eX rubbed his arm where he'd been yanked. "Eh, dunno. Me and the old guy roam X's mindscape of our own accord, y'know? I mean sure X suppresses me, but I ain't a prisoner. The Queen's sealed though. Somehow I think she's still stuck."

"If she's still sealed, then we shouldn't have to worry too much in here," Aram said, nodding. "Let's go find X now. Can you sense him?"

"Not since we ran into that damned Elemental. I feel....subdued somehow." eX rubbed his forehead vigorously. "Look. You know X. Rainbow shits and Unicorn farts. He needs. Without me he can't do jack shit. And I don't know what happens if he dies, but ya can't blame me for not wanting to try it and see."

"Not in the least," Aram said, looking out over the vast plain that was the mindscape of the Love Elemental. "I'll see if I can sense him while we search."

"Good plan."

eX noticed that his headache began to subside when he stopped trying to sense X.

~~~~~~~~

Sylvontis opened his eyes, appearing in the mindscape.

"Hmm..."

He began walking.

The truck stopped, and on the outside, the group could see that they had parked behind a random, inconspicious house. Jotaro's head eventally came into view. "You can't go anywhere looking like that," he said. "Clean up and get some new clothes on. We have to drop Gramps and Mom off at the hospital first, and we don't need to look like we're the ones that knocked them unconcious."

"We'll need to get looked at too," R.D. said, gesturing to him and Matt, and the dozens of cuts all over their bodies. "Alasea needs her leg checked out too."

"That's why you're going to clean up," Jotaro said. He smacked the door of the truck as he walked off. "Do it fast."

"You heard the man!" Matt said. "Let's get to it."

R.D. nodded, slipping out of the back, helping everyone out of the truck bed. Alasea winced and stumbled as she got out, pain flaring through her leg, but she quickly caught herself and staved off the concerned looks from her friends with a nervous laugh.

X's head felt clearer than it ever had. He closed his eyes and became acutely aware of everything around him. He reached out and felt Aram and eX, two pinpricks of energy a great distance away.

Before that though, he needed to find the Elemental, or something connected to their goal here. He sensed an energy that seemed to stand out and took off towards it.

"Don't walk on that!" Helena said. When everyone was out, she pulled down on the truck door and locked it into place. "Sit down. I'll help you change when I'm done."

Alasea eased herself up onto the truck bed door and leaned a bit to her good side. "I'm not that bad off, I don't think," she murmured, ignoring how she was favoring her wounded leg even while sitting.

===Love Elemental's Mindscape===

"I think I can sense... something, way off ahead of us," Aram muttered, looking out over the plain. "But there's something else that's hazing everything out. I think that might be the Love Elemental."

"Don't walk on it," Helena said again, pointing at the leg in question.

Meanwhile, Matt erected a surrounded area of stone so he could wash off and change clothes. They had to work quick - the last thing they needed was cops noticing them. After slinging some clean clothes over the high rock wall, he went in the area, closed it up, stripped, and cast another tiny shower over his head.

"Eeeeeeew," he whined. "I should've put down a towel first or something."

The queen laughed to herself. Free at last. She raised her arms and crackled energy between them. Soon she would--

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?"

Sylvontis had appeared.

"I haven't forgotten you. Do you know me?"

As the boys and Helena got changed, Alasea found herself with company as Ileyna pulled herself up onto the door of the truck and sat down.

Alasea looked over the girl once to see if she was all right, then blinked.

"Ileyna, when did you start bleeding?"

The younger girl blinked. "Huh?"

"You're bleeding," Alasea repeated, leaning over and pointing at the front of her shirt. Ileyna looked down, and saw a tiny blotch of red on her dress and bolero.

She blinked again. "I didn't notice..."

She pulled at the collar of her outfit and reached a hand in it, grasping a second string that no one had noticed around her neck. With a tug, the little girl had pulled it out. Alasea blinked in surprise this time, looking at an arrowhead tied on the string, its point covered in a bit of blood.

Hugo had walked up then, noticing the arrowhead. "What's that?"

"Its just an arrowhead I found when I was living with Colleen and the other kids," Ileyna said. "I showed it to Colleen and she made a necklace out of it. I guess it must've accidentally stuck me when I used my telekinesis on that Stand user we were fighting."

Now Jotaro was present - he hadn't bothered to change out of his uniform, though he did patch himself up with bandages - and he grasped the necklace, looking closely at it. "...a Stand arrow."

"A what?" Hugo asked.

"It was made out of an ancient meteorite," Jotaro said. "Stabbing yourself with it awakens your Stand, if you survive."

Ileyna looked back down at the arrowhead in Jotaro's hand, startled. "That's how I got my Stand??"

Jotaro released it. "You're lucky to be alive." He slid a hand in his pocket. "What does it do?"

"My Stand?" Ileyna asked, clarifying. "Um... well, it seems to make things soft."

"Soft?" Alasea asked, leaning back slightly and instantly regretting it as pain shot through her leg again.

"Yeah, like how bread's soft. When I used it on the Stand user, Mass Effect just... pummeled him flat. And it made that white monster's fang thingies easy for R.D. to kill..."

"Know your limits," Jotaro said, crouching down to Ileyna's level. "You may have a power few people have, but you're not invincible. Don't do anything reckless or stupid with it."

Nervous, Ileyna nodded slowly. "Okay. I don't want to screw up with it."

Some quick time later, everyone was finished. Matt had used the Fabric Repair Device (trademark) to patch up his clothing, and a heavy stream of wind energy dried them off. Hell, he had to clean them - he wasn't sure if he had even brought an extra change of clothes for himself.

"All right, let's boogie," he said. "We've burned enough daylight."

"That's for sure," R.D. muttered as Alasea pulled herself back into the truck. "The cops haven't found us yet so I don't think they'll find us, but I'm not willing to risk that chance."

"Then let's go," Jotaro said.

They all got back in the truck and drove to the nearest hospital. Admitting Joseph and Holly was easier than they expected - Matt and Jotaro were on hand to deal, with Matt weaving a masterful bullshit story. They also managed to get in Alasea without too much trouble.

"I'll get some takeout," Jotaro said, when they were all assembled in Alasea's room. "Stay on guard."

Alasea lay in her bed, propped up while in a hospital gown and her lower body beneath the covers. She sighed as she crossed her arms. "I hope this won't take too long," she said, as she hadn't been finished treated yet. "Its bad enough they'll want to keep me for longer."

"Well, at least Matt got that taken care of," Ileyna reassured, sitting on the mattress next to her. R.D. nodded at that; the idea of saying she'd be transferred to another hospital after tonight was rather brilliant on Matt's part.

"I know, but still. I hate being in hospitals."

"Me too," Helena said. Now she was in a breezy dress affair, sitting and dangling her feet above the ground. At least she was able to get in here with some limping. "It's better that you're here, though. I don't think I could stand it if I was alone."

Alasea smiled at Helena for a moment. "So, any word on Joseph and Holly yet?" she asked. "I hope Re-Tuul didn't hurt them too badly."

"Well, Joseph got beat up more than Holly did," Helena said. "He probably took most of the punishment trying to protect her."

Edited by The Helldragon on October 29, 2009 at 22:13:56.