It was a few days later when the group finally rolled into Texas. It took some time to replace some of the items lost and cart most of the serious wounded back. Kyle and Cindy were not among those deemed to unfit for the mission and once again rode in the convoy. Leo found himself wondering if his twins may have something to do with their stubborn assurances that they were able to continue. Tony had put up a large fuss, but they went largely ignored. Leo smiled a little at the memory of the argument. They would indeed fit right in with this strange family if things went that far. And right now, to Leo at least, it did seem like it was heading that way. A sigh escaped his lips at that. Two more he would have to look out for, and he couldn't keep up with the bunch had already anymore.
It was late evening when Jazz, with Donnie inside, led them to the outskirts of one of the larger cities before the whole convoy once again pulled off into a secure, sheltered area. With a lot of groans and stretching everyone dismounted and Leo walked over to his geek of a brother. "Looks like we walk from here. You have a fix on where we need to go?"
Donnie nodded calmly as he pulled up a map on his screen. "A Japanese Garden about two miles west of our current position."
By that point the others had joined the two turtles, reading their gear and weapons. "At least we can go with them this time." Raph rumbled. "Seriously doubt there is going to be much activity out there this late."
"Nor very many security measure." Dante added. "I mean, who would try to steal a garden?"
Leo nodded his agreement. "Then let's get a move on."
The terrain in itself was easy to navigate, even if it was mostly open space. The cover of darkness aided their efforts greatly as they quickly moved on.
It took them less than an hour to reach the bordering fence of the garden and just a few moments to clear it, then they were standing inside a beautifully sculpted landscape. The Japanese influence was heavy all around them as they cautiously wandered on.
"This is so pretty." Ari barely breathed as they explored.
Leo gave his niece a soft smile. "They usually are. Pretty and meant for peace and relaxation."
She grinned impishly back at him. "I'll just take the pretty for right now. Peace and relaxation seems boring."
He laughed a little before he led the way farther in. Ari now walking by his side as she looked around. "Uncle Leo?"
"Yes?"
"Is it just me or do the different areas seem to stand for different things? They each seem...different to me for some reason."
"Very good eye Ari." He complimented her with a small smile. "Each area does represent a different thing, or element actually. There are five element spirits in Japanese folklore. Earth, water, wind, fire and void. Or spirit some claim. I've even heard of it being called balance. But the four basic elements are always the same, even if the fifth is open to your own perception of it."
"How do you know this stuff?"
"I studied it Ari. I took it upon myself to educate myself on various asian folklore. It seemed appropriate to me since we incorporate a lot of fighting styles into the way we fight that I should also learn the history and myths of the lands they came from."
"Never knew there was so much attached to learning to fight."
"Only if you are willing to take the time to study it. Asian history and folklore is very versatile, and a lot of it still plays a large part in some cultures."
"Maybe I will look into it after this is all over." She said thoughtfully as she looked around again. "Never really expected something like this. But I guess I'm not really sure what I expected."
He was going to encourage her to do that, if any of them would share his love of learning about ancient cultures it would be Ari, but he was distracted when Marina started tapping rapidly on his arm. When he turned to look he could even see in the darkness that her face had gone pale before she pointed a shaking finger, to Vicky.
Vicky's brown eyes had gone wide and vacant as she stiffly walked into a section of the garden they hadn't been to yet.
"That's what happened to Cait and Marina." Cris told him in a tight voice. "She'll lead us to what we are looking for."
It was one thing to hear about what had happened, it was another to see it with his own eyes. And right now his eyes were wide as he watched her move along the walkways. But what worried him the most was that something was blocking him from reaching her. Whatever it was didn't seem to want to hurt her, but it still set his nerves on edge more than a little bit.
Donnie was walking beside him now, his scans working on overtime on her. And all that effort came up with nothing if the way Donnie was looking at Leo in disbelief was anything to go by. "Not a damn thing is there to explain what is going on. Nothing." He shook his head in utter confusion. "I have no idea what is happening."
Vicky didn't slow her pace at all as she wandered on. Leo looked around in the new section they had entered. "This portion is dedicated to water." He told the others in a thoughtful voice.
Onward she went, walking right up to the edge of a fair sized pond before she stopped and her hands came out stiffly in front of her. Leo stood next to her, watching protectively over her as they waited. His hand so much wanted to reach out and shake her from this, not liking to see her controlled by anything good or bad. Vicky was her own free person, with her own free will. For someone to just come in and suppress that really didn't sit well with him.
