Chapter Text
"One shot to your heart without breaking your skin. No one has the power to hurt you like your kin…" ~ India.Arie
Raz looked up at his older brother, now snapped out of his board daze.
“Hey Raz, are you even listening?” Dion groaned. Dion had come walking upright as Raz was leaving out of the Motherlobes’ entrance. Dion had been complaining about how he had to make the walk all the way up there just to drag him back to their family's caravan. So, after a while, Raz had started to tune out the eldest sibling.
“Sorry Dion, I’ve been a bit distracted, ya know with me being a junior Psychonaut and all. I've got my mind on a lot of important things,” Raz proclaimed proudly. Even though he had yet to get an assignment, Raz’s excitement for what could come next, had his mind racing, much to Dion’s chagrin.
“Look Pooter, Mom wants you to come back to the Aquato Dome, she asked me to come here and see if you wanted to join us for our next show?” Dion asked. He was getting impatient with how long this all was taking. Even if Raz had saved them all from Maligula, err their Nona? He still didn’t know what to think of that. Even still, that didn’t mean that he wanted much to do with all this Psychonauts business. With all the extra burden dealing with psychonaut affairs had brought his family, why would he want any part of it?
“Next show? I didn’t know you guys were putting on a show? How come?” Raz questioned.
“To make money, why else? I thought you knew, we need to make enough money so we can make the trip to leave.” Dion answered, matter of factly. “Look either you're in or you're out Pooter? So what’s it gonna be? I know with you staying here to be an agent Mom would want you to at least participate in this one last show. Or are your acrobatic skills still lacking?” Dion accused, crossing his arm, as he gave a smug look.
Raz took a second to think, if his family really was leaving this could really be his last show for a while. While the whole being an acrobat thing wasn’t at the top of things he wanted to do for the future, maybe one last time wouldn’t be so bad. Plus if it made his family happy why not, he could use a small change of pace. “Okay, sure! Might as well show off what I’ve got.” Raz agreed, as he began to walk towards the direction of the Questionable Area. Dion followed.
“Finally! We don't have all day, now come on we gotta get back before they start practicing.” Dion grabbed a hold of Raz’s arm and dragged him at a faster pace.
Well, I’m sorrrrryy Mr.I’m-so-pushy and stuff. Raz thought to himself, his brother could be so bossy sometimes.
“What was that?” Dion inquired, turning toward Raz, annoyed.
“I-I didn’t SAY anything….” Raz looked at him with a confused expression. He wasn’t talking, at least Raz didn’t think...
“Ugh, never mind whatever, now come on.” Dion said, shaking his head and changing the subject as they continued towards his family's Caravan.
The two brothers walked through the tall thick forest of trees on their way to the caravan. The air had been drowned with an awkward silence. It was all too clear to Raz, by Dion’s permanent frown and constant grumbles, that he wasn't in the mood to be dragging his little brother back to camp. Let alone deal with him at all at the moment. There were likely plenty of things he’d rather be doing.
Even still, despite whatever leftover annoyance Dion had with him, the two of them would have to talk eventually. Especially if Raz was going to perform with them. Plus this silence was almost deafening. So, finally, Raz decided to bite the bullet and strike up a conversation.
"So…. Did you guys come up with any new tricks for the show?" Raz asked, trying to break the ice.
"Well with you running away, and what happened with Nona, we haven't had much time. So, what do YOU think." Dion jeered. He glared at Raz, his voice was laced with venomous intent. What did Raz expect? Who did he think he was? His whole running away stunt threw off most of the plans they had for that week. They had to completely uproot where they had planned to perform just to chase after his sorry ass. The only new trick was the devil’s fire hose their mom came up with and despite how much it helped them, it was made up on a whim.
