Chapter Nine
Trying to Relax
Only a little while earlier, Sephie and Mona had arrived at James's medical room where the Chimpanzee was checking his equipment.
As the girls entered, James stood up straight.
"What have you done this time Percy?" he asked with a gruff tone "I swear to God, I'll..." he turned around and paused as he saw Mona and Sephie.
"Oh!" he said apologetically "I am sorry ladies, I thought it was that blasted grasshopper coming to me for treatment after Kate's attacks on him after his pranks on her, either him or that idiot Rattletrap after an experiment gone wrong!"
"It's okay." Sephie said then urged Mona forward and James saw her bleeding fingers.
"Jesus Christ!" the Chimpanzee gasped as he saw Mona's fingers "What have you been doing to yourself?"
"I found her in the Dojo." Sephie said "She was striking the wooden blocks, a lot harder than she normally does."
"I was practising my Tiger Kung Fu." Mona clarified.
James shook his head.
"Come here sweetheart." he said sitting Mona down on a chair then getting a bowl of disinfectant water so she could wash her fingers "Let's get those fingers seen to."
Mona nodded and sat down, and as she did so, she noticed a red stain on James's shirt under his white coat.
"James?" she asked "What happened to your shoulder?"
James looked confused then realised she had seen where Callum had pecked him.
"It was Callum." he sighed "I caught him trying to pull out his feathers when he was strapped down, so I had to restrain him further, and his beak caught me."
Mona and Sephie gasped.
"He did that?" Sephie asked.
"He apologised." James said "He claimed it to be an accident, but I'm sceptical, the way he was struggling, he wanted to get loose."
"Where is he now?" Mona asked in a desperate voice as James lifted her hands out of the water and dried them before placing some waterproof plasters on them.
"George went in to speak to him, and requested I release him." James explained.
"You what!?" Mona almost shrieked and Sephie gasped.
"You sure that was wise?" asked Sephie "You saw what he did yesterday after he found out he was a mutant and look what he did to you!"
"I know." James said looking at his shoulder "But Gramps requested I do so as he seemed to read Callum and he had gained our elder's trust, he's taken him out of here and taking him on a tour of Mutopia, also hoping to talk some sense into him."
Sephie sighed.
"I trust Gramps." she said.
"So do I." James said "But...I don't trust Callum." he looked at Mona "And I'm sorry to say that in front of you Monalisa, as he is your brother and all, but after what happened in the temple and how he has been in here, I'm not sure about him."
Mona said nothing.
Sephie looked at James sympathetically.
"I understand James." she said "He said such cruel things to Mona, especially when he said he would have preferred death to being mutated, my hope is that he will regret his actions."
James nodded.
"But until then, I'll be watching him." he said "I just hope George is able to get through to him and if heaven forbid the Raven has another meltdown, the other Mutopians, especially the Chicago Knights can stop him."
"You and me both." Sephie agreed.
James looked at Mona who still sat with her head down, almost too broken and drained to speak, let alone defend her brother who had practically disowned her.
"Your fingers are only peeling and bleeding," he said "Luckily you haven't broken any bones there, but I would keep those band-aids on until the wounds heal okay?"
"Very well." Mona said quietly "Thank you James."
"You're free to go." James said "Take care, both of you."
"Thank you again James." Sephie said wrapping an arm around Mona and leading her out of the Medical Room.
"Come on." she said "Let's find our swimsuits and towels and go to the public baths, we should be able to have some quiet time right now."
"Okay Sephie." Mona said.
James watched the lizards go off together and he sighed sadly.
"Poor Mona." he muttered as he continued to sort through his equipment.
After a while, Mona and Sephie arrived at the baths and to their delight there was no-one in there, though to be safe, Sephie wrote a note and placed it on the entrance giving a time they planned to stay in the baths to make sure there were no uninvited visitors.
Both lizards then walked into the cave area and they placed their towels and dressing gowns on the sides before stepping over to the large pool and slowly lowering themselves in it.
No sooner did Mona get into the water than she felt relaxed and she gasped as her muscles loosened.
Also the sounds of the waterfall on one side of the pool made her feel more relaxed since it was a natural sound.
"How does that feel?" Sephie asked.
"Lovely thanks." Mona replied as she leaned back and closed her eyes.
Sephie gave a weak smile seeing her friend relax, yet she could still see she looked so drained and broken.
There were dark rings under the lizard's eyes due to lack of sleep and there were dirty tear marks on her cheeks.
She didn't know what to say to her, whether she wanted to speak about Callum, or about her feelings of what had happened back home in Wisconsin, she was scared she would open up old wounds.
From what she could see, she didn't think anything could cheer Mona up, or ease the pain she felt, whether they spoke of the current situation or about something completely off topic.
Leaning back and relaxing into the water herself Sephie then heard Mona start to hum a tune and she soon recognised it as 'Time After Time' the Eva Cassidy song Mona would sing to Pandora, but it was also her mother's lullaby to her when she was a child.
Sephie lay in silence and listened as Mona hummed the song, and she could see the tears flowing again from her friend's eyes.
The Gecko sighed, she could tell how much pain her friend was feeling, she still felt guilt over her mother's death, even though it wasn't her fault, and she still felt hurt from Callum's cruel words to her.
If only there was something Sephie could do to help, she hated it when Mona was upset.
