guess you won't have to wait any longer.

adricarra:Well, glad to see you're back and enjoying it so far. Yeah, Pigmasks seem to ruin everything, huh? Lucas has a dark side it seems. X3 Lucas and Ninen will be fine with Flint… maybe. Yeah, Ness wants Claus to be more human, and Claus doesn't know it's natural to feel what he feels.

Connor: Yup, it's also really cool for me to write Ness trying to turn Bud into a human. Ness honestly kinda confuses me because he doesn't think of himself as determined or hard-working but he is in a lot of regards haha. But I'm rambling. Glad that you like it! :)

Guest:WE'RE TRYING TO UPDATE IT EVERY WEEK, TWO WEEKS IF WE HAVE TO. DON'T WORRY CAPS ARE FINE.


Ninten looked back and forth between Lucas and this older man with the cowboy getup. Something about the man made Ninten uneasy. He appeared quite thin, indicating that he probably didn't eat as much as he should. A tense atmosphere surrounded him.

"Lucas… who's this boy beside you?" The man asked, looking at Ninten.

"This is Ninten," Lucas explained, seeming hesitant. "He's… a friend."

"Ninten? I've never seen him before. Is he with the outsiders who came here?" The man's tone made Ninten feel more uneasy.

"Do you think that I would make friends with them, father?" Lucas asked, annoyance seeping into his voice. "Ninten woke up in the Sunshine Forest with amnesia. He's really nice and I decided to help him."

Something about Lucas' tone dared his father to challenge him. It made Ninten feel uncomfortable. He wasn't even sure if he should say anything; he wished he was anywhere but here right now.

"Lucas…" The man sounded tired. "I don't know anything about him, and what if he's lying about the amnesia? He could be trying to get close to you so you'd trust him."

"And why would he do that?" Lucas asked. "I'm a nobody, father. And I can tell that Ninten is sincere. You can't just fake amnesia for days without slipping up once or twice."

"Look, I'm just saying you have to be careful with people, especially ones we don't know," The man said. "And what is he doing here anyways? He doesn't even know Hinawa."

"He doesn't know this place," Lucas whispered. "He hangs around me because he doesn't have anywhere else to go."

"... I see. Well if he's really in a situation like you say he is, then I guess it's understandable you want to help him, but you need to be more careful." The man tilted his hat. "Where does he live?"

"I… er… I actually offered to let him stay at our house," Lucas said hastily, as if the words would carry less weight if he went through them more quickly. He looked up to his father with a mixture of hope and fear in his eyes.

"..." The man was quiet for a minute, as if he was processing what just came out of his son's mouth. "You're letting this stranger stay at our house? Lucas! Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"Well, I lived," Lucas muttered irritably. "If he wanted to gut me—and I don't know why he would—he had his chance."

Ninten felt horrified at the thought of gutting anyone, least of all someone who cared for him for these past few days.

"Lucas… ugh…" The man rubbed his head under his hat. "You are just too soft for your own good. Why did you offer a stranger to stay at our house? Was it because you were hoping to replace your brother?"

"What if I was?" Lucas whispered. "What if I was trying to find someone else to care about? What is it to you?"

Ninten really wished he could disappear right now; he hadn't meant to cause trouble between Lucas and his father.

"I'm not going to let you replace your brother, Lucas," The man said firmly. "You better get back to the house. I don't want to disrespect Hinawa by discussing this in front of her grave."

"Maybe mother wants me to have a life!" Lucas shouted. "I think that I should be allowed to have a friend! Ninten needs our help, father! You know how greedy the townspeople have gotten. You tell me how disrespectful these townspeople in the same breath that you tell me not to act kind!"

"Lucas, don't talk back at me like that!" The man raised his voice at him. "We don't know much about this boy and inviting him over and then trying to replace your brother like that is unacceptable!"

"Maybe if you talked to me like another human then I wouldn't have to yell," Lucas hissed. "But no, everything has to be my fault!"

The man turned around and began walking, "You want to act like this? Fine. But I won't let Hinawa watch us tear each other apart like this over a boy we don't even know."

"You always act like this," Lucas said with a cold smile. "You always have to act like I'm the rowdy child even when you're the one who's getting annoyed at me for actually having a life." He laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Leave if you want. But you won't shame me into crawling back."

