Part 3:

The day arose bright and clear and Gusto, as he watched the sun rise over the mountains, felt filled with renewed hope. It had been too long since had awoke early enough to actually see a sunrise, but if anything the view before him was even more beautiful than he had remembered. He stretched casually: the smile upon his face both genuine and easy.

"It looks like someone is in a good mood," Artie greeted him as he flew over.

"How could anyone be in a bad mood looking at a view like this," Gusto responded, waving his arm slowly to indicate the beauty before him.

"Good point," Artie agreed.

After taking in the sunrise a few more minutes, Gusto finally turned and went back inside to clean up. He talked almost continuously about some new ideas and projects he wanted to try; each idea somehow more fantastic than the last. It truly seemed that Gusto was back to his old self once more. This was not to say he had forgotten all about the Sunset Cavern. Instead, he had just gotten to the point that he could accept what had happened and could deal with it.

As soon as he was ready, he made his way toward Gummi Glen. He was earlier than usual, so he expected Grammi to still be in the process of making breakfast and Tummi to be the only one at the table. However, when he entered the dining room, he was surprised to see all the others, except for Zummi, sitting there, as if waiting for something or someone.

"Hey guys!" Gusto greeted. He was a bit unnerved, but he managed to keep his voice steady.

Gruffi stood up straighter and pulled out a painting from behind the table. "Gusto," he began, "What's this?"

Gusto looked at the cheerful painting, which Gruffi laid on the table. A young Gummi, a beautiful smile upon her youthful face, beamed from the canvas. Her blue hair, only a shade darker than her fur, was tied back by a large, green ribbon and fell to her shoulders in cascading waves. He immediately recognized the image because he had painted it only yesterday. "That's the painting I gave Sunni," he clarified, "Is there something wrong with it?"

Gruffi didn't answer at first, as he ran his callused fingers across the young girl's face. "When did you paint this?"

"Yesterday. Why?"

Turning around, Gruffi pulled out the charred portrait he had found in the city and laid it on the table next to Gusto's. Although this painting was badly faded, one thing became immediately obvious: it was the same girl. Although the dress she wore was different, she had the same oversized bow in her hair and innocent smile upon her face. "I found this painting in the ruins of the Sunset Cavern," Gruffi explained.

A myriad of emotions flickered across Gusto's face as he examined the paintings. "That's sure some coincidence," he finally remarked, his voice cracking slightly.

"This is no coincidence," Gruffi replied, sternly, "And you know it. It's the same girl." Taking a deep breath, he leaned forward. "Did you see this painting the other day when you were in the city?"

Gusto raised his eyes until his gaze met Gruffi's. For the briefest of moments, he considered lying, but his overall nature was of one who was honest and truthful. "No," he admitted softly.

Artie looked from Gruffi to Gusto, his expression grim. "He's painted her before," he volunteered, wincing as if he felt he was betraying Gusto.

Gruffi's eyes widened with genuine surprise. "Really?" he managed.

The Gummi artist nodded slowly nodded. "Many times."

"We jokingly dubbed her his muse," Artie added, "Whenever he's stressed or something, he paints another portrait of her. But I had always thought he'd made her up."

"Maybe the original painting's famous," Sunni spoke up, "And Gusto just saw it in a book or something."

"Is that possible?" Gruffi asked.

"I don't know," Gusto shrugged, "Maybe."

"Just answer me this one question," Gruffi continued, "Had you ever been in Sunset Cavern before?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know," Gruffi repeated, "How can you not know?"

"I just don't," Gusto voice rose slightly, "I can't remember. I can't remember anything."

"Gusto," Grammi said soothingly, walking over to him, "What are you saying?"

Gusto sat down heavily in a nearby chair. "I can't remember much about my past. It's just like I woke up one day from a long sleep," he replied, "I know how silly that sounds, but there's simply no better way of describing it. I awoke one morning and my mind was just empty." He paused as he looked at the portraits on the table. "Like a blank canvas."

"Amnesia?" Gruffi asked.

"I guess so," Gusto answered, "I was on the beach of the island when I awoke, so later I assumed there might have been a shipwreck or something." He rubbed his right temple, absently.

"How old were you at the time?" Grammi asked.

"Not really sure. A little older than Cubbi I guess."

"And you had no idea who you were?" Sunni spoke up.

