"Where's little Lucas?" Ionia asked as soon as they walked through the door.
Boney whimpered.
"I wish I knew." Kumatora hurled herself into the nearest chair, not looking at anyone. After Duster had fallen into that weird trance like state and she'd punched him out of it, she and Boney had dragged him out of the place, ignoring his claims that he was okay. After camping out briefly- just long enough to make sure that Duster really was okay and just long enough for the rest of them to regain some energy, they'd gone back to searching for Lucas, keeping an eye out for Flint as they did so- but they hadn't found anything. Boney couldn't even follow Flint's scent past a certain point.
Eventually, Duster had called the whole thing to a stop- had pointed out that they needed something else to go on, otherwise they'd never find Lucas. So they'd come back here.
"He was captured by the Masked Man." Duster was trying to explain in the present, "He's the other guy who's pulling the Needles- the one who's with the Pigmasks."
"Oh dear." Ionia said, one hand hovering over the lipstick covered mouth. "That isn't good."
"No duh." Kumatora snapped, and then tucked into herself- pulled up her knees and wrapping her arms around them as Ionia turned towards her with a gently scolding look.
Ionia had always been able to do that to her-
"Don't worry about Lucas."
Kumatora jerked her head up in amazement- Ionia was smiling!
"Darling, you don't think that Lucas is a weakling, do you?"
"No! Of course not-"
"Then trust him. Believe that he's strong enough to survive on his own until you and Mr. Whiskers find him. Besides-" Ionia winked. "The one who awakens the Dragon needs to be strong, don't you think?"
Kumatora didn't answer- she sighed and lowered her head again. What she really wanted to do was smash something, but that wouldn't be fair to Ionia.
She kept seeing Lucas's face in her mind- the face he'd made when they'd reached the temple to find the Masked Man and the Pigmasks already there- the face he always made when a Needle was pulled and a Magyspy disappeared- the face he'd made when he'd come through the door of Doria's pink shell to find her there-
Ionia walked over and patted her head gently. "Well, I suppose it is only human to worry- and these boys are your first real friends aren't they?"
"…yeah." Kumatora admitted, still not looking up. She didn't want to look up and see Boney still worrying about Lucas-didn't want to see Duster's face, confused by this whole conversation- and she really didn't want to look up and see Ionia's way too understanding face!
Because that was the whole problem- Ionia did understand.
Kumatora had never and probably would never say it out loud, but you could draw a line through the Magyspsies and divide them into two groups. They didn't see it like that, but it was pretty clear to her. There were the ones who thought that humans were dumb and pointless, and then there were ones who thought humans could be pretty dumb at times but could be cool the rest of the time.
Ionia would sometimes have Wess come over- even though the old geezer was grumpy, and complained a lot, he was also the only one that didn't smell overwhelmingly like perfume and scold her for not trying to be something she wasn't. Sometimes the Magyspy and the older thief rubbed each other the wrong way- like when Wess would show up without any warning, and accidentally pick a time when Ionia was walking around without makeup. But even though they argued, they got along- sometimes they would talk about Duster, if they thought she wasn't around- she didn't know why the old geezer insulted him to his face and then boasted about him when he wasn't around- but Ionia always listened real patiently, only adding in a "How cute!" now and then.
Ionia- and sometimes Doria and Lydia too- even told stories once in a while about other humans they'd known. The stories weren't always flattering to the humans, but they were fond stories, and even if the Magyspies were all too aware of the humans' flaws, they were aware of their good points too.
Ionia patted Kumatora on the shoulder gently, before turning to Duster.
"So, tell me about this mysterious Masked Man who's even stronger than adorable little Lucas."
"He's not stronger." Kumatora said defensively. "He used a dirty trick- that's all."
"He wears a helmet." Duster said. "So we've never seen his face- and he's never spoken to us or even spoken in front of us at all- we really don't know anything about him, not even his name."
"He's the Commander of the Pigmask Army, he wears black and he has PSI powers. That's pretty much all we know about him. That, and I'm going to bash his face in the next time I see him." Kumatora said pleasantly.