"Right…" Raz looked down at his feet trying to avoid his brother's gaze, focusing on the many pebbles and leaves that littered the dirt trail within the questionable area. The two fell into silence once more. He hadn't meant to make him angrier. At times like these Raz wished they had more in common. It hadn't always been like this… But, as Raz grew more and more fond of things like True Psychic Tales, practicing his powers, and the Psychonauts as a whole, the less his older brother wanted anything to do with him. Perhaps him running away had been the straw that broke the camel's back. Though, maybe he could still save this floundering conversation.
"Well maybe now, since we have more time we could come up with some new stuff for the show?" Raz asked hopefully.
"Yeah right, if you even have enough time to stick around for practice. Didn't you mention you have all that psychowhatsit training to do or whatever?" Dion scoffed. Okay, this was just getting annoying. Raz wasn't looking to pick a fight. But, it sure didn't look like Dion was going to drop his attitude any time soon.
What the heck is his problem, I said I was going to help out. Why is he being so stubborn!
"Did you hear that?" Dion's eyes darted around the forest looking for the source of what he thought he heard.
"Uh… I didn't hear anything… " Raz gave Dion a confused look.
"Fine, whatever, never mind," Dion said, trying to drop the subject as fast as he picked it up. But, Raz was determined to get more information from his older brother. Why was he acting so weird?
"But, Dion this is the second time-" Raz began, before Raz could get a word in, Dion forcefully interrupted.
"I said NEVERMIND! Got it? Now let's go talk to Mom." Dion said, picking up speed towards their Mother, who he saw standing in the distance. Raz watched as Dion walked ahead of him. Something was up… But, it was obvious Dion wouldn't be telling him anytime soon. All he could do is put it on the back burner for now, Raz surmised.
“But, Mom, do we really need to be putting on a show JUST yet? I mean it hasn’t really even been that long since we got here." Frazie asked, frustrated.
“Frazie, sweetie, we've got to make money somehow, if we don’t we’ll never be able to leave. So, chin up okay, practice starts soon.” Donatella remarked.
Frazie gave a disappointed look towards her mother. Over the past few days, Frazie was hoping to take Raz up on his offer and try to join the internship program. At first, she was wary of the idea. Anything psychic had been denounced in their family for years. Even though she and Raz had fun messing around with their powers in secret when they were young. She remembered back to all the times she'd seen Raz being reprimanded. It stung to know that a part of herself was considered bad by her family. For the longest time, she felt perhaps, they were right. So, Frazie figured it was best to just suppress the use of her powers from then on. However, with their family's secret being revealed, and most of their family becoming more accepting of their psychic traits, even if slowly. This was her opportunity to finally learn more about her powers. But at this rate, with them leaving, she wouldn't even get the chance.
“Right mom… sure thing.” Frazie sighed, as she walked in the direction of the Dome but not before bumping into her brothers who had just arrived.
“Hey Frazie what’s up?” Raz asked, having noticed Frazies' somber demeanor.
“Hey pooter, It’s nothing.. Just getting ready for the next show... Wait a second, are you actually here to practice too?” Frazie wondered. Sure her Mom had said in passing that she would have loved to see her “little pootie'' participate in at least one more show. But, Frazie had never thought Raz would have taken the offer. He had to be busy with all the new, and admittedly much more interesting, Psychic spy stuff going on back at the Motherlobe. Much more interesting than their little old circus…. Frazie let out another sigh.
“Well, in fact, I am. If you guys really are leaving then I’d better spend time with you while I can.” Raz responded.
Frazie quirked an eyebrow and gave a shrug as she, continued to walk toward the Aquato Dome. “Heh, well okay then. If you really are planning on it you guys better make your way over to the Dome. Dad, Queepie, and Mirtala are waiting.” She said as she began to walk out of earshot.
“Is that who I think it is!” A distinct high-pitched voice grew louder as the two boys turned around.
“If it isn’t my little pootie! I didn’t think you would make it but, here you are!” Donatella proclaimed loudly scooping up her child in a big hug. How her heart soared seeing her child willing to come all this way to participate in their show. She had wanted it to happen but, never expected him to actually say yes.
