Undiscovered Power
~
"Did you stay up the entire night?" Leo asked his brother, as he walked tiredly into Donny's lab. It was late in the morning, early afternoon, and Leo had only just woken. He had not got to sleep for hours last night after he had gone to bed, and he could not remember closing his eyes. Now, he walked into his brother's workroom, and found him at his chair, rotating it gently with a pensive expression on his face. His computer was flashing standby at him, but he didn't seem to have noticed. He looked slightly ill from loss of sleep.
"Um," Donny muttered distantly, as though it was one of his many automatic reactions to a question the back of his brain only just recognized.
Leo stood still and watched his brother with a concerned frown creasing his bandanna ridges. Neither said anything for a few seconds, in which time Mikey could be heard awaking from the Lair behind Leo. Then Donny broke the silence.
"D' y' think it's possible to return from the dead?" He asked Leo, in a little less that thoughtful tone. He did not look at Leo, but continued to swing his chair gently to and fro, using his feet to stop, and then push off in the other direction before stopping and repeating this.
Leo frowned at the question, and looked at his brother. "Why do you ask?" He said in a soft tone.
Donny did not answer straight away, but continued to look at the floor. After two or three seconds he spoke again.
"It's just, after our encounter with that magical man, I'm beginning to wonder if anything else that we used to think was impossible, is possible . . ."
Leo considered this. As he thought about it, he did realize that no one would have believed in magic, and they hadn't, until they were turned human by it; by one man who performed an amazing disappearing act as a glowing orb of light. And if magic DID exist, then other things might also . . .
"Considering the magic that we saw four months ago, my answer is more lost," Leo said. "I couldn't give you one." He was, in fact, more confused about the fact that there could be the possibility that people could return from the dead. Before five months ago Leo would have said he believed it absolutely impossible, but now, well, his mind was certainly changed for a lot of things.
Donny did not say anything, but he did seem to have at least heard Leo.
"Why?" Leo asked again, wanting to know the reason his brother had asked in the first place. Donny sometimes does talk to Leo about many things, computer related or not, and Leo does not question why he brought them up, which he sometimes does do randomly. But they were in a situation where this question was a little odd, and his brother did not seem to be his proper self.
Donny did not, again, answer at once, nor did he answer Leo's question straight. Instead he said, "I believe that, for an artifact this powerful, and if it was made for someone, then that someone would have to be alive, right? Otherwise this artifact probably would no longer be here, so its power couldn't be used by wrong hands . . ."
"I suppose," Leo said carefully.
Donny paused. "Remember me telling you the other day that Raph said to me he recognized the symbols on the artifact?"
Leo walked forward a step, wondering why Donny was asking him this, and the mention of Raph's name waking an unpleasant feeling in his stomach. He suddenly needed to get out and search again, but he thought he should see what his brother was going to say. It seemed important, even though Donny had not said it was.
"Yeah," Leo said slowly.
Donny looked up from the floor and glanced at his brother before directing his eyes to the wall behind him.
"Well, I didn't say where he saw them, Mikey only assumed Raph saw it in a dream," Don said. "But, he told me when we were getting ready for practice that day, before Splinter got up, just as you came in, and I told you he was imagining things again." Leo nodded, he remembered. "Well, he told me he had seen it, at Vinilla High," Donny watched Leo's face, "on Prida's necklace . . ."
Leo looked up from the floor into his brother's face, a highly confused expression. Donny nodded.
"It was Prida's pendant," Donny confirmed, remembering the chain that was always around their friend's neck.
Leo made a small motion as if to shake his head, but didn't. Leo looked at the floor and then back at his brother.
"What does this mean?" He asked.
Donny, again, did not answer the question. "Do you also remember me telling you that whoever this artifact belonged to was born the same time as we were?"
Leo nodded and said in a quiet voice, "Fifteen years ago, they'd be the same age as . . . us." He looked at Donny as realization dawned over his expression. "You think . . ." he made small motions with his hands as he spoke, "that – that this artifact was . . ." he broke off, but Donny began speaking after him.
"I found something else on the Internet last night, that made me sure I know what I think is right."
Donny reached behind him to the desk, and pulled his hand back holding the Eye artifact. He tossed it to Leo, who caught it instinctively without a blink. He looked down at it, and looked at Donny, questioning why his brother had thrown it to him.
"I read, last night, on the Internet," Don informed Leo, "that the artifact has a feature which is identical to the person it was created for."
Leo looked down at the small triangular metal piece in his hands, turning it over. His eyes locked on to the two symbols.
"But, if these symbols are the same as Prida's pendant, then it's not technically a feature is it?" He said.
Donny shook his head. "No, no it's not, because that isn't the feature of the person. Look again."