Ionia sighed. "So unladylike."
Kumatora bristled. "Lucas is my friend! I don't let anyone hurt my friends!"
"Your devotion is one of your cute qualities." Ionia said with a smile. "But tell me darling, how did this mysterious Masked Man know that Lucas was the only other one capable of pulling the needles? Did he witness him in the act or something?"
Duster and Kumatora looked at each other.
"No…"
"That's a good question- how did he know?"
"Lucky guess?" Kumatora suggested with a shrug. "Does it really matter? The important thing is rescuing Lucas! We've got to find out where that stupid Masked Man took him and rescue him!"
"But if we can get into the Masked Man's head, figure out why, then maybe we can figure where he took him." Duster pointed out.
"…okay, that's true. But I don't think we know enough about this guy to try to figure anything out- that's why we came here." Kumatora turned quickly to Ionia. "That one time when I was a kid and set out to find my parents and I got lost in the woods, you came and found me-"
"And you're hoping I used some special power or magical item to find you? Sorry, sweetie, I just kept looking until I found you. But I do have something that may help…" Ionia walked over to a corner of the room- to a set of drawers and pulled out something and returned to the table with it. It looked like a huge marble.
"What is it?"
"Please put one hand on the crystal ball- both of you, and you too cute doggy. Now- please think of Lucas."
I hope he's okay- sprang into her mind, and she tried not to think of all the horrible things that the Masked Man and the stupid Pigmasks could be doing to him- she made herself think instead of Lucas, one of the first friends she'd ever had- his embarrassed face, his strong face, his confused face, his friendly face, his weak face, his happy face-
Something shifted in the ball- Kumatora blinked and focused on it.
The ball was showing a picture of Lucas.
Kumatora gasped.
Boney barked and sniffed at it.
"Wow." Duster breathed.
The ball showed Lucas wearing different clothes- a jacket, blue and maybe a little stiff looking, and pants of the same material- the jacket had a fluffy collar, Kumatora noticed as Lucas turned his head- it looked almost like that stupid Commander's.
He seemed a little uncertain- a little nervous- but he didn't look hurt.
Everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.
"At least we know he's alive and okay." Duster said softly, then turned to Ionia. "You can't get it to show us where he's at?"
Ionia shook her head regretfully. "Sorry darlings, there's only so much I can do."
Kumatora sprang to her feet. "Alright then! We know he's alive, time to go back to searching so that we can keep it that way!"
"Hold up darling." Ionia said, leaving the ball-the image vanishing as the ball was abandoned- and standing up. "When was the last time you ate or slept?"
Kumatora looked at the Magyspy, then at Duster.
Duster stood up and sighed. "I know how you feel, Kumatora- but we can't rescue Lucas if we fall apart on the journey instead."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Kumatora admitted reluctantly, "I just..." she trailed off, and Duster stepped closer and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Lucas used to be a bit of a crybaby, did you know that?"
"The geezer did say something about that… it's hard to believe though."
"He's gotten stronger." Duster agreed, "He had to. But the point is, I think we can trust him to be strong until we can rescue him."
Kumatora nodded reluctantly.
"I'll prepare supper for you three." Ionia said with a wink. "And I'll make sure to make something that you can take with you to feed to Lucas when you rescue him."
"Thanks."
Ionia walked over to the other side of the room, and then into the hallway where the kitchen was.
"Prepare yourself." Kumatora muttered.
"Why?"
"You know how I'm a lousy cook?"
"Yeah…"
"Ionia's the one who taught me. And I learned well."
"…oh."
Boney whined at their feet.
Kumatora leaned over and petted him."Don't worry, we'll get him back."
"(I wish I could track him.)" Boney whined, "(if that guy had walked away instead of flown, I might have been able to follow Lucas's scent.)"
"You couldn't smell anything about the Masked Man earlier, right?" Duster asked, crouching next to them.
Boney nodded. "(He'd used something funny to clean with- it was way too stinky.)"
