THIS CHAPTER IS FOR ALL MY FRIENDS RETURNING TO SCHOOL. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!
--
Lucas, Claus and Polly had run as far as the other side of town before deeming it safe from "That weirdo freaky lady" (As Claus came to name her). Before long, the three were exhausted and decided finally to rest for the night. Polly had spotted a hotel with free hot springs inside, and without any argument, they checked in.
"Wow …" Claus said, sinking into the small pool of hot water, "I've forgotten what a hot spring felt like …"
"This is the best thing since we started this journey." Lucas said, rubbing his face with a washcloth.
Claus looked over at Lucas and smiled, "Well, maybe to you."
"Oh yeah. Polly, right?" Lucas said, a sly smile on his face.
"Er … I meant … well …" Claus said, biting his lip.
"Oh come on, Claus, you're my brother. I've seen you fall head-over-heels for girls before, this time it's no different." Lucas laughed.
"But … I think it is." Claus said softly, looking into the water as he did.
Lucas put down his washcloth and stepped towards his brother. "Do you really like her that much?"
"I LIKE-like her, Lucas." Claus said, blushing a bit, "She's cute and nice, and …"
"Okay, Okay, I get it …" Lucas said, trying to stop his brother.
An awkward silence fell amongst them. Lucas's mind wondered back to what the mind-reader said. She said that they had to go back to the place where they fought King P. Lucas didn't know weather to trust her or not, but she seemed pretty clear. And somehow, just somehow, She knew Claus was supposed to be dead.
"Hey, uh, Claus?" Lucas piped.
"Yeah?" Claus said.
"Do you believe what Kana said? You know, about you being … dead …?"
Claus breathed between his lips hard and laughed, "Heck no. I think she was being crazy."
"Uh … heh … yeah … crazy … heh …" Lucas said silently.
"But … she did seem pretty serious …" Claus said, shaking his head, "But whatever. What we need to do now is plan our next action."
"I …" Lucas gulped, "I know where Kana wanted us to go …"
Claus looked at him and blinked. "What do you mean?"
Lucas grabbed his legs and hugged them close to his chest, "I … I need to tell you … something when we get there."
"What?" Claus asked.
"It's … a lot of things, I don't want to tell you until we get there …"
Claus blink again, then nodded, "Well, alright."
"It's just … Claus?"
"Yeah?"
"We'll always be brothers, right?"
"Right."
"And we'll always be together, right?"
"No matter what."
"Good …" Lucas said, shaking his brother's hand.
--
Nightfall came and went for Kumatora, Duster, Flint and Boney. They were getting up and moving on faster than they think. Flint had remained silent, although normal, was getting everyone unsettled in the travling mood.
Duster braved talking to the silent one, "So … how much longer until we get there?"
"Probably 2 days if we keep walking." Flint said darkly.
"Um … okay …" Duster said, silencing himself.
"A-and if the kids aren't there?" Kumatora said, bracing herself for Flint's wrath.
But instead of snapping at Kumatora like he did last night, he stopped and sighed. "I … I don't know …"
Duster approached Flint and touched his shoulder, "We can't give up, Flint. So we hit a snag, we can still catch up to them."
Flint shook his head, "No … as long as Lucas has this foolish idea his mother is alive then … I don't think we'll ever catch up."
"What …?" Duster asked, stunned that he would say that.
"Lucas will just keep on traveling until he finds something he wants … but in this case … I don't think he'll find anything at all …" Flint said, staring down.
"So are you saying you're pretty sure Lucas is after nothing?!" Duster asked, irritated.
"Yes …" Flint simply said
Flint felt a searing and throbbing pain come on his right cheek. Before he knew it, he was down on his back, staring up at a very angry Duster, his fist clenched.
"Don't you DARE say that about your own son!!" Duster yelled at Flint, clearly angry, "Lucas may not be a normal boy but I always had faith he knew what he was doing, and I never lost that faith, not even to this day!!"
Flint just stared at Duster, who came at him and lifted him up by his shirt with surprising strength.
"If Lucas says his mother is alive, then I have no reason to doubt him!" Duster yelled at Flint, "And you shouldn't doubt him either!"
"Duster! Stop!!" Kumatora's voice rang over Duster's head. Duster sighed and put down Flint, who just stood there amazed. But as surprised as he was, Duster was right: He should never lose faith in his son …
"I-I'm sorry …" Duster said, facing away from Flint, "I just got a bit emotional there …"
"A bit …?" Flint said, rubbing his cheek. "You have a hard punch there …"
Duster stared at Flint. Laughing a bit, he rubbed the back of his head, not knowing what to say.
"Besides, you're right Duster … I was losing faith when I shouldn't have …" Flint said, shaking Duster's hand.
"Well, we all do that from time to time …" Duster said, chuckling, "But the best thing we could do is keep moving."
"I agree." Flint said, smiling. "We'll run into Lucas and Claus eventually."
"As long as we keep fait." Duster said, moving.
--
Kana looked behind her, seeing how far she had gotten from Hometown. She hasn't lived there for long: Just about 3 months. She had moved there because she saw a wave of disturbance over the citizens' head. She knew there was something wrong amidst the happiness surrounding the town, and she saw it clearly.
The children had already left by the time she got to the hotel. She wished she could have gone with them, but fates told her otherwise: there were other people she needed to be with …
Flint …
Duster …
Kumatora …
Boney …
Those words showed up in her mind over and over again. The fates told her she needed to be with them rather than with the children. She never questioned the fates. She just went along with everything they told her, no matter how much she objected towards them.
"Maybe …" Kana said to herself, "If things do go wrong, I could possibly … defy the fates … for the sake of the children."
She looked back once again at Hometown, then lifted her hood and walked away