Leo frowned, but returned his eyes to the artifact, taking in very like of the twisting metal around the crystal. But he could see nothing that might look like the feature on a human being. He looked back up at Donny, frowning.
Donny did not look annoyed that Leo could not see. He said, "The crystal in the center is called the 'Eye' right? Well . . ."
Leo looked back down at it again, then looked up, and Donny nodded at Leo's expression.
"The purple Eye," Donny said carefully.
"But Prida's dead," Leo said, his frown increased. "And you said it would probably disappear on its own."
"So, maybe it chooses someone else when the first has gone," Donny suggested quickly. "Maybe it might change its 'feature', I don't know."
"Maybe when the person who it was made for dies," Leo started, "then the power that it held only for them is open to anyone now, anyone who knows how to activate it. It might be the reason the crooks stole it only a few days ago, since they had been looking for it for a while, maybe they knew . . . maybe they knew Prida had died, and decided that they could now unlock its power."
Leo looked convinced of his theory, while Donny only half so. He couldn't help feeling, however Leo's assumption seemed better, that there had to be something else to this. Leo did not think it was wise to be returning their attention to a ridiculous idea of life after death, only because a few clues pointed to someone who had been dead, and was in no doubt, not coming back. They had to let that go, but it was still hard.
"Maybe," Donny said, his eyes now clouding over in thought as he stared at the floor with his chin held on his finger and thumb.
Mikey, who had been stood outside the doorway against the wall, gave a silent sigh and turned away towards the dojo. He entered the room with thoughts flying around his head. So Leo and Don thought that the artifact might now become someone else's, or it could be activated by anyone now. Well, if it was the former, Mikey felt sure it had to be one of his family who it would decide was worthy enough to belong to.
"Mike?"
Mikey looked up to find himself sat down in the dojo, and Leo's head was peering through the doorway at him.
"I'm going to search," Leo said in a quiet voice. He could not help but think that searching for their brother was a futile effort, because they had looked in every place Raph would be seen, or could be. They were still baffled as to how their brother could just disappear one night, soon after their discovered information that he had been running, with only his hat left in a street not far from April's. They would have known if the Foot had got hold of him, as they would have either seen some of their activities, or else been delivered a threatening note to April which would then be passed to them. But it was as if their brother had disappeared, leaving only his hat.
"I'll come," Mikey said in a slightly louder tone than his brother's. He wanted to get away from the enclosed spaces of the sewer, and into fresh air where he could think without having memories and thoughts pop into his head with every object his eyes laid upon in their home. He just wanted space at this minute. Mikey stood up and followed Leo, who had disappeared a few seconds ago, out of the dojo. Donny was remaining in his lab, casting a look at the pair as they walked by his door, which clearly showed his thoughts about the hopelessness of their search. They felt the same, but dared not admit it.
Don turned back to his computer as he listened to the sounds of his brothers leaving. He heard Splinter leave his train compartment, probably to get some food. Their Sensei had done nothing but meditate, trying as best as he could to locate their missing brother. But either he was too ill for his mind to be noticed, or . . . Don didn't want to think of the later. Instead he focused his attention on the artifact. Maybe, if he took up topside it might act as a detector for something. Donny still did not know why it was here, or what it would do if it were going to.
()()()()
Prida had slept in her own bed that night, as her friend had not woken up again that day, and she had the feeling he wouldn't be waking in the night neither. She had not been able to sleep, even though she felt exhausted, and by the time she had managed to fall into slumber, her bed duvet had been kicked and pushed to the floor from her constant twisting and turning in bed. The bottom sheet had been pulled up from trapped between the mattress and the bed frame, and her worn, light purple spaghetti top that she slept in was twisted uncomfortably around her torso, the beck drenched in the sweat she had worked up while trying to sleep. In all, when she woke the next morning she was dying for a bath and at the same time a nice cool breeze. Her hair was a nightmare, but somehow she only managed to snap a few teeth from her hairbrush.
The sound of the distant doorbell rang downstairs and with a morning frown Prida looked at her computer desk at the clock stood there, reading 9:10 am.
She was just about to mutter "who the hell?" but immediately realized it was probably the one person she just wished would leave her alone while she had a mutant turtle in her basement. She stormed downstairs, and reached her kitchen as another doorbell rang through the house. With a stony face, she began unlocking the bolts, turned the key in the door and pulled it open to be meted by the person she had guessed.
"Jo," she said, aware her expression was probably not the best to visit someone at the front door.
"Hey Prida, babe," the black-haired, handsome teenager greeted. "I was worried when you didn't answer the phone yesterday."
Prida's shoulder dropped in a sigh as she stared at him. He rang her house no less that six times yesterday, but she had ignored it, busy in finishing the Symptoms and Cures book.