“Of course mom!" Raz let out a strained voice, as much as he loved his mother, being squished by her had gotten a little embarrassing over the years. “I heard that you guys wanted me in the show and since I had a bit of time, I thought why not?” Raz said a bit unsure.
"Oh, how wonderful!” Donatella beamed. With the whole family together and no longer having their curse weighing them down, this show was going to be spectacular! “Now run along, your Dad and the rest of your siblings are waiting. I’ll catch up in a little. I have a tiny bit more to do.”
“Alright Mom, we’ll see you there,” Raz said, letting in a large gasp of air after being squished for so long. The two brothers began to walk towards the Dome.
So much had changed in the last few days. It was hard for Augustus to wrap his head around it all. Though perhaps that was an understatement in itself.
So, to find himself here preparing for another show was surreal in a way. But, this is what he loved to do, he should be getting excited. Yet, and still, Augustus found it hard to concentrate on the here and now, finding himself staring off into space, his mind on the many other things that he had yet to gain the time or energy to fully process. Though the show had to go on, as they say. Tickets had to be sold and money had to be made for the family.
But, Augustus was quickly brought back down to reality when he heard the call of a familiar voice. “Hey Dad!” Raz yelled as he and Dion walked towards the group.
A slight smile crossed Augustus' face as he waved in their direction "Hello Son!” He greeted him warmly. “What brings you here?” A visit from his son was always a welcome one but he had to wonder about the occasion.
“I'm helping out with the next show!" Raz explained.
“Oh, good!” Augustus exclaimed. Having his son a part of their new and improved act could bring so much to the table. “You and I could even add a little razzle-dazzle in our new act, perhaps?”
“Yeah, that would be awesome!” Raz smiled at the suggestion, giving a nod! Augustus couldn't help but chuckle at his son's newfound elation. Letting his son add his own special flair to their new and improved show was the least he could do after so long...
“Great, we can talk to your mother about it when she gets here, now let's head inside!” Dion let out a large groan and rolled his eyes. More of that "razzle-dazzle" stuff. Sure those powers had been helpful in a pinch but to add it to the show was not something he was on board for. But, their dad already had his mindset on it so what could he do about it. Shaking his head in annoyance Dion followed the rest of his family into the Dome.
The practice had been going pretty by the numbers so far, they were all currently doing their daily stretching and exercises.
“5,6,7,8” Raz counted in his head, as he finished the last of his Pike stretching exercise. Raz stood up and grabbed his nearby water bottle, giving it a large swig.
“Alright, that’s enough to warm up! Gather around!” Donatella said getting the attention of the rest of the family. They all met her in the middle of the dome ready to hear about what their next routine would be. Raz wondered if his mom had taken any of his suggestions. Though in the back of his mind he had a feeling most of, if not all of them would be left out of the show. Maybe that was for the best.
When Raz walked into the dome earlier, one obvious change he noticed was the new pool of water that sat below their trapezes. It looked to have a small platform in the middle of the water. Raz wondered when they had the chance to set this all up seeing as it had only been a day or so since the Maligula incident. But, knowing his Mom's determination, when she had her mind set on something she'd get it done. He shouldn't have been surprised seeing how excited she was discussing adding water to their act, even if it wasn't in the biggest way just yet.
“Since Razputin has chosen to join us, I’ve decided to make this show as special as we can! So, with the devil’s fire hose as inspiration, Each of us will stack on top of each other in a pyramid tower, in the middle of that tiny platform. Once Raz gets to the top he will jump off and begin to swing upon the flying trapeze above this pool of water! Then…”
As he stared in the direction of the aforementioned pool, Raz’s stomach began to do flips, leaving him with an uneasy feeling. Donatella's voice became muffled due to the new found ringing in Raz's ears. Giving a large shiver he hoped that once they got going he would start to feel better.
“Are you listening, Razputin? This is important so pay attention.” Donatella asked, her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, S-sorry Mom..." Raz gave a curt nod and his mother continued.