"I did have one clue," Gusto said, "There were some art supplies and paintings on the beach around me. I liked art and soon as I painted a few more it was obvious I had created the other paintings, all of which had been signed 'Augustus Gummi'. I figured that was my name."

"You could paint when you were that young?" Sunni inquired. Despite the gravity of the situation, there was a certain amount of admiration in her voice.

Gusto's laugh was short and bitter. "I said they were paintings," he clarified, "I never said that they were good."

As Gruffi heard Gusto's confession, he suddenly felt ignorant for not realizing it sooner. While Gusto had not been exactly evasive when it came to his past, his answers were ambiguous at best. Once, Sunni had asked what day his birthday was, and Gusto's response had been that he liked to treat everyday like his birthday. Also, Gusto's explanation of how he became stranded on the island on the first place had never really been elaborated beyond, "…woke up and the beach was gone." Truthfully, Gruffi had assumed that Gusto had been running away from some sort of responsibility. "Why didn't you tell us before?" he demanded.

"I guess I should have," Gusto admitted, "but I always hoped that one day I was going to wake up and all my memories would be back. Sometimes, I would remember stuff when I was asleep. I'd wake myself up yelling out names I didn't know – although Artie said it just sounded like I was yelling my own name. Still, those memories just seemed so close at times I would sure I would have to remember something. But I never did."

"So you really could have been to The Sunset Cavern before?" Gruffi stated.

"I already said that…"Gusto began.

"You could have even lived there," interrupted Gruffi.

"But Zummi said there were no survivors," Grammi said.

"Elder survived," Gruffi insisted, "because he was in one of the other caves. It's possible that someone else could have survived too. If you saw that city being destroyed, it could explain why you ran and why you don't remember anything."

"Look," Gusto said, standing up, "I'm not saying it's not possible, but I don't know. I just don't know!"

"But don't you even want to find out?" Gruffi asked.

Gusto looked at Gruffi for a few minutes, the hurt showing clearly in his eyes. "How can I?" he finally asked, his voice barely audible. Without waiting for an answer, he turned and left the Glen.

"Why did you do that, Gruffi?" Grammi asked once Gusto had left, "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't understand why he doesn't want to find out," Gruffi responded, "He should want to know."

"Do you want him to know?" Grammi asked, "Or do you just want to know." She left the dining hall and went into the kitchen to prepare a late breakfast. Gruffi stood there a few minutes longer, her question weighing in his mind, and feeling more than a touch of guilt.

***************

"No, that's not right," Zummi mumbled to himself as he looked down at the spell he had been copying. He had written one of the words wrong and he had learned from experience that just one incorrect word could have disastrous results. Sighing, he rubbed his tired eyes for a moment. He had been copying down spells for most of the night, but most of his attempts were in balled up sheets of paper that lay upon the floor. It wasn't his tiredness that was causing him to make mistakes; he just couldn't get Elder's words out his head.

He turned and looked at the small journal that lay on a nearby table. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it would have been liked to be Elder and to see everything he knew and held dear destroyed around him. It must have been horrible. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock upon the library door.

"Come in," he said.

Grammi opened the door and stepped inside, a tray of food in her hands. "Good morning, Zummi," she greeted, but her voice seemed strained somehow, "I've brought you something to eat."

"Is it breakfast time already?" Zummi asked.

"Actually, it's past time," Grammi answered, "Breakfast is a little late this morning."

"Well that's fine," he responded as he walked over to take the tray from her hands. When he was closer, he noticed the odd expression on her face. "Is something wrong?"

She nodded. "Something happened this morning," she said. Slowly, she related the incidents of what had occurred with Gusto earlier. "So, what do you think?" she asked when she had finished.

"I suppose there is a possibility that Gusto could be from The Sunset Cavern," Zummi admitted.

"But isn't he a little young? I assumed that city had been destroyed a long time ago – before he was born."

"Actually," Zummi said, "If I read the journal correctly, the city wasn't built all that long ago."

"But if other Gummies were that close, than why didn't they come here?" Grammi seemed confused.

"I'm not sure. They were connecting a quick car tunnel to ours, but we didn't use our quick car tunnels until recently. They may have thought there was no one here."

"So Gusto could really have been from that city?"

"It's hard to say," Zummi stated, "But I don't see how they could have been other survivors. Elder clearly states that he was the only one." Zummi's voice cracked slightly, but he hoped that Grammi hadn't noticed

"You're probably right," Grammi responded, smiling slightly, "Thanks, Zummi. See you at dinnertime?"

