Chapter 5

'What do you mean you lost him?' Ahna's voice was dry to the point of unreadable.

'I… I mean…' Covo shook his head and turned his gaze away, 'I... I'm sorry, I... I had no idea something like that was going to happen. It didn't even occur to me; why would it? I didn't think...'

'No, you're right, you didn't think,' she cut him off. 'You didn't think and now my son is missing. Oh god Covo, what if we never get him back?' She was visibly trembling now. 'Where is he?'

'I wish I knew,' Covo swallowed hard, 'but I promise I won't rest until I find him.'

'Oh god, my poor baby boy,' she buried her face in her hands, 'how... how could this happen? How...?'

The rest of her sentence was smothered in the choked sound of her tears. Covo wrapped his arms around her and prayed with everything in him things would be alright. Unfortunately for him things were going to get worse long before they'd get better; because somebody needed to tell Joey his son was missing and that somebody would have to be him.

Sighing heavily, she hung up the phone and made her way into the living room. Her son was sat on the couch, with his knees against his chest and his arms circled round them. He was staring intensely at the clock on the mantle and she couldn't be sure if it was because he was in a world of his own or because he wasn't sure what time it was. His mood could be unpredictable at the best of times, so she figured it would be best to stay away from that subject completely.

'That was Seto on the phone,' she took a seat on the couch next to him, 'he's worried about you.'

'What did you tell him?'

'That you needed your own space for a couple of days,' she smiled tightly at him. 'He wasn't happy about it, but I made him understand it was the best thing for you. So... do you want to tell me what this fight is about?'

'Fight?' Tristan frowned at her. 'What fight?'

'Sorry, I just thought...' she pressed her lips together. 'I know you said this was Dr Charm's suggestion but... I get the feelings there's something you're not telling me. Aren't you and Seto getting along anymore?'

'No, we are,' his fingers began tugging on the cuffs of his sleeves, 'in fact we're probably getting on better now than we ever have; we barely even disagree on anything anymore. It's just...'

'Just what?'

'I told you, Dr Charm gave me three options and this felt like the only one I could do.'

'So what were the other options then?'

Tristan gave a heavy sigh, shook his head and shifted his gaze away. There were a few minutes of silence, before she found herself pulling him into a motherly hug.

'You know I'll love you, no matter what, right?' She kept her voice as calm and level as possible. 'I just want to know you're okay and that you're happy. I know things aren't easy for you right now, but... even if I do feel like he's stealing you away from me sometimes... I know he's good for you.'

'So then why does it hurt so much?'

'Why does what hurt so much?'

Tristan gave a heavy sigh, shook his head and said nothing.

'You don't really want to be here, do you?' She pulled him closer to her. 'So why are you?'

'Because I'm afraid,' Tristan's voice was small.

'Afraid of what?'

'Of losing everything,' there was a slight tremble to his voice. 'This was the only option she gave me where I wouldn't... couldn't lose everything, so I had to take it. I couldn't risk any other option, I just couldn't risk it.'

'I don't understand,' she held him away so she could study his face, 'why would you lose everything? What did she ask you to do exactly?'

Again Tristan didn't respond. Instead he stared glumly down at his feet and shook his head again. She gave another heavy sigh and realised this was probably all she was going to get out of him.

'Come on, how about we make a cake,' she forced a smile onto her face as she deliberately changed the conversation.

'You mean, like we used to when I was five,' he stared at her in confusion. 'I know how I act when I can't remember things, but... that doesn't mean you can treat me like a little kid.'

'I'm your mother,' she smirked at him, 'I don't need an excuse to treat you like a little kid, or had you forgotten? And besides,' she pulled him into another hug, 'you like it when I treat you like a kid.'

Mai gave a heavy sigh, closed her eyes and tried to convince her mind it was time for sleep. It should have been a fairly easy thing to achieve, after all Joey had spent the day spoiling her and she was now feeling calmer and more relaxed than she had in a long while. The problem was, Joey wasn't with her right now and some insistent part of her subconscious was refusing to shut off properly until his arms were wrapped around her.