"Good, Now is Everyone on the same page?" Donatella questioned. Everyone nodded in agreement. Donatella smiled "Okay then, now let's get started.”
They all stood on the platform and each of them began to climb upon each other forming a tall tower. It soon was Raz’s turn to climb, He gazed down at the water, his hands grew sweaty and his heart quickened. Nervousness? Raz had hardly been nervous before performing a trick, especially after so many years of doing it. Hell, he had practically been born doing this. So, why was he... Why was he scared? His mind snapped back to the events of the days prior. All of the danger, the imminent storm of a potential deluge. All of the memories he had seen drowned in sorrow, Feeling as if the water was overtaking him.
He shook his head attempting to snap himself out of his stooper. Raz began to climb the tower. But one gaze down to the ground had him a dizzy. The crystal blue water shimmering in the light of the dome, made his breathing hitch. The ringing in his ear grew louder as he gazed upon the deep pool of blue. So loud in fact that he could hardly hear his mother call his name.
“Now Pootie, remember, You grab onto the Trapeze and begin to swing away from us. Then Mirtala will join after that.”
“O-okay mom,” Raz said absentmindedly. He could hardly form a sentence. At this point, the air in the room felt as if it had grown thicker making it harder to breath and that the pool of water was only growing closer and becoming deeper, ready to swallow him up. Just then a hand began to peak out of the water as if waving towards him beckoning him down into the deep. He shouldn’t be feeling like this. Their curse didn’t exist, all of it was a lie, and yet… His arms felt numb and his head spun. Raz began to reach for the trapeze, his hand shaking, this had never happened before. All Raz could see were flashes in his mind of his body plummeting deep under and all the hurt he had seen water bring over the past few days, and during his life.
His vision blurred and his legs shook, unable to keep balance. The tips of his gloved hand grazed the bar. Suddenly Raz let out a gasp.
“Whoa whoa!” Raz exclaimed as he felt his hand slip off the trapeze, his weight shifting as he felt the wind rush past his face. In an instant, everything felt as if it had slowed down. His body tumbling towards the pool, towards what felt like his doom. The only thing he could think of was his body being pulled under, drowning.
Dion watched, as Raz plummeted towards the water. Maybe it was on instinct from his brother's light scream or because of his own leftover weariness of the water. But, Dion felt himself reach out as he attempted to grab towards his brother and He felt his eyes squint shut. When suddenly he felt a rush of energy pules out of his body and towards his brother. He soon opened his eyes, not hearing the splash he had expected, but instead seeing his brother hovering there in mid-air. However, not in the way, he had seen him do it through levitating, with a natural slow descent. But, as if someone was holding him up.
“Dion?…” Raz said in nothing more than a light whisper. Raz stared at him in shock, his eyes locked with Dion. At that moment Dion realized someone wasn’t holding Raz up…. HE was holding Raz up. Dion hastily retracted his outstretched hand. Maybe too hastily, because with the sudden movement Raz was flung to the side away from the pool but towards the Dome’s ground. On the other hand, the structural stability of their people tower was no longer intact.
“Dion what the heck are you doing up there, you have to stay balanced yo-whoooaa!” That was all Frazie could get out before the tower began to fall down to the ground as they landed in a pile on the platform.
“Ugh, great not again,” Frazie whined. This was the second time this happened that week, usually, they were more on their game than this.
“It’s okay Frazie, that's what practice is for. We’ll do it next time you’ll see.” Augustus reassured, as he got up from the pile brushing the dirt off of his pants.
“Raz, what happened up there? Are you okay?” Mirtala asked. None of them could fully see what was happening above them but it sure had to be something to cause them all to fall.
Still shellshock from what Raz just saw Dion do, his mind had yet to really catch up with his mouth. Taking a second to breathe he responded “I’m fine guys... Hey, wait a second where's Dion?” Raz looked around the dome and no longer saw his older brother there.
“Hey, yeah, where did that jerk go? I’m 90% sure he’s the one who caused us to collapse anyway.” Frazie accused, folding her arms in frustration.