When the man walked out of earshot, Ninten decided to finally speak up. "Lucas, I'm sorry that I caused some trouble between you and your father…"

Lucas sighed.

"You didn't cause anything, Ninten. The problem isn't you; it's the fact that we don't agree. Father won't accept me as anything other than a copy of himself." He shook his head. "But I try not to let it get to me. That was… an unfortunate incident. I'm sorry that you had to see us act like that."

"He… seemed really unhealthy. Has he been eating at all?" Ninten asked worriedly.

"I don't ask and he doesn't say," Lucas answered with a shrug.

"It's kind of scary, both of you don't seem to want anything to do with each other." Ninten frowned. "Has he always been like this?"

"Nah," Lucas said. "At first, he was fine. But then mother died, and something inside of him broke. He turned into the person who you just saw. At first I felt sorry, but I don't anymore. He made his choices, just like I made mine… and just like Claus made his. Now we're all dealing with the consequences."

"This isn't right," Ninten said, looking at where the man was walking to. "I can't stand to watch a father neglecting his child like this." His hands curled into tight fists, something bitter triggering in his mind. "At least let me try talking to him!"

"You're free to do what you want," Lucas said, "But I wouldn't advise talking to him. It would probably make things worse. But that isn't going to stop you, is it?"

"Maybe it would make things worse…" Ninten frowned. "But I just can't stand by like this."

The scarf wearing boy quickly ran after the man and called out, "Hey, wait! Please! Uh… Mr… Lucas's dad, can we talk?"

The man stiffened.

"The name's Flint," he said dangerously. "And I don't like to talk with strangers."

"I know, but please hear me out," Ninten said, trying not to let Flint intimidate him. "Please don't blame Lucas for this, he was only trying to help. I know I have no business with your family, and I know you're taking what happened with the people you love hard, but don't you think maybe you should see what you still have instead of wandering aimlessly looking for someone that may not even be there anymore?"

Flint's eyes narrowed. He took a step forward, looking at Ninten threateningly.

"Listen, kid," he spat. "I don't care who you are. You have no idea what you're saying. You don't understand how it feels to lose something so deep."

"The pain of loss," Ninten said softly, still standing his ground. "I understand it well enough. Remember what Lucas said? I have amnesia, I can't remember the people I love. My friends, my family, anyone I've came in contact with, they're all gone. I'm all alone with no familiar face in sight. You still have Lucas; you still have someone. Don't push him away or you'll live to regret it."

Flint pointed a finger at Ninten. It seemed to contain all of the spite that was bottled up in his vessel of a body.

"You don't understand," he retorted. "You think that forgetting is the same thing as losing. You don't understand the nightmares. You don't understand the scars. So stop pretending like you do!" Flint's voice now boomed loudly enough to leave Ninten's ears ringing. "Do you think that I like going out day after day, looking for my son? Everything that I do, I do for Claus, Lucas, and Hinawa. We can go back to our happy family, if I could only find Claus. So leave me alone, kid. And don't step foot in my house again."

"If you've spent two years looking for him in the same place, then chances are he's not there anymore! You can't expect things to just go back to the way they were before!" Ninten argued back, feeling tears roll down his cheeks.

"Stop pretending like you can argue this!" Flint roared. "Stop acting like you understand! You have no idea how it feels! Now will you leave, or do I need to make you leave?"

"That is enough!" Ninten heard from behind him. He turned to see Lucas, his cheeks flushed with crimson rage. "You will not threaten my friend like that, father!"

"Lucas, why are you defending him? He doesn't know the pain we feel and yet he has the gall to argue with me about this!" Flint snapped, pointing at Ninten, who was trying to wipe away the tears.

"Maybe you think that," Lucas said, a sneer revealing more malice in Lucas than Ninten thought possible. "Maybe you hate him. But I won't stand by and watch you threaten him."

"Lucas, can't you see I'm doing everything I can just to provide for us and still look for Claus?" Flint frowned at his son. "I can't afford another mouth to feed, especially someone we barely even know. Take him to the Yado Inn or something, but he's not staying with us, we don't have enough of those DP to take care of another child anyways."

"T-then I'll earn DP so I won't leech off of you!" Ninten spoke up suddenly. "Or maybe I'll live in the woods if that'll make you feel better."