It was late when they'd returned from their day out, but that hadn't stopped Covo and Ahna insisting they needed to talk to Joey right away. There was something so urgent about their tone that Mai's stomach had instantly clenched with dread. Joey had done his best to reassure her, even putting her to bed before going to talk to them just to try and restore the calm she'd been feeling before. And it had worked, until her subconscious decided she needed to wait for his return in order to be able to sleep and then... then her mind began to go over all the reasons why Ahna and Covo would need to speak to Joey now and not wait till morning.

She tried so hard to keep those thoughts away, but it was impossible. They circled round her mind like vultures, steadily getting closer and chasing away all the calm and contentment she'd been feeling. Before she even knew what was happening fear and panic clawed at her stomach, convincing her something bad was happening. Something really, really bad.

'Joey, come back,' she curled in on herself as best she could, 'come back Joey, please.'

'You lost my son,' Joey's voice was just as tight as Ahna's had been; only the traces of pure anger within it were a lot more obvious. 'You lost my son? Just what kind of an idiot are you?'

'I... I'm sorry,' Covo swallowed hard.

'Sorry is not good enough Covo,' his voice seethed out of him between gritted teeth, 'when did this even happen?'

'Early this afternoon.'

'And you waited till now to tell me?'

'You... you were out.'

'That's no excuse Covo; you should have at least tried to find me.' Joey's expression was slowly filling with rage. 'My gods Covo, he's my son and you lost him.'

'I didn't… it wasn't… I mean…'

'He couldn't possibly have known that was going to happen, Ver,' Ahna placed a hand on his arm in a clear attempt to placate the situation. 'I'll be the first to admit what he did was stupid, but I've made my peace with that now. After all, we're going to need to be calm if we're going to rescue our son.'

'Ahna I would never tell you how to run your life,' Joey half glared at her, 'but do me a favour and don't ever marry this guy. He clearly can't be trusted with anything important.'

'I... uh...' Covo shifted awkwardly. 'I... uh... I guess we should call SK then.'

'Why?'

'Because... because that's what we always do when we need this kind of help, right?'

'He's got a point,' Ahna sighed. 'After all, this is the kind of thing he's here for isn't it?'

'What, finding lost children?' Joey sounded exasperated.

'No, I mean helping the Mistresses.'

'But it's not the Mistresses in need of help, its Crovell.'

'Yeah and Crovell's the First's son, so I think this qualifies.'

'Fine,' he snapped. 'I mean, fine, we'll call them. Or rather, I'll call them, your mate's done more than enough damage and I want him to stay as far away from this as possible.'

'And what about me? He's my son too, remember.'

'If SK comes, then so will Jay.'

'And?'

'And the pair of you will become powerless.'

'I don't care. I should be here when you call them.'

'Look, you're better off staying out of this Ahna.'

'But he's my son too, I can't...'

Before she could finish what she was saying, a panic filled Mai stumbled into the room.

'Joey,' she gasped, 'Joey.'

'Mai, its okay, its okay calm down,' Joey darted towards her. 'Just breath, remember. It'll pass.'

'Joey...' the word came out like an emotional hiccup, 'Joey...'

'It's okay Mai, I'm here for you,' Joey swallowed hard before shooting a glance back towards them.

'Crovell can wait,' a weak smile filled Ahna's face, 'you have to take care of Mai now.'

Joey nodded and, without hesitation, led Mai out of the room. As soon as he was gone Ahna let out a deep and almost relieved sounding sigh.

'Okay, we need to get to the Temple of Set.'

'What?' Covo shot her a look.

'Joey only said I couldn't be there when he called SK and Jay in on this,' she folded her arms stubbornly, 'he didn't say I couldn't go looking for my son myself. And that's exactly what I plan to do. So the only question now is, are you coming with me Covo, or not?'