A/N: Next chapter! Lucas follows the letter's instructions, and finds much more than he bargained for...

Chapter 2: Eight Melodies

Lucas hadn't gotten much sleep last night. His mind had been on what the letter had said about "peace coming to an end." He was constantly wondering how that would happen… it was true that he had been worried about chimera attacks, like Kumatora had suggested way back when he pulled the final needle. However, the chimeras were purely territorial; they only attacked things that didn't belong in their living space, and this didn't include Tazmily, so they kept away. And there hadn't been a single crime committed since New Pork City was evacuated, much to his surprise; he thought at least one or two Pig Masks would have gone insane over the loss of their leader, but somehow they all had managed to adjust.

Thus there were only two hours last night when the question "What's going to happen?" didn't occupy Lucas' thoughts, as was evidenced by his father having to speak loudly into his ear to wake him up the following morning. With bags under his eyes and his ears ringing, he was certainly in no condition to rise or shine, but knew that he had no choice. "Unhh... not so loud..." he responded with a slurred voice.

Flint let out a sigh. "I was beginning to think something was wrong with you." he said. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

Lucas groaned, his eyes still closed as he rubbed them. "Not much…" he murmured.

Flint had put two and two together and asked, "Something on your mind?"

Lucas sat up, shaking his head as his eyes opened slightly to look at his father. "How did you know?"

"No noise to keep you awake, it doesn't look like anything is wrong with your bed and I know you're not sick. The only thing left is if your mind is stuck on something." Flint explained.

"…Oh." Lucas replied simply. He probably would've been impressed by his father's logic if he weren't half-asleep.

"So what's the problem?" Flint asked.

Lucas groaned as he rubbed his head tried to think, discovering that he had bed hair yet again. This was starting to get old. "Uhh…" He looked around for a moment, and his eyes found the note that he had received last night. "H-here it is." He grabbed the note and handed it to his father.

Flint began to read the note, slightly confused as to why reading something would rob his son of his sleep. Once he read it however, he began to understand, but he wasn't convinced. "There haven't been any disasters in the last six months… this seems like someone's idea of a prank to me." he told his son. "Although… if it is true, then what could he mean?"

"That's what I've been wondering all night." Lucas told him, getting to his feet and walking over to his drawers, opening them up and pulling out his usual style of clothing.

"But it concerns me that the sender would want you to come alone." Flint continued. "It might be a trap."

Lucas tucked his clothes under his arm and made his way to the shower. "Then I'll have to arm myself. And it's at Osohe, so Kumatora will be there if something happens."

Flint put a hand to his chin, stroking his light beard. "That is true… but still, you should be careful."

"I will, Dad."

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Even in the daytime, Osohe Castle seemed as dismal as always. Then again it's only residents -- aside from Kumatora herself -- were all ghosts, so that wasn't too surprising. The gate to the castle was down, so Lucas casually walked inside, fully awake after he had his shower. His brother's sword was strapped to his waist just in case something did go awry, but he still had the gut feeling that his cause for being here was justified.

"Damnit guys, where did you all go!?" came a voice from beyond the castle's main door. Lucas recognized it as Kumatora's; curious, he used the old-style doorknob to knock on the door. It slightly opened up a moment later with Kumatora standing on the other side. "Oh, hey Lucas."

"Uhh, hi." Lucas responded timidly. "I heard you yelling… do you have visitors?"

"Please, the only ones that come here are you and Duster." Kumatora replied flatly. "No, I'm wondering where all the ghosts went off to. I'm used to them partying in the common room like they do every day, but now it's like they're gone from the face of the earth."

"All of them?" Lucas asked. Kumatora nodded. "Wow, that is weird, even for those guys… but I think I might know why." Lucas said, pulling the note from last night out of his pocket.

Kumatora was immediately curious, grabbing the note from his hand and reading it over. "Wow, this guy's got some nerve, planning some super-secret meeting on my home turf… but why would all the ghosts just disappear because of this?"

Lucas shrugged. "Maybe he told them to?"

"They don't even listen to me half the time." Kumatora deadpanned. "He'd either have to be really powerful or scare their sheets off."

"Well anyway, he said he wanted to meet me in the courtyard, where the needle was." Lucas reminded her.

Kumatora put a hand on her chin, thinking for a moment. She then opened the door fully to allow Lucas passage. "Alright, but I'll be keeping an eye out. Something about this seems pretty cheesy…" she said. Lucas had to agree.