Just then, a thought shone within Sephie like a ray of sunshine, she sat up in the water and looked to Mona who had lowered herself down more and was almost submerged in the pool up to her neck.
"Mona?" she said quietly causing the lizard lady to open her eyes and turned to the gecko silently.
"Listen Mona." Sephie said "I don't know if this will help, but, I do have an idea."
"What?" Mona asked.
"When I was human." Sephie said "One of my main goals in life was to be a psychotherapist, as I wanted to help people."
"I remember that Missing Person's programme we watched years back." Mona said "They said that's what you planned to be when you were human, or at least to them, still alive, since you liked to listen to people and help them with their problems, and in a way you did...well you helped me, and listened to me."
She was remembering a time years back before the children were born when Tyroth and Sephie were visiting New York and whilst innocently channel surfing, they had come across a programe about missing people and Mona, Sephie and Tyroth were mentioned on it.
"I did." Sephie said with a nod "And not just because you're my best friend, but I could read you, I could see the darkness within you when we first met, and that Christmas when you were jealous of Tyroth."
Mona felt her cheeks go pink as she remembered that Christmas several years back when Tyroth and Amber's parents visited Mutopia for their first Christmas together since being reunited, even if it was through horrible events that lead them together again.
"Don't be ashamed Mona." Sephie said quickly noticing Mona's blushes, she knew Mona still felt embarrassed and guilty over her behaviour back then, even though Sephie sympathised with her and her feelings that time.
"Anyway, to get right to the point," The Gecko continued "What if I talked to Callum?"
Mona's eyes widened.
"You'd do that?" she asked.
Sephie nodded eagerly.
"Of course!" she said "Look, if Callum refuses to speak to you or Jake, maybe he needs someone he doesn't have a connection with, if George was able to get through to him, and I hope he has, as so far there hasn't been an incident..." she waited for a second, hoping she wouldn't jinx it.
"If Gramps was able to get through to him..." Sephie continued "Maybe I could try, and see what lies beneath the darkness he feels, maybe even get him to open up again!"
Mona looked at Sephie in silence.
"You think you can try and get Callum to talk to me again?" she asked, she was doubtful after everything that had been said and done, yet she still held onto that hope she could reconnect with her younger brother.
"I can only try." Sephie said "I'll do everything in my power to try and get through to him."
Mona's eye lit up, then she waded over to the gecko and hugged her close, fresh tears filling her eyes.
"Oh Sephie." she said "Thank you so much!"
"Anything for my best friend!" Sephie said looking at Mona in the eye.
"When we're done here." she said "I'll see if I can talk to Callum, I'm sure he'll be allocated a room here, and I'll see if I can gain his trust."
"It's not going to be easy." Mona sighed.
"No, it won't." Sephie said "But I don't need easy, I just need possible."
Mona nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure Jake will consent." she said "I just hope it works!"
Meanwhile, George had finished showing Callum all of Mutopia and had lead him to his allocated room which was located in the residential area.
Callum walked over to the bed and sat down.
"Thank you for showing me your home." he said.
"My pleasure Callum." George said "But I can see you are tired, and still need to gather yourself after everything that has happened."
Callum nodded in agreement.
"Your brother and sister made sure all your belongings were brought to this room after you arrived here."
Callum glanced over at the belongings he had that were in a corner and he glowered slightly.
"Thanks again." he said without looking up.
"I will let you rest for a while." George said "And if you feel ready, you may come out and join us, I believe Louie will have lunch ready at One thirty, and I will speak to Tyroth about getting you some lessons in using your wings."
"Thank you again." Callum said, to which George closed the door and Callum could hear the old turtle walk away.
For a while, Callum sat on the bed and cradled his head in his hands. He had held his emotions together whilst walking around the village and whilst he was grateful to have learnt about where he was, he still wasn't used to being a mutant.
Feeling his feathered face, he stood up and saw a small mirror on a dressing table, wanting to see his features again, and this time more clearly than what he saw in the well.
Stepping in front of it, he took a look at his reflection and he saw the face of a large humanoid Black Raven looking back at him!
"No..." he stuttered, as if fully awakening, yet not from a nightmare he couldn't wake up from! He reached out his black taloned hand to touch the mirror and the reflection and he thought about how things had changed so dramatically.
Tears filling his eyes, he took a swipe at the mirror and it smashed to the ground, cracking into large splinters.
He then looked towards his belongings and saw some photos that had been left there of his family on top of the bags and as himself as a human and he brought his talons down on them, scattering them and some caught in his sharp talons before being ripped and torn apart.
As the photos scattered around him like confetti, he leaned on the bed and tears of anger and frustration poured from his eyes.
"Why...?" he cursed "Why...?" he then saw a photo of himself, Jake and Mona as younger children smiling at the camera on a sunny day, float in front of him and he glared.
Seeing the faces of the three of them looked like they were mocking him, and he slashed through it with his talons before burying his head in his feathered arms and shaking like a leaf as he cried in anguish and despair.
So Sephie has decided she wants to talk to Callum and see if she can bring him round, can she do it, or will it all be in vain? Guess we'll find out in due course.
Meanwhile, even though Callum has held it together in front of George and the Mutopians he had met, he is still furious and hateful of his new form.
Note: The events of the Missing Person's programme Sephie and Mona talk about come from Tyroth Darkstorm's 'Memories of the Lost' and the Christmas Incident Mona speaks of is from my Christmas fic 'Mona's Wonderful Life'