His attention was drawn to the water where the once calm pool was starting to grow restless. A whirlpool formed and it widened until something was laid bare by the water that had once covered it. He couldn't get a good look at it in the darkness as he stood on the shore, but that was soon to be resolved as well. A stream of water shot out of the side of the whirlpool, sliding under the object and effortlessly lifting it into the air and kept moving it until it was laid firmly in Vicky's waiting hands. Once it touched her skin the column of water dropped down into the pond as the whirlpool collapsed back into itself, leaving behind only a few waves and ripples as evidence that anything had even happened.
No one said a word as they all stared at her as she came back around, her eyes blinking before she looked in confusion at her hands and what they held. "I, uh, guess it was my turn this time..."
"It seems so." Leo quietly told her as he moved closer to see what they had found.
Vicky held a large, smooth, blue riverstone. A riverstone that surprisingly had images clearly carved in them. From what he could tell it was a picture of a waterfall. But there was more. Vicky, having seen two of these episodes firsthand already herself, already knew what to look for. Her finger pointed out the dual katanas and the mask that wrapped around them that was hidden in the general carving. "I think this one is yours Leo."
He really couldn't argue that statement as he looked back at her. She seemed perfectly fine again and in full control of her body's movements. He still understood nothing of what was going on and it was still frustrating him to no end. Leo did the only thing he could do, he tried to push those feelings away for the countless time. "Come on, it's time to go."
Vicky just nodded as she stepped away from the pond, her prize held tightly to her chest now that she had it. Leo reached out an arm to steady her on the uneven ground until she made it back to the path, and Donnie who was waiting to inspect what she held.
"Very odd. Who knows how long this rock has been sitting under the water like that, but the carvings look like they were just made yesterday. If it had been there for any given amount of time, and if it's as old as the painting and statue seem to be, the carvings should have smoothed out or maybe even worn away some by now."
"That's the only thing you find odd about it?" Raph rolled his eyes. "Not the mind controlled Vicky leading us to it, or the water lifting it up? Just the carvings?"
Donnie just shrugged back at him at a loss for words himself. Leo thought he understood what his purple masked brother was subconsciously trying to get at. Donnie was trying to explain the only thing in the whole ordeal that made sense to him, even if it didn't behave the way it was supposed to.
By the time they made it back to the fence lining the property, headlights were already closing the distance towards them. More than likely clued in to the fact that they were done because the barrier went down. As far as Leo could tell, they came down as soon as the searched for object found it's way into the pair of hands sent to get it. But since they really hadn't timed the occurrence Leo was just guessing on that theory.
Hide pulled up and opened his doors for Leo and his family and they slid into the black vehicle before the doors closed and the convoy was on the move again. Vicky set the stone on her lap and looked at it quietly as they hit the road again. "That's three down. Just need one more."
Ty leaned up from the back, his arms resting on both backrests of the seats in front of him while he tried to get a good look at the rock that was obviously meant to represent his father. "But what do we do once we get the last...whatever it is?"
"I'm strongly starting to get the feeling that the answer to that won't come to us until we do get it." Leo told his son. "Along with one that gathering them was only the first step to something more."
"Which brings us back to the more questions than answers bit." Lavi grumbled as she leaned back into her seat with her arms crossed. "I hate an unsatisfied curiosity."
Ty turned and grinned at her. "I'm sure there are some other curiosities you can satisfy...along with some hormonal urges."
That didn't go over well, if the sounds of a fight back there was an indication. It also sounded like Lavi had the upper hand by the repeated "Ow, ow, ow, I give! Ow! Stop it!..." coming from Ty.
"Do I need to resort to the hog tieing and tossing into the back of the truck again?" Leo asked his children firmly without even turning to look.
"Your younglings may be of adult size, Leonardo, but they at times still have the mentality of infants... Just like the older members of the family."
Vicky smiled at the bot. "Apple didn't fall too far from the tree after all."
"What in the name of Primus does what i just said have to do with organic foods falling from plants?"
Vicky sighed and rolled her eyes. "Nevermind Hide. My kids may have never grown up, but at least they caught on to various saying over the years. Kinda sad really, you've been here how long now? Thought a smart Bot like you would have been all caught up in human phrases by now."
The engine sputtered a bit before it calmed, but the next few hours he drove with a huffy silence as they now headed for the west coast, and the last artifact.