Duster nodded reluctantly, looking thoughtful, before looking up again. "Boney. Do you have any idea where Flint is at all?"
Boney looked at the floor and whined softly.
"I need you to go find him. Things have been happening so fast-" Duster dropped his hand and groaned, before digging through his pockets and coming up with pen and paper. "I'm going to give you a message to give to Alec and my dad, and I'm giving you another message to give to Flint, alright? The fact that Pigmasks can't get into the Temple buys us some time, but not much- I just hope that they don't figure out what the vial of water is for." he finished the messages and tucked them inside Boney's collar. "At least with everyone else gone from Tazmily, they're able to move freely- but we've got to find Lucas fast. Who knows what they're going to do to him in revenge for messing up their plans? Sorry to ask this of you, but can you go give these to them now? You should take a break afterwards- rest and eat something at Flint's house- if he doesn't show up by tomorrow, go search for him. We'll take a short rest here and then keep searching, alright?"
Boney barked, eager to do something to help.
"Alright boy, go get 'em!" Kumatora cheered, and Boney barked once more before dashing off.
"Where's the cute doggy off to?" Ionia asked, coming up behind them.
"To tell my father and Lucas's father and grandfather what's going on. Things have been happening so fast- my dad and Lucas's grandfather knew we were headed here, but we didn't have enough time to explain about the Needles and I haven't seen Lucas's dad in three years, so…"
"Not a yummy pickle, is it?" Ionia sighed. "The food is almost done, at least, and the beds are ready. I prepared your old room for you, Kumatora darling."
"Thanks." Kumatora said quietly, still worried about Lucas- and then remembered a conversation she and Lucas had on Tanetane Island- they'd been talking about the hallucinations while trying not to talk about the hallucinations- and he'd asked her what her parents had been like- and then he'd stammered and apologized and said that she didn't have to say anything if she didn't want to. She'd told him the truth- that she didn't mind him asking, but she didn't really have anything to tell him- because she didn't remember anything about them.
"Ionia?" she heard Duster ask.
"Yes, darling?"
"While we were searching for Lucas, we found this old building in the woods- it was was covered with vines-"
"Oh, you did find the temple-"
"No, Ionia. This place- I don't know what it was. But it wasn't the temple- we'd found that before- that was where we were when Lucas got captured. But this place... it was different."
"It looked more like one of the Pigmasks' bases than the temple." Kumatora said, pulling herself back to the present, but not letting go of her previous train of thought either.
"But it wasn't one of those either." Duster insisted.
"I don't know why you keep saying that Duster. I mean, you could be right, but they're the only group on the island who have technology, and that place was full of technology. If it's not one of the Pigmask bases I don't know what it is."
Duster sighed. "I don't either." he admitted, then turned to Ionia. "Do you have any idea what that place is?" Ionia started to shrug even as Duster kept talking, "It's white- well, it was white- and it still mostly is. It's also a funny sort of shape- actually, it's shaped a lot like those Pigmask flying ships..."
Ionia had remained still, only watching him with vague curiosity- and then something crossed the Magypsy's face so fast- then Ionia spun- faced the window that faced in the direction of the Temple. "I see- that's the sort of place, is it? Well darlings, I'm afraid I can't help you. But if the little piggies aren't there, then there's probably no point in searching it, right?"
"...I guess you've got a point. Still..." Duster folded his arms and trailed off.
Kumatora looked from him to Ionia and then back again. Since neither of them was saying anything else, she decided that now was as good a time as any to ask that question she'd been meaning to ask.
"Hey, Ionia…what were my parents like?" It wasn't that she'd never asked about her parents before- she had. It was just that the responses she got tended to be either irritation, "I'll tell you when you're older", or just plain vague. After a while, she'd given up. Now seemed like it would be a good time to try again though- if nothing else, because she wouldn't have another chance seemed like a good enough reason.
"Hm…" Ionia said, somewhat distractedly- probably also worrying about Lucas. "I'm sure I don't know darling."