"No," Lucas said, turning to Ninten. "Don't cave into his demands! He's trying to guilt trip you. This isn't your fault, Ninten!"

"B-but… we lost our job at the bakery because the Pigmask bought everything. I don't want to make you spend more than you can afford," Ninten said back to Lucas.

"Well I sure as heck don't want you to live alone in the forest!" Lucas countered.

"Maybe that's where he belongs," Flint grumbled. "You said you found him there? Then maybe he lived there before he fell on his head and forgot. Or maybe he was meant to be a spy before he was clumsy enough to forget his mission."

Ninten looked away, he knew he couldn't deny that because he had no idea who he is or where he even came from. He looked at Lucas and was surprised to find a cold smile plastered on his face.

"Ah, your insults have dropped from petty to inconsequential, father," Lucas said, his icy eyes betraying a condescending humor. "You have the wrong idea if you think that Ninten's past living conditions will stop me from helping him."

"Then what do you plan on doing, Lucas? I speak the truth when I say we can't support another child," Flint said, almost as coldly back.

"So if Claus were still alive, you would still throw one of us out?" Lucas asked.

"Claus is a different story Lucas, and you know it! Once I find him I'll have more time to make more DP for all of us, but if you bring that boy with you then I won't have time to make DP and search for your brother!" Flint snapped, almost sounding insulted that Lucas would suggest such a thing.

"So it's not that you can't support another child, you just don't want to," Lucas said, his cold smile refusing to leave his face.

"Lucas for all I know this kid could be used for an advertisement for those blasted happy boxes! I'm not going to help someone who brought in the greed in the first place! Now stop arguing with me and go back home!"

"You're only telling me to stop because I'm winning," Lucas said. "With every comment I make, you have to give up more ground. Your claims are not grounded in logic, father. Your next fallacy is so obvious that I don't think I even need to point it out."

Ninten slowly backed away from the two arguing with each other, he had never seen so much hostility between family before, not since… not since… Ninten blinked. Not since what? What was I even thinking about? It doesn't matter… This just feels like it's my fault… maybe I was a bad person before, I don't even know.

Ninten walked over to the tombstone and sighed. Over here, he could barely hear Lucas' and Flint's invective words. "Hinawa, right? It's very nice to meet you, ma'am. I only wish it could've been in person. I wish I could help your bitter husband and son from this, but I'm only an outsider. If only there was someway to help bring peace to them again, maybe the same peace they had when you were alive…"

"Ninten…"

"Hmm?" Ninten blinked, looking around. That's odd, I thought I heard someone saying my name…

"Ninten, it is nice to meet you as well…"

"What? Who's there?" Ninten asked as he looked around for the person speaking to him.

"Name… my name is Hinawa. Urg… words are so difficult to voice in this form."

"Hinawa…?" Ninten slowly turned back to the tombstone. "... Yeah, I am losing it. There's no way someone's who's dead can actually communicate with me!"

"Just like… dogs can't?" The voice had a touch of humor to it.

Ninten took a step back from the tombstone as if expecting a zombie to come out of it and attack him. "... Uh… w-why are you talking to me? I-I mean if you're really Hinawa and not a figment of my messed up imagination then why talk to me? I'm just a lost kid with no memory of his own."

"A lost kid with incredible power… power that might help my son."

"Power? I don't have any power…" Ninten frowned in confusion. "But… if I could help Lucas… I would. I just don't know if I can… his dad seems to hate me just for being near him. And there aren't any jobs open for us right now." He rubbed the temples of his head. Listen to me, I'm insane! I'm talking to a tombstone and a dead person!

"I see. You are… correct about my husband. I hoped that your power could help. So vast… I do not understand it."

"Wait… that voice I heard when I woke up in Sunshine Forest… and in my dreams… was that you?" Ninten's eyes widened a bit. "You've been trying to talk to me all this time? I-if you could really talk to the living, then why not your own husband or son? Lucas thinks talking to animals is NORMAL! I'm sure he'd be ecstatic to hear his mother's voice!"

"Yes, that was me. I tried to talk to Lucas, but… I could not. I do not know why. Perhaps…?" The voice trailed off.