“Mom, Dad, do you mind if we take 5? So, I can go look for Dion?” Raz asked with urgency. He had to ask Dion about what just happened.
“Sure thing son, there isn’t much else we can do without your brother anywa-“
Before Augustus could finish his sentence Raz was running off in the direction of the dome’s exit yelling back. “Okay! I’ll see you later! ” His voice getting quieter and quieter as he left the dome.
Dion took a deep breath as he tried to slow his heartbeat from the sprint across the questionable area. His mind raced. what had just happened? Dion took a second to question himself. He looked down at his shaking hands. It couldn’t have been what he thought. It had to have been Raz or something else. There was no way he was like “them”… But then why did Raz look at him that way, like he’d realized it too. It just didn’t make sense! Why now!
Dion let out a loud groan of frustration as he kicked a rock in front of him, causing it to fall over the cliffside into the water below the waterfall. It wasn’t too long after until he heard some rustling from behind him. Dion whipped his head around to see who the "intruder" was.
“Who is it? Who’s there?” Dion called out hoping they would just show themselves.
“Calm down, it's just me Dion.” A familiar voice said. Raz walked out from behind the trees.
Of course, it would be him. Dion scowled at his little brother. “What the hell do you want?”
“Hey-hey I’m not here to argue I just wanted to check and see if you were okay, you sort of just ran off after everyone fell,” Raz said, concerned. Raz had seen what had happened as he fell earlier. It surely wasn’t himself who stopped him from falling. He had been too distracted while he was falling, to begin with. While Queepie,Frazie and Augustus had not noticed. It had to have been Dion who saved him from his fall. But, Raz was still confused as to how that could be. While it was obvious that Dion had somehow used telekinesis. He had never seen his older brother use any psychic abilities before. Had Dion been keeping it a secret this whole time? Or was something else at play?
“I’m fine. Okay, Raz? I just… I just need some space, alright?” Dion sighed, turning back to look out towards the elevated view of the questionable area. It figures that Dion wouldn’t have made it easy when it came to talking about this stuff. So, Raz decided to just outright ask.
“Look Dion, I saw what you did earlier… Why didn’t you tell me, us, you were psychic?” Raz inquired, he had to admit he was slightly hurt. Did his brother not trust him enough to tell him?
“I didn’t tell you I was psychic because I didn’t KNOW I was psychic, okay!?” Dion exclaimed, walking towards the young Psychonaut. “ This just started happening in the last few days, I thought I was just mishearing things or that things were ACCIDENTALLY getting knocked over, but looks like I was wrong! Now I have freaky mind powers too.” Dion crossed his arms, annoyed. He was just so confused, he wasn’t like his Dad or Raz, he was supposed to be normal.
“Don’t worry Dion, stuff like that is perfectly normal for young psychics… and I guess psychics with newly developed powers? Plus you know you're not the only Psychic in the family, Dad, Frazie, and Queepie are too,” Raz tried to reassure Dion.
“Yeah maybe it's normal for YOU, but it’s not for me! Tsh, forget it you wouldn’t understand!” What did Raz know anyway?
“Look Dion, we’re both psychics, and us psychics have to stick together.” Raz thought back to when his dad gave a similar sentiment to him, and he couldn’t agree more.
Dion was fed up with this whole situation, just a few days ago everything had been normal. No freaky Psychonauts business, or Nona’s who weren’t their real Nona, or Psychic conspiracy’s, or sudden Psychic powers to deal with. It was just him, his family, and their acrobatics. It was all too much, he just couldn’t take it!
Dion turned around to stare Raz straight In the eye, his shadow towering over. An overwhelming heat overcame him, as he felt his anger build. “Well maybe I don't want to be some kind of psychic freak, like you, you ever think of that!” Dion boomed. In an instant, the coil of anger Dion had wound up snapped. The fervor surrounding the eldest Aquato sibling surged immensely and suddenly the area in front of him burst into flames.