"But I thought you knew them- Doria said you guys raised my mom too- she said it was a tradition- that the girls in my family were always given to the Magypsies to raise- she said it was a tradition or something …" Kumatora trailed off at the look Ionia was giving her- part puzzlement, like not a single word coming out of Kumatora's mouth was making any sense- and then she gave a sharp little jump, as if suddenly remembering something.
"Oh! Silly me! Yes, of course- but we didn't take turns taking care of her the way we did with you- Doria pretty much raised her all by herself, so I never really got to know her." Ionia gave a half hearted little giggle- and Kumatora noticed Duster giving Ionia a funny look.
He noticed her looking at him and shook his head, telling her not to ask yet- and then gave a cheerful smile to Ionia when she turned to look at him, following Kumatora's line of sight.
Ionia switched her gaze from Duster to Kumatora and back again before seeming to dismiss it. "The food should be ready in just a minute- I'm going to go check it, okay darlings?"
Duster and Kumatora nodded- and once she was sure Ionia was out of earshot, Kumatora turned to Duster.
"Okay, what was that about?"
Duster turned away- for a moment, Kumatora tensed up, thinking he was avoiding her question, but then he turned back and she recognized his thoughtful look, and realized he'd just been gathering his thoughts. "Well, it's hard for me to say…you've known Ionia your whole life and I just met her today- but it seemed to me that she was acting…off."
"…off?" Kumatora repeated, partially to poke fun at him, partially to get him to explain.
"You remember back at Club Titboo, how you never wanted to talk about your past or where you came from? At first, you weren't that used to lying, so you stumbled and mumbled and laughed suspiciously- just like Ionia did now."
"…you think Ionia is lying about my mom?"
"I don't know." Duster sighed. "I'm pretty sure there's something Ionia's not telling you, but I could be wrong- like I said, I don't know her like you do."
Kumatora turned away from Duster to stare in the direction Ionia had gone. "Ionia…wasn't like the others. Doria and Lydia were nice- Aeolia was okay most of the time- you met Phrygia and Mixolydia."
Duster nodded, frowning as he remembered them.
"Of course, those two were on their best behavior when they met you." Kumatora folded her arms and chuckled bitterly. "One year, it was Phrygia's turn to have me. One night, I'd had enough of her harassing me, calling me out on every little thing I did- I left in the middle of the night and walked all the way back to Doria's place. It took her a week to come around asking for me- anyway, that's not important anymore. I only met Locria once, a long time ago… she refused to have anything to do with me. But Ionia was the only one who ever treated my questions like they were something important- even stupid kid questions like "why is the sky blue?" and "where do babies come from?" -even stuff like that, she always answered real patiently… and she never lied to me. She never lied to make the answer easier, but she did think over answers to make she explained the best she could…" Kumatora trailed off, no longer sure what she was trying to say. She began to pace, hoping movement would make the words come. Behind her, she heard Duster shift - the sound telling her how uncomfortable he was feeling. She turned to look at him- didn't have any more words…
"Darlings, the food's ready!" Ionia's voice trilled from the kitchen- hearts practically dripped from her voice.
"…Duster." Kumatora said softly. "…I can only worry about one thing at a time- but once we rescue Lucas, remind me to ask Ionia some more questions, okay?"
"Okay, I'll remind you."
She turned to smile at him, briefly, a bit embarrassed by all the emotional stuff- all the weak faces she'd been showing him. "Thanks Duster."
He shook his head slightly, also smiling. "No problem."
They entered the kitchen.
OoOoOoOo
Honestly, I really don't like the Magyspsies. I hate Phrygia and Mixolydia(mostly because of their attitudes when Flint's searching for Claus, but considering that Mixolydia just leaves the Barrier Trio there to pummel Lucas and co which leads to another win for the Pigmasks…yeah), I'm okay with the others for the most part... still, the most heart breaking moments of Mother 3 could have been avoided if they had any common sense. So yep, not a fan.
And in the next chapter- which hopefully will be done soon- wasn't even supposed to exist, the freakin' thing just wrote itself into existence. (sigh)
As always, thank you for your reviews and please comment on this chapter and tell me what you think!