"I was in the shower," she replied flatly, after a second's pause in which she thought up the lie.
"Really . . . ?" Tooks said slowly, glancing at her hair, of which the tint of slick light from it could describe it as slightly greasy. "Well, I thought maybe you would be feeling better today, aaaaand I just came by to see if yoooou wanted any company, or needed something, or perhaps come with me to the park in a nice day out." The word 'nice' seemed to take some effort to pronounce in the right tone.
"No thank you, Jo," she replied in the same flat tone as before. She watched him with lazy eyes, as though she wasn't too bothered about the things she usually considered he could do were going to happen. She appreciated the fact that he spoke to her in such a friendly manner that no one would have thought it was him had they heard him instead of seen him, but she was still annoyed that he wouldn't leave her alone; and even though he didn't know she had a friend in the basement, she felt she was still allowed to be mad at him.
Tooks sighed deeply, but a half smile remained on his face. "Well, maybe you might change your mind later," he said.
All the more irritated that he wouldn't give up even when she had spoken to him like that, she moved her lower jaw and rolled her eyes at the air some few inches from Tooks' head. But she was caught by surprise when she found her chin was gently held in his forefinger and thumb, and his warm lips were planted on hers. Before she could even jerk away, he had broken apart, gave her a quick, small smile, turned and walked down her driveway to the gate.
"Ooooh," she growled, angry with him. She slammed the door, finding half the anger aimed at herself for the second after that kiss to find that she hadn't been mad. "I hate you Tooks," she muttered, though she did not mean any of it.
Prida turned to the kitchen, where she quickly filled a glass with milk, and made some cereal. Then she took them down to the basement, where she froze, watching her friend's head toss as though having a bad dream. Perhaps he was, but he was sniffing through a blocked nose, and Prida didn't like the sound of it.
"Hey, hey Raph," she called gently, placing the glass of milk and the bowl down, next to the water bowl, on the small table next to the bed.
"Huh?" He murmured as his eyes opened and adjusted to the light.
"You were having a nightmare, I think," Prida said, looking down at him while sitting down on the edge of the bed, as he sat up.
Raph shook his head. "No, no I wasn't," he said thickly through a bunged up nose. "They've all gone now."
"Well you was tossing your head at something," she said, frowning in concern at the sudden change of his voice from yesterday. He was definitely worse. She picked up the milk and handed it to him. "Here, get some fluids down ya."
While he drank it noisily, and she watched, she asked, "do you guys have a phone down in the sewers? Any way I could contact your brothers . . . I think they should be looking after you, not me."
He lowered the glass and huffed. "I'b fine," he tried to say. Prida snorted.
"Right," she said sarcastically, stretching the word. She handed him the cereal bowl as he gave her a look for steal his sarcasm.
"Yeah, we do have a phone," he said, spooning out milk and maize squares.
Prida glanced about for a pen while he crunched on his breakfast, and pulled open the bottom draw of three on the small table, where, luck would have it, she found a green gel pen. Unfortunately there was no paper, so Raph ended up writing his phone number untidily on the back of her hand.
"How am I mean to read that?!" She questioned with a smile, trying to turn her hand around so the numbers were the right way up.
"Use yur eyes," he said through a mouthful of cereal, holding the bowl up beneath his chin, as there was a trickle of milk dripping from it.
"Ugh," Prida said, in humorous disgust. "Be right back."
As she got up to go to the stairs, he said, "Tell 'em s'me, an' al introduce ya la'er."
"Right," she said over her shoulder, and chuckled. She moved up the stairs, and as she did, her heart began to pound faster with every step. She was going to be talking with Mikey, Donny or Leo in a minute or two, after so long. She was soon stood in front of the phone, and had picked the received up. She swallowed and looked at the back of her hand, on which the green gel ink scribbled unclear numbers. Without realizing, she misread one of the numbers, and punched in the number. She let out a deep breath as the first dial tone rang. It rang four more times before it was picked up, and her heart did a somersault and back flip; but she was met by no voice she had heard before.
"Hello?" Came a deep, middle-aged man's voice.
Prida's mouth formed the word twice before she actually said it. "Hi, er . . ." then she whispered, "I think I've got the wrong number, I'm searching for a . . . Leonardo?"
"Sorry, no one by that name here," came the reply, and her heart sank. Raph had given her the wrong number.
"Sorry," she regained her normal voice, and listened as the other end said a gruff, "okay, bye," and a click as the other end was put down. The drone of the dial tone replaced it. With a deep, shaky sigh she put the phone back, and stood there for a few seconds, before making her way back down to the basement where the empty cereal bowl had been replaced next to the empty milk glass.
"You gave me the wrong number," she said lightly, as though it was a common mistake.