"I still think I'm insane… but if you're really Hinawa's spirit talking to me… then could you please tell me what to do? I feel responsible for what's happening with Lucas and his father right now. Is there anything I can do to make things better?" Ninten asked softly.

"I do not know," The voice answered sadly. "I was desperate when I first spoke to you. I hoped that your powers could help. But you don't even know about them…"

"You keep saying I have powers…" Ninten frowned. "Wait, do you know anything about me? Anything at all?"

Footsteps could be heard coming up behind him and Hinawa's voice began fading away. Ninten frowned, having trouble hearing her voice. He shut his eyes in an attempt to concentrate better. "W-wait, don't go! You still haven't answered my question!"

"I saw that… you were carried off of a ship by pig people. That is all that I know. I am sorry."

Pig people…? Was I kidnapped by them? Were they the reason I lost my memory? Ninten thought to himself as the footsteps were right behind him before they stopped.

"Ninten," the person said. It was Lucas' voice. "Since my father is a xenophobic idiot, we are going to the factory."

Ninten opened his eyes before he said, "The factory? You mean the one that everyone was talking about? … But we don't have enough DP for a ticket, do we?"

"We can walk on the tracks! The trains hardly ever run, and we'll be off to the side for most of the journey."

"But I talked to Fuel about that, he said it's very dangerous. A-are you sure you want to go there, Lucas?" Ninten asked in concern.

"Yes!" Lucas exclaimed. "I'm not going to leave you alone, no matter what my father says. After all, he's a waste of oxygen. I bet his carbon footprint has a bigger impact on the world than he does."

"Erm… Lucas, I know you're mad at your dad, but please don't call him that," Ninten said softly. "I know he's a big jerk with a lot of hot air, but the man's pretty much broken inside and in denial that everything will go back to the way it was if he finds Claus."

"But he's still a waste of oxygen," Lucas argued.

"Nobody's a waste of oxygen, Lucas. Even the most evil person in the world deserves to live out his life, maybe to get redemption. Because once they die, it's over." Ninten said seriously. "People aren't born evil, but things happen that makes them that way. It's up to them and the people who cares for them to help pull them out of that dark hole they've found themselves in."

"But father refuses to pull himself out of his dark hole," Lucas replied without missing a beat. "Therefore, he's wasting his life. I know that he deserves to live, but he's still withering away, not helping anyone. But it's okay and it's not my problem."

"He just feels like he's in a hopeless situation and that his only shining hope is in your missing brother. If he could just let Claus go, maybe he'd be more willing to listen." Ninten said before shaking his head. "But like you said, it's not your problem." He began walking away from the tombstone before he turned back to Lucas and said, "By the way… apparently I can talk to the dead. I'll see you at the train station!" he quickly ran away, feeling his face heat up from suddenly saying that.

"Wait, WHAT?" he heard as Lucas ran in pursuit.

Ninten couldn't help but laugh as Lucas was chasing after him. He kept laughing as they ran to the train station, where Lucas jumped to pounce him down.

"Oof! H-hey man, for someone younger than me you sure are heavy!" Ninten wheezed from the ground.

Lucas' face turned from inquisitive to horrified.

"I… I did that to you," he whispered. "I jumped at you and tackled you. I… why? Why did I do that? Mother… why am I doing this?" he shook his head. "Do I care about you too much?" He turned back to Ninten. "I'm really sorry for that. I didn't know what I was thinking."

Ninten sat up and said, "I think you were just having fun, there's nothing wrong with that. Besides, it didn't really hurt." He dusted himself off.

"No, it's not the tackling…" Lucas said, trailing off, "It's that I couldn't control myself. I normally don't pounce on people like that. I wasn't just having fun, Ninten. I could have seriously hurt you! This isn't like me. I normally over think before taking action of any kind."

"I don't see what the big deal is." Ninten raised his eyebrow. "You mean to tell me you've never actually just be a kid and play with someone your own age before?"

"No, I have," Lucas said, "But I normally make a conscious choice to act like that. This time…" Lucas let his words trail off into an ominous silence.

"Okay, maybe Fuel's been rubbing off you more than you realized," Ninten said. "Come on, didn't you say we would have to walk to get to the factory? We should probably do that now so it wouldn't be too dark by the time we get there."

Lucas slowly nodded.

