The Lost Ones Book 2: Welcome Home

Chapter 55

She turned to him, keeping her work hidden from him but gave a small smile at the mention of the name. "Ah, yes. Kalaraja. I really hate it when work keeps us apart. I don't get to see my own husband as often as I would like. But perhaps sometimes it is for the best." She hummed softly. "Sure Rajaie has his tantrums if I tell him he can't do something but he gets over it. He always does what I tell him too. He's such a sweetie sometimes." She giggled softly.

"Husband?!" Quentin's eyes widened.

"Hmm? Oh yes! Rajie is my lovely husband!" She replied as she turned back to her work.

"So you're in on this together huh? Was him killing me not enough for you?"

"Clearly not." She replied, not completely paying attention to him as she worked.

"Why not?!"

"You won't behave."

"Torturing me isn't gonna make me behave. I've been through hell and back for the years I've been stuck here, I can handle it."

"Exactly why I won't have you running around if I can't make you behave."

Quentin rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his chains.

"You aren't getting out of those."

Quentin sighed and stopped pulling, his arms already decently cut up from the metal.

"Be patient. I'm almost done." She told him as she worked on finishing on her project.

Quentin stayed still, his mind racing through possible ways to escape, but none came to him.

Silence filled the room until the Queen spoke up once more.

"You know it's a shame... They believed that you would be completely safe here."

"They...? You mean the others?!" Quentin looked over at her.

"Yes, them. You told them yourself, though you wouldn't remember that."

"What do you-?"

"My Starlight asked if he could see you again so I complied, though it was simply just an illusion of you by my creation. Naive little boy, couldn't even tell it was a fake. 'You' told them you would be safe with me, and they surprisingly believed it and left you behind. That must hurt, doesn't it? They didn't even try to get you back."

"T-that doesn't matter if they left me! They're safe, and that's what matters!"

"Indeed they are safe, for now at least."

"What do you mean by that?!"

Penelope didn't answer him and continued to work.

"H-hey! You can't just-!"

"That is none of your business, my dear." She calmly replied, ignoring any other remarks he made about the topic.

"Alright. This part is done." She brought it over. A wooden puppet. It looked very similar to him. Height, details, etc.

Quentin looked nervously at the puppet. It looked almost lifelike except for the wooden texture underneath the paint and the fabric fins on his head and tail. The biggest difference was that this puppet was dressed differently, wearing the tuxedo that the mudkip was so famously known for.

"What do you think? Pretty uncanny, yes?" she asked him.

"I..." Quentin turned his head away from the puppet, creeped out by how uncanny it was.

"Now comes the interesting part. I suggest you sit still." she propped the puppet up against something next to him and placed two fingers on its forehead then two on Quentin's before chanting something in a language he didn't recognize before he blacked out.

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"Next think I know I was staring at you..." Quentin voice trailed off and he rested his chin onto his knees, that were still tightly pushed into his chest. He stared off, not looking at the other two in the room.

Stampy's ears were down and his tail wrapped tightly around his waist. "That's horrible..."

Elio huffed. "Sounds about right, honestly..."

Quentin only continued to stare off, still trying to process the sudden rush of memories.

Stampy hesitated before putting a hand on his shoulder. "Take your time kippy. We need to be ready when we are ready to move again." He told him softly.

Quentin nodded and buried his face into his knees, quietly sobbing.

(And that's the end of the flashback!)