Raz as quickly as he could, ducked out of the way of the fiery blast, tumbling to the side away from the intense temperature.
"Dion! You need to calm down!" Raz exclaimed.
He watched, surprised at the sudden and likely unintentional attack. Both of them staring in awe as the flames flickered until they eventually died down. Only leaving scorched earth in their wake.
Everything stood still.
What had he done… Dion hadn’t meant for that to happen he was just so….vexed and now he almost caught his brother on fire.
Raz slowly looked back at Dion even more worried about his brother than before. After a few moments of silence Raz spoke.
“Dion I-“
“Don’t ‘Dion I-’ me! Like I said just leave me be okay.” Dion sighed defeated, his voice was less angry at this point and more filled with distress than anything else. He just wanted to be left alone. He just wanted this to be over.
Raz, however, continued. “Look...I’m not you, I can’t tell you how you feel or know exactly what this is like. But, I want you to know that even still I’m here for you. Yes, this is new and strange and maybe even a bit scary, But, if you ever want to talk. I'm around...” With Raz’s last words he began to walk back the way he came. But, before he could reach the trees, he had been hiding behind earlier, he was stopped.
“Raz….” Dion said, he paused for a moment. Raz turned back, he hadn’t expected to hear from Dion after his sudden outburst. “I didn’t mean to do that, okay. This whole week has been a mess. First, you run away, then everything with Nona happened, and now this… I just… I shouldn't have done that. It’s not making things any better. For either of us.”
Raz smiled slightly, this was a start. He understood how Dion felt, this whole week had been taxing for so many, especially his family. Not to mention Dion's anti psychic habits had yet to be fully kicked. This must’ve been a lot for him, like his mother said they had been taught to dislike psychics for so long. So, In a way, this must have been Dion’s own method of getting his feelings out, even if it wasn’t the most healthy one. Hopefully, they could work on that later. But for now, a bigger situation had been afoot, his new powers. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean all of it, Dion.” Raz walked to stand next to Dion at the edge of the waterfall's cliff. He looked out at the blue-tinted sky.
“But, like I said if you ever need to talk I'm there, and hey, if you need any advice on psychic stuff, I could always give you some tips,” Raz said. He gave a shrug. Hopefully, his suggestion could lighten the mood a little.
Dion thought for a moment, there wasn't much else he could do about this. Though admitting he would maybe need some help from his little brother did Bruise his ego a bit. It was better than nothing. “Sure, I guess that could help...
“And we can tell Dad and Frazie!“ Before Raz could continue his thought Dion put a stop to that idea.
“Nope, no way, I’m not telling anyone,” Dion said adamantly. Just because he gained PSI powers and Raz happened to find out, didn't mean he wanted to spread it to the whole world.
“What? Why not? We don't need to keep it a secret anymore!”
“I’m just not ready to say anything to the others, okay? So, can we keep this between me and you for now?” Dion's eyes shifted towards the ground, a feeling of uneasiness filled the air.
“But, why do we have to?” Raz was genuinely bewildered at this point. Why was Dion so against telling their family? Or anyone for that matter, he didn't need to worry about that anymore.
“Cuz I said so, promise me you’ll keep it between us! Okay, Raz?” Dion asked more sternly this time. To the point that it felt more like an order.
There was no way Raz was going to convince his brother otherwise at the moment. So he relented. “Okay fine. But, you shouldn’t hide it forever.”
“I’ll think about it…” Dion said, barely audible. “Now come on Pooter, let’s get back to the Caravan. Mom and Dad are probably waiting for us.” Dion said as he went in the direction of the camp.
“Sure thing, last one there is a rotten egg,” Raz said, sticking his tongue out towards his brother getting a head start as he ran back towards the Caravan as well.
“Hey! You get back here Pooter!” Dion shouted as he ran after his little brother. While Raz had at least discovered his brother's new abilities he still couldn't help but worry about how weird Dion was acting about it all. Hopefully, he'd work it out eventually. But, all Raz knew was that things weren't going to be the same.