"All right… but what did you mean when you said that you could talk with the dead?" Lucas asked, cocking his head.

"Oh it's nothing really… I just think I'm going insane." Ninten frowned. "I… thought I was talking to your mother's spirit or something."

Lucas' eyes widened.

"I don't know what to say, Ninten. You're right; we should just focus on getting to the factory. We can worry about this later."

When the two were about to enter the tunnel, someone shouted, "WAAAAAAAAAIT!"

"Huh? WHOA!" Both Lucas and Ninten were suddenly grabbed from behind their shirts, and dragged away from the tunnel.

"What do you kids think you're doing!? Don't you know it's dangerous to go in there on foot? There are trains and chimeras all over the place!" A chubby, brown-skinned man scolded.

"We're desperate," Lucas responded evenly. "We need to work at the factory, but we can't take the train. This is our choice to be stupid, not yours!"

"You're going to the factory? On FOOT?" The man frowned. "You kids have your whole lives ahead of you, don't throw it away like that!"

"We take a risk or we starve to death," Lucas muttered. "This isn't going to be a habit."

"Hey man, is that Fassad handing out a new model of happy boxes?" Ninten suddenly pointed behind the man.

"He is!?" The man quickly turned around, looking for Fassad.

"Run, Lucas!" Ninten grabbed the blond haired boy's arm and began running into the tunnel before the man realized he'd been tricked.

"It makes me feel a bit guilty to do that," Lucas said, jumping off to the side of the train tracks. "He just wanted to help. But we really didn't have many options…"

"Well technically I was the one who did that," Ninten said as they were walking beside the tracks. "Some people are just very stubborn and you have to outsmart them if you want to get past them."

"Being stubborn isn't always bad," Lucas said. "Imagine if we were a couple of dumb kids playing chicken on the railroad tracks. He would have just saved our lives!"

"Oh I'm not faulting him for that," Ninten said. "Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate that kind of stubbornness when it's needed. But if it hinders more than helps, you'll have to take it in your own hands to do something about it."

Lucas smiled.

"I'm starting to wonder if you really are shy and reserved. I guess it's good that you feel comfortable enough around me to talk about these things."

"Honestly I don't even know how I know this. I feel like I'm talking from experience," Ninten said. "It's a little weird to feel like I should know this even though I don't."

"Chimeras ahead," Lucas noted, pointing towards a group of chicken-headed snakes. "They shouldn't be hard. Just make sure to stay off the tracks while you're engaging them, all right?"

"Right…" Ninten picked up a stick nearby. "I'll help you out, Lucas, if it's not too much trouble."

Lucas grinned.

"Thanks. It's always more fun to do things with a friend, huh?"

The two worked together to fend off of the chimeras and keep going ahead through the train tunnels. They came outside where there was a cliff and a ladder while they were fending off another chimera.

Ninten just finished smashing a mushroom dog chimera into the wall, knocking it out. "Little sucker bit me with its teeth!"

Lucas laughed.

"It's more fun to fight outside, huh?" he asked. "I don't know, maybe I'm alone, but I think that those trees provide some nice scenery… and what is that? Looks like some sort of ladder heading upwards. Should we check it out?"

"After walking for hours through the dark tunnel and outside again… I'm a little tired." Ninten sighed. "But maybe there's some food up there we can snack on."

Lucas examined Ninten, seeming perplexed.

"You've gotten hit by more attacks than I, but I could never tell from looking at you. You're holding up rather well. You probably have at least some military experience in your background."

"Military? I doubt that." Ninten chuckled. "They don't let anyone under 18 sign up for such a thing anyways."

The two reached the top of the ladder and were surprised to see a hot spring in the middle of nowhere.

"What the…? Why's there a hot spring out here?" Ninten questioned.

"And why is there someone in it?" Lucas added.

Ninten's eyes when when he saw a person with pink hair in the hot springs before he quickly turned around. "I-if it's a woman we probably shouldn't be looking at them!"

"Relax, she's fully clothed," Lucas said.

"Hmm?" the person asked. "You don't need to talk about me like I'm not here, darlings."

Ninten dared to turn back to the hot springs and saw the person was now facing them. With that face Ninten couldn't tell if it's a man or a woman. "Errr… we're sorry for disturbing you miss… uh… mister…?"