"Sure," he said, as he watched her leave the library, closing the door behind her.

Truth was, Zummi had intended to keep his word with Grammi, but the time slipped away faster than he realized. Time for the next meal came and went, and he was still struggling with copying a few spells. Finally, late that afternoon he decided that he needed a break. As he walked past the table, he glanced down at Elder's journal. Picking it up, along with a few other books, he started to place it on a high shelf when it fell from his fingers. He put the other books on the shelf and bent down slowly but his hand froze before it touched the journal. The last half of the book was unused, but for the first time he noticed there was one page near the back that had been written upon – as if someone had just grabbed the book and wrote upon the first page they came to. As Zummi read the words upon the page, his blood ran cold. With a speed he didn't know he possessed, he ran into the main hall in search of the others.

He ran into the main room where Gruffi and Sunni were sitting. "Where's Gusto?" Zummi gasped, as he struggled to catch his breath.

"What? I don't know where he is," Gruffi responded, his voice still thick with guilt.

"What's going on?" Grammi asked, followed by Tummi and Cubbi.

"Does anyone know where Gusto is?" Zummi repeated, "We have to find him."

"Is he in trouble?" Sunni asked.

Zummi nodded. "Yes. I think we all are."

Just then, Artie flew into the room. "Where's Gusto?" Zummi and Sunni demanded simultaneously.

Artie seemed shocked. "He's not here? I haven't seen him since this morning. After we left, he said he wanted to come back and talk to Gruffi alone."

"He must be heading for The Sunset Cavern," Zummi said, "We have to stop him!" He ran towards the quick car tunnels, the others following close behind.

"What's this all about?" Gruffi asked.

Zummi didn't slow down as he explained. "You were right," he answered, "Gusto is from that city and he was there when it was destroyed."

"I knew it!" Gruffi exclaimed.

"But that's not all," Zummi added, as they reached the tunnels, "The sorcerer who destroyed the town placed some sort of curse on Gusto that will be activated if he's in that town at sunset."

"What?" cried Sunni.

"What kind of curse was it?" Grammi asked.

"I'm not sure," Zummi replied, "But I've never heard of a good curse before."

"Well, he definitely went there," Gruffi said, looking at his tools he had left in the tunnels, "He took a shovel with him." He looked at Zummi. "You say this curse becomes active at sunset?"

"Yes, that's why we have to hurry!"

"There's no way we can catch up to him if he left this morning," Gruffi said, "Unless…" his voice trailed off as he began searching through his tools.

"What are you doing?" Sunni asked.

"We can't catch him by running," Gruffi explained, "but if I can connect these tracks to the quick car tunnel to the city, we'll have a chance."

"Good idea," Zummi said, hurrying over to help as the other Gummies followed suit. Quickly, they put the two tracks together and readied a quick car.

"We're ready," Gruffi said, "The tracks should be fine, until we get to the end. Just do as I tell you to do. And Zummi, I want you to tell us exactly what's going on here."

Zummi nodded as he hoped they would make it in time.

***************

Gusto stood in the city, but felt nothing but the uneasiness he had felt the first time. Feeling defeated he sat down on the crumbled remains of a rock wall as he looked up at the sun, which would be setting soon.

When Gruffi had first suggested that he might be from this town, Gusto had been both saddened and relieved. The town was totally destroyed, so it was doubtful he would find any family or friends alive. Yet, if he was from here he might finally have a clue to who he really was. But how could anyone find clues in such destruction? He sighed loudly, as wiped the dirt from his clothes. He had only been able to dig a small hole in dirt and rock Gruffi had piled at the entrance.

Sighing again, his gaze turned upward towards the sun once more as he noticed just how fast it was moving across the sky. He had never seen anything like it before. Standing up, he began to feel dizzy and faint as the sun continued to race.

A large cave in the distance began to glow with power. Didn't the sorcerer rob the cave of its power? Still, the cave continued to glow, the light seeming to throb and pulse. He stepped forward and hit his foot over a rock. Leaning down, he picked the rock up in his hand, marveling at how the weight felt in his fingers.

"What are you planning to do with that rock?" an unfamiliar voice asked.

Gusto turned around slowly, his brain refusing to comprehend the sight that lay before him.

End Part 3.

Part 4 is coming soon. I hope you are interested.