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Lucas opened the doorway to the castle courtyard. This was the only part of the castle grounds that still had life in it, it seemed; the grass and other plant life in the area was lush with bright and dark greens. In the center of the courtyard was the place where the Dark Dragon Needle rested, still spewing out small puffs of purple gas. Walking over to the small hole in the ground, he could still feel a strong power emanating from it. The events of when he pulled the final needle played in his mind again. Claus had pulled some of the needles before he did, the one in this courtyard included.

"So you came…"

Lucas gasped, drawing the Thunder Sword on instinct; the voice he heard… it was young, like a child's, but he could actually feel the power behind it. Something strong was nearby, he knew. His eyes frantically scanned the courtyard, but there was nowhere to hide in the wide open space; he saw no one. He then looked up to the tower balcony, but the only person he saw up there was Kumatora, who was looking down at him with a puzzled expression. "Hey, Kumatora! Do you see anyone else down here!?" he called out to her.

"No, I just see you!" Kumatora called back. Though her curiousity had been piqued by Lucas' startled reaction, so she began to focus her PSI, trying to feel for any other form of life in the courtyard… but she felt nothing. Something wasn't right.

"Don't bother looking, I'm not actually in the courtyard. I'm speaking to you through your mind."

Lucas froze in place in realization. "You're… psychic!?"

"Lucas, what's going on down there!? I just see you talking to yourself, and I can't sense anyone either!" Kumatora yelled to him.

Lucas looked up at her and called back, "The guy is psychic! He's using telepathy to talk to me!"

Kumatora was taken aback. "Telepathy… even I haven't mastered that yet." she said to herself. But if he was psychic, then shouldn't she be able to sense his power or at least hear what he was saying by focusing her own PSI? Someone strong enough to use telepathy should stick out like a sore thumb to her… and yet, she couldn't sense any life other than herself and Lucas, let alone pick up on any of the words the intruder was saying to him. "Lucas, be careful! Whoever is talking to you is really strong!" she warned.

Lucas didn't have to be told that, considering what he'd felt earlier. "Who are you!? What do you want!?"

"I can't tell you who I am, not yet. But I can tell you that Nowhere Island is in deep trouble."

"In trouble from what?" Lucas inquired.

"A great evil that was supposed to be destroyed centuries ago. An evil so strong, it will destroy what's left of mankind if it isn't stopped. And you, Lucas, are the only one who can stop it."

Lucas blinked. "And what can I do?"

"The sword you're carrying."

He glanced down at his sword. "My brother's sword?"

"Yes. Drive it into the needle hole in front of you."

Lucas looked at the hole where the Dark Dragon Needle his brother pulled once rested, and then back at his sword. "I… what?"

"Drive the sword into that hole, and absorb the power there."

Lucas looked down at Claus' sword, then at the hole. The power coming from it was strong… could the sword even handle it? "What's up? What did he say?" Kumatora called down, not having any idea what was going on.

"He wants me to put Claus' sword into this needle hole!" Lucas informed her. "Something about absorbing its power! Should I give it a try?"

"Well…" Kumatora muttered, unsure of what he meant. She then shouted down to him, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained I guess! But be careful!"

"Yeah… r-right." Lucas said at normal volume, raising the sword and pointing it at the hole. "Here goes!" he shouted out, impaling the Thunder Sword into the needle hole. He could feel something trying to push against it; he pushed back, and he and Kumatora were blinded by a bright light.

"LUCAS!" she cried out to him, expecting the worst. She could feel waves of energy erupting from down below her so strong that they threatened to knock her off her feet.

Down in the light, Lucas still had the Thunder Sword pressed into the hole. The force trying to push it out was so strong. "I… I can't hold it!"

"You have to! Don't give up, concentrate!"

Lucas felt like he was going to be blown off of his feet if he either let go of the sword or stopped pushing it down, so at least for the sake of his health, he didn't give up. He put all of the strength he had into keeping the sword in place, pushing against the violent force. He gasped as the sword suddenly sunk deeper into the hole.