"Oh dear," the person said. "Don't apologize! It's not like I own this hot spring. But… oh my. Didn't I meet you before?" she asked Lucas.

The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"No," he answered. "I think that I'd remember you if I'd ever seen you."

The person looked disappointed, although not as much as Ninten would have thought.

"Oh, I should introduce myself, then! My name is Ionia."

"I'm Lucas."

"..." Ninten was still staring at Ionia, trying to decipher if it was a male or a female. "Huh? O-oh, my name is Ninten." He wanted to ask Ionia what gender she or he was, but he didn't want to be rude.

"Well that's nice, darlings. Why don't you come in? It's not every day that I get to see two humans that can use PSI."

"Um… what?" Ninten looked uneasy at the hot spring before turning to Lucas. "What's 'PSI'? Is it another thing that has to do with the magical healing properties of the hot springs? … It kinda sounds familiar."

"Never heard of it," Lucas said, shaking his head.

"Oh, dearie me!" Ionia exclaimed. "You children can use PSI, and you don't even know it?"

"Lucas, maybe we should go…" Ninten said nervously, not at all trusting Ionia.

Ionia looked shocked.

"You two don't want to learn about your own powers?"

"He means that he doesn't trust you," Lucas explained bluntly. "And I don't either."

"Tact Lucas, tact!" Ninten groaned at his bluntness.

"She doesn't get it!" Lucas countered. "I should at least explain why we want to leave."

"Does it really matter?" Ninten grumbled.

"Hmm?" Ionia asked. "Why don't you trust me? I thought that you humans were social creatures."

"We're not exactly keen on trusting every strange person we meet," Ninten answered. And so far, you're the strangest.

"Hold up," Lucas said. "What do you mean by 'you humans?' What are you?"

"I'm a magypsy," Ionia replied, not seeming to take offense. "It's not surprising that you children have never heard of me. How old are you?"

Why do I feel like things just got stranger? What the heck is a magypsy? Ninten thought to himself. "We're old enough to take care of ourselves."

"Oh, yes, you humans have a phase in your life when you rely on others!" Ionia exclaimed. "I forgot! Don't you have 'parents' or whatever they're called?"

"I don't know." Ninten said truthfully.

"You don't know?" Ionia asked, her eyes widening. "How tragic!"

"Listen," Lucas said. "You said something about 'PSI.' What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, so you are interested," Ionia said. "You humans are such inquisitive creatures."

Lucas blushed.

"I would just like an explanation," he said.

Ninten blinked as he recalled something from a faint memory. "PSI… PSI… doesn't that stand for psychic powers or something?"

Ionia nodded.

"Basically, dearie. It stands for psionics. And you both have the power to use it." She turned to Ninten. "Your powers are already activated. How did that happen?"

"What powers? I don't have psionics or anything," Ninten said in confusion. "Wouldn't I have known I was psychic? Like being able to hear people's thoughts or something?"

"You would assume so, yes," Ionia replied. "Humans with psionic powers can understand animals. Some of them can even converse with the dead!"

Lucas looked at Ninten, his jaw dropping. Ninten himself just stared at Ionia with his own jaw dropping.

"... Are you sure you're not another hallucination? There's no way we could have psychic powers!" Ninten pointed at Lucas. "He can understand animals but he doesn't even know what PSI is!"

Ionia took a close look at Lucas.

"I could have sworn that Aeolia activated your powers, dearie," she told him. "You can even use PK Love, just like your duplicate."

"Brother," Lucas corrected under his breath.

"Wait a minute… your brother met these guys?" Ninten sweatdropped. "Okay, maybe I don't want to know what happened to Claus."

"I didn't know that he did, but it appears so," Lucas said.

Ninten gave a sigh before he turned to Ionia. "Hey, if Lucas really is psychic, then why haven't he used any of those powers you claim he can use?"

"Because his powers haven't been activated yet!" Ionia exclaimed as if Ninten had ask her how to walk.

"Ugh…" Ninten was getting a headache from all this. "Alright… how does he activate them then?"

"I have to do it," Ionia replied. "Well, me or one of the other magypsies."

"Right, and how exactly do you activate the PSI within people?" Ninten asked.

"I just use my mind and tap into their power well and activate it," she explained as if it were obvious.