He frowned. "No, I don't think I did, I know our number." He held his hands out for the back of her hand where his number was written, and she sat down on the edge of the bed while he squinted at the back of her hand.
Raph took a long blink and tried to focus his eyes on the writing again, but it had suddenly become blurred, as the effort of trying to read made his head spin, and before he knew it Prida's hands were steadying him and laying him back against the pillows.
"Can't read it," he breathed, closing his eyes. A wave of sickness washed over him. He felt her hand pressed against his forehead, and it felt surprisingly cool against his skin. When she took it away he could properly feel the real heat of his skin, and it made him grunt uncomfortably.
"Okay Raph, I'm gonna try April again," Prida said in a low tone, her heart had just quicken when he had almost collapsed forward.
"She'll be at work," he spoke quietly.
"I've gotta try," Prida whispered in the same tone, her brow was furrowing anxiety. One hand was still gripping his arm, while the other was stroking his cheek. They were burning to an alarming temperature, and suddenly Prida felt useless. She couldn't help someone with a human cold, never mind a turtle, and she didn't even have his brothers' phone number. What was she going to do? Phone April, Prida you idiot! You just said that – do it now!
She stood up straight, and with another, "Be right back," she ran to the stairs, and jogged up them to the phone she had been stood in front of a minute ago. She quickly pushed the numbers that made up April's phone number, and listened to the hopeless tones ring on and on. With an impatient grunt, she threw the receiver back and ran back down to the basement, where her friend was, again, tossing his head in a feverish way. He appeared to be caught in sleep, yet his breathing was as though he was running, and then it paused before continuing in an irregular pattern. Prida was sure this time it was not the cause of a nightmare; it was his fever. The worst thing was she didn't know if it would get worse.
()()()()
"Donny you should get some sleep tonight," Leo said as he walked into the lab Donny spent so much time in. His brother was, wear he was mostly found, in front of his computer screen.
Leo and Mikey's search had found nothing, but the lack of clues of their brother's disappearance only seemed to now make him determined to find some, and so he ordered them out tomorrow all day to look.
"I'm not staying up all night tonight," Don assured him. "I've found all I can about the artifact from the net." Donny had filled Leo in about his thoughts that the artifact might act as a detector, so Don aimed to take it topside with him tomorrow.
"Good," Leo sighed, staring off into space. He blinked back and looked at the back of the Donny's chair. "Goodnight, Don."
Donny heard his brother leave, and he switched him computer off, remaining in silence and darkness for a few minutes with thoughts spinning around his head. He got up and made his way to his and Leo's room. He could hear his brother's slow breathing, meaning he had already fallen asleep. Leo wore himself out easier than the other at times. Maybe he had more to worry about, like being the leader, and how you organize a search for a brother who, if the right organized search is not issued, might not be seen again. Donny didn't have much time to think about much before he himself had joined Leo in deep sleep.
()()()()
Prida put the phone down with a hopeless sigh. She had phoned April's so many times she was surprised no one from surrounding apartments broke into the house just to answer it. The phone had never been used so many times in one day. Apart from April's, and the wrong number, Prida had phoned the vet, asking if pet turtles could get colds, and then she asked to describe what kind of cold 'it' had, and when she told him, he informed her that no turtle should have this kind of cold, and after that she thanked him and hung up. She had only just gotten off the phone to the doctor, feeling, at the beginning of the phone call, thankful he stayed in late. But after she had described the symptoms of the fever she guessed a friend had, the doctor said with serious symptoms like that he should be brought in and seen to at the hospital. Saying it was for a school information essay, she thanked him and gave the phone a rest. One good thing about phoning all day was that Tooks wouldn't have been able to get through.
Prida made her way to the basement, and observed her friend from the end of the wall. She had brought a small candleholder down here, and lit the purple candle for the turtle, making a change from the bright light of the electric powered bulb. The dancing flame threw the room into a beautiful glow, and with a soft smile, she silently made her way to her sleeping friend, who was laid on his stomach, face towards her with his visible arm buried under the pillow, having moved earlier on when he was half asleep. She kneeled on the bed, and lay down between him and the wall the bed was against. She propped her head on her elbow, and with her other hand, she ran a hand gently over his shell, fascinated by the patterns, and also by the scratches obviously inflicted in some fight. With her forefinger, she traced the grooves in his shell, until a small, quiet chuckle made her stop and realize her friend was awake.
"Tickles," he muttered, and she could tell he was smiling.
"You can feel that?" She asked very quietly and softly.
"No, I can feel the movement, vibrations; but I can't feel the touch."
Prida smiled and they both remained quiet for a few seconds. Then Prida lent over Raph and blew out the candle, and then she lay back down, and snuggled her cheek into the pillow, and closed her eyes. They both fell asleep from exhaustion twenty seconds later.