For a moment, it looked like time had stopped. Kumatora noticed that the waves of energy weren't blowing anymore and opened her eyes… and was hardly able to believe what she saw. She could see the waves in the form of long, cloth-like strands made up of a shimmering rainbow-coloured light, floating in a shower of sparkles. They were frozen in mid-air above and all around the courtyard... "beautiful" was the only word she could think of to describe this sight. She heard something… it sounded like... some kind of musical instrument. Living with a bunch of partying ghosts, she had unwittingly developed an ear for music, but she couldn't identify the instrment nor pinpoint the source. But she could hear soft, almost heavenly musical notes playing; nine notes in succession, before cutting off at the end… but it only seemed like one part of a whole song. Before she had the chance to ponder this, the strands of energy suddenly began to move again, but this time they weren't blowing like wind. They were flowing like streams, and this time they all converged on one place: Lucas' body.

Lucas jolted upright at the feeling of the energy waves piercing into his skin, expecting to feel pain… but he didn't. In the midst of his anxiety, he looked down to see the strands of energy harmlessly being absorbed into his body. "Wh… what's… happening to me?" he asked fearfully. Then when the last strand entered his body, he collapsed to his knees, a wave of exhaustion passing over him ever so briefly before a calm and soothing sensation took him over. It made him feel... refreshed.

"Lucas, are you alright!?" Kumatora called down to him.

"I… I'm fine!" Lucas said, somewhat unable to believe his own words. "I feel great, actually! Like I just came out of an Instant Revitalizing Device!" he told her. "Hey… did you hear music while I was doing that?"

"Yeah!" Kumatora said. "But I don't know where it came from!"

"That was one of the eight melodies. Back in the past, a great hero went to eight sanctuaries to unlock his true power. At each sanctuary, he heard a different part of a song. In case a great evil rose again, pieces of those sanctuaries were preserved in the ground beneath the needles."

Lucas pulled his brother's sword out of the hole -- which was no longer leaking out the purple gas -- as he listened. His eyes widened in realization. "Wait… are you saying that the Dragon was 'a great evil!?'" he shouted.

"You'll see when the time comes. For now, collect the power from the other six needle holes. Once you do, I'll show you where the final piece of sanctuary power is. Only when you get them all will you be strong enough to defeat the evil. You're the only one who can do it, Lucas. Goodbye… for now."

Lucas got to his feet, confused and concerned. "Wait!" he shouted. But it was too late; the boy's voice was gone. He couldn't feel his power in his mind anymore.

"Lucas, what happened? Did he sever the connection?" Kumatora asked.

"Looks like it… I can't feel him anymore." Lucas replied.

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"So let me see if I've got this straight. This kid told you that some kind of 'great evil' has risen again, and parts of these 'eight sanctuaries' are hidden in the needle holes, waiting for someone to collect their power?" Kumatora reiterated. Lucas and herself were in the common room discussing the events that had just taken place in the courtyard.

"Yeah… and he said he'd show me where the eighth sanctuary piece is once I find the other six." Lucas finished.

Kumatora crossed her arms. "Well, this is just great… and you think the Dragon is that evil?"

Lucas looked down at his feet. "I don't know, he only said 'you'll see when the time comes.'"

"Sounds like he knows more than he's letting on." Kumatora scoffed. "I don't like this, Lucas. It could be a trick."

"I know…" Lucas sighed. "But… if the Dragon really is a great evil, then I have to stop it. I can't let Tazmily be destroyed because of a mistake I made."

Kumatora looked at him sternly; while it was likely that it was a trick, the chance that Nowhere Island really was in danger couldn't be overlooked. "Then we need to get to the other needle holes." Kumatora reminded him.

Lucas looked up at her. "You're coming too?"

Kumatora smiled broadly and said, "Sure! You didn't think I'd let you do this alone, did you?"

At hearing her answer, Lucas' face lit up. "Oh, thank you!"

She chuckled, ruffling up Lucas' hair with her hand. "No sweat, Lucas. What're friends for? Besides, I'm not gonna let Nowhere Island get wrecked after everything we went through."

Lucas smiled; he knew how lucky he was to have a friend like her. "I'll have to go tell my Dad about this… I doubt he's going to like it."

Kumatora's face fell into a frown. "Neither will a lot of people… I think we'd better keep the townspeople from finding out." she suggested. Lucas nodded in agreement, not wanting to be blamed for potentially releasing the bane of mankind or throwing Tazmily's new population into mass panic. He wasn't sure what was going to happen if someone did find out about this, or what would become of him if he did get all of the sanctuary power, or... if he found himself face-to-face with this "great evil."

There were only two things he did know for sure: that this new adventure would be much tougher than the last, and that he wasn't going to like it.

A/N: And so the plot thickens. Just what kind of new enemy will Lucas and Kumatora face? R&R!