"Okay. Say we do this and Lucas's psychic powers awakens," Ninten said. "What will happen to him?"

"He'll be able to use psionic powers," Ionia said. "I don't know which ones, yet. PK Love radiates a strong aura, so I can detect that. I can probably check yours, if you like."

Ninten shook his head. "I-I'm good." He turned to Lucas. "What do you think, Lucas? Do you believe what this… magypsy's saying? Do you want to chance it and see if you really have PSI?"

Lucas closed his eyes, pursing his lips.

"Yes," he whispered.

"Alright, I'll stay here in case it tries to do anything funny," Ninten said as he stepped to the side of the hot spring so he could watch both Lucas and Ionia.

"Thanks," Lucas said, smiling weakly.

Ionia's eyes flashed with concentration, looking metallic yet hollow. Lucas closed his eyes and grimaced.

"I know that it's uncomfortable, but it will be over soon!" Ionia encouraged.

Lucas opened his mouth as if to utter a scream, but no sound came out.

"Just a little longer!"

After a few more seconds, Lucas opened his eyes. His azure irises shone with an icy fire.

"Lifeup," Lucas said, as if he were in a trance. "Healing. Love."

He shook his head, seeming to come awake.

"Lifeup alpha," he whispered, touching Ninten.

Ninten looked at Lucas in surprise at that, but green aura filled his body and he could see the small wounds around his arms disappearing and he felt a lot better. "W-whoa… what was…?" That felt very familiar… almost to the point it's nostalgic, even…

Lucas jumped into the air, pumping a fist.

"I did it!" he exclaimed, a grin spread across his face. "I can use PSI!"

"Whoa… congratulations Lucas, you're now a psychic!" Ninten chuckled. "But… maybe you should be careful on how much you use. I think you can only use so much before you mentally exhaust yourself."

"Correct," Ionia said. "If you ever feel weak, be sure to rest up in hot springs. They'll restore your psychic energy."

"The hot springs can restore mental energy too?" Ninten looked at the hot water in awe, he's never tried the hot springs before. "Wow, these things really are magical…"

"Aren't they?" Ionia asked. "Now, I must be going. Farewell!"

The magypsy made some hand motions that seemed oddly familiar to Ninten and vanished.

"Did it just teleport?" Ninten looked around before looking back at Lucas. "Hey, so how are you feeling? Any odd sensations about being psychic?"

"Surprisingly, no," Lucas answered, furrowing his eyebrows.

"You looked like you were in a trance when your psychic powers awakened. I was worried," Ninten said as he looked back at the hot springs. "... Think we should keep going now?"

"A trance?" Lucas asked. "I don't remember that. But yeah, we should probably get going."

The two of them climbed back down to the tracks and continued their way through the tunnel. "Yeah, you were in a trance… but I guess it didn't seem to harm you so…"

"Huh," Lucas said, shaking his head. "I guess we'll worry about that later."

Ninten nodded, looking at the long road ahead.


Ninten emerged from yet another tunnel. He felt… surprisingly well. He looked over at Lucas, who seemed to struggle with the strenuous walk. In an instant, Lucas' eyes flashed with alarm.

"What are you doing?" Lucas demanded. "Get off of those tracks! There's a train coming!"

What?

Ninten looked back and saw a pair of lights from the long, dark tunnel inside. They approached him at a rapid speed.

Oh no…

He looked at Lucas, who shared his look of horror. Without hesitation, they both began running off to the side… and then Ninten's shoe got caught on the tracks. He fell to the ground with a thud, but the pain was the least of his worries. Stupidly, he looked back and saw the train barreling towards him, chugging nosily.

I can't make it, he realized. It's too fast!

Ninten felt a hand grab onto his arm. The person pulled hard enough to send Ninten's foot flying out of its shoe only moments before the train roared by and halted to a stop at the next station. Heart pounding, Ninten dusted himself and stood up.

"Thanks, Lucas…" he trailed off as he saw the person in front of him. It wasn't Lucas.

Ninten found himself face to face with someone who looked exactly like him; the same black hair and eyes, the same stocky build, and even the same oval-shaped face. The only thing different about him was his outfit.

Oh my… he thought, his mouth unable to form words at the prospect of this absurd occurrence.