Dart+Raz: Philophobia ch1

After five years, five long, tiring, years of torturous and rigorous acrobatics training and circus performing, Razputin Aquato joyously entered the gates of Whispering Rocks Psychic Camp, his home away from home. Finally, the boy was free; free from the constant smell of popcorn and cotton candy, free from the sounds of children crying and cheering, free from the bright lights and blinding colors…

Most importantly though, he was free to use his powers in public wherever, and whenever, he wanted to and no one would scold him for it.

After the incident with Coach Oleander, and later the rescuing of Truman Zanatto, the leader of the Psychonauts and father of Raz's girlfriend Lili, Psychonaut protocol had required that the camp be shut down until Coach Oleander had gone through several intense therapy sessions. During this time, all Psychonauts under his orders were to be put on leave until they were either reassigned or Oleander recovered enough to be considered stable.

This meant, to make a long story short, Raz had been sent back to the care of his dad and their small, family run circus. And although the business with Oleander and Raz's minds being intertwined had allowed Raz to overcome his view of his dad hating all psychics (including his own son), it didn't stop Augustus Aquato from keeping Raz on a strict, acrobatics practice only routine, although he did allow Raz to practice his psychic abilities in the privacy of their caravan.

"We have many enemies son," was Augustus's only response whenever Raz complained. "Enemies that would wish to cause you harm."

But finally, five years later, Oleander was back to his normal self (if he could've even been described as normal in the first place) and, once he was back in commission, the camp was reopened. And Raz, now a 15 year old redhead who still had his goggles and a mischievous spark in his jade green eyes, was back and eager to have as much fun as he could before the camp closed for the summer in just a few short months. Of course, the acrobat wasn't alone; after him came all the other kids from that fateful day five years ago, as well as some new faces both young and old.

The day itself was quite busy for the young teen and by the time he had re-explored every inch of the camp and met up with all his friends from before, night had fallen and all the campers had been gathered at the campfire for Oleander's welcoming speech. Nothing much had changed from the first time Raz had heard it, but near the end, Oleander motioned for Raz to join him on stage, clapping a hand on the teen's shoulder. "Perhaps some of you will end up like young Raz Aquato here and become Psychonauts even sooner than we expect you to!"

All the campers cheered, both praising Raz for his accomplishments and showing their determination to become Psychonauts. One camper, however, remained silent, his ice blue eyes fixing Raz with a glare.

~R~

Nothing much had changed in camp. This especially counted for the dining hall, which still consisted of several long tables and benches with a small stage near the front and Ford Cruller, the camp's single groundskeeper and chef, cooking inedible burgers in a corner.

The small eating area was packed though, and much more packed than Raz remembered. Of course, everyone had naturally assembled into their own little niches, with the newer campers sitting at the tables closest to the TV lounge and the stage, where Phoebe and Quentin were playing their instruments (drums and turntables respectfully) for the diners' pleasure.

At the table across from the newcomers sat Bobby, the camp's local bully, who was doing his best to scare the newest Psi-Cadets with various lies and tall tale stories. Sitting with him was his big eared sidekick Benny and his sort of girlfriend Chloe, who ignored the boys and instead focused on whatever she was building. Sitting at the opposite end of this table were Maloof and his bodyguard Mikhail, though judging by how close they were sitting and the blush on Maloof's cheeks, their status was now much more than that of business partners.

At the table below that sat best buds Chops and J.T. Raz had his suspicions that sooner or later the two were going to hook up soon. And now that Elka was back with Nils (both of which were sitting at the same table), J.T. was fair game. Also sitting at their table was the troll duo of Franke and Kitty, who were practically joined at the hip and were never seen without the other. Raz had his suspicions about these two as well, though he'd never voice them aloud; Kitty had connections around camp and could make your life a living hell.

And at yet another table sat Clem and Crystal, two campers that seemed to share the same brain, though Raz knew better. Last time Raz had seen them, the two had been suicidal, talking nonsense of growing more powerful by flinging themselves off a roof. At the opposite end of their table were the couples Elton, who talked to fish, and Milka, who usually spent her time being invisible. The two were currently making out, much to the distaste of Vernon, the camp's storyteller and a boy who had a secret crush on Elton that only Raz knew about.

Finally, there was Raz's table, consisting of his best friend and his girlfriend. His best friend Dogan was a small, shy boy, who still wore his tinfoil hat to prevent 'accidents' (which didn't help the squirrels much, since Dogan still managed to blow their heads up). And as for Lili…

Lili Zanatto was more beautiful than Raz remembered. The young girl from years ago had grown up, and filled out, but her long brown hair was still in its pig tails and her olive eyes still stared quizzically at the world, daring it to hide its secrets. The young male hadn't left her side since Oleander's speech and every camper, even the new ones, agreed that despite the five years of separation, the spark between them was still strong and incapable of being killed.

Currently, Raz was telling them about one of his performances.

"So then I had to cartwheel across this tight rope, then backflip onto a swinging trapeze."

"Did you make it?" Dogan asked, voice betraying how amazed he was. Lili too was intrigued, soaking up Raz's words as she clung to his arm.

"Yeah, but I almost didn't," Raz continued, unable to help the grin spreading across his face. "I jumped a bit too soon and, well, let's just say if the tightrope hadn't been within grabbing distance, I wouldn't be here right now."

He purposefully left out the part about his dad scolding him for being reckless. He labeled that as family business, and family business was never discussed to anyone but family. Plus it was embarrassing.

"So you're dad had you practicing your acrobatics constantly?" Lili hugged Raz's arm tighter, her head resting on his shoulder. The youngest Psychonaut in history couldn't help but blush as one of her hairs blushed against his cheek.

"Yeah, well he's still pretty worried my powers will get me in trouble. And the whole incident with my mind merging with the Coach's was what sealed the deal. He let me practice my powers in what little spare time I got though-"

"Aquato."

Raz blinked and looked away from Lili, just in time to watch as a new camper slid into the seat next to Dogan and across from Raz. The male, who was around Raz's age, was a strange one (though who wasn't at Whispering Rocks?); his skin had a bluish tint, his eyes also a striking blue, and he was wearing what looked like a green poncho, red knee shorts, and what had to be the craziest stocking cap Raz had ever seen.

"Aquato," the blue male repeated, casting Raz a rather smug look. Dogan scooted away from the newcomer slightly, a slightly distressed look taking over his face. Raz couldn't really blame him that much. After all, Dogan was scared of squirrels half the time.

The redhead scowled at the stranger in confusion. "Who are you?"

"You don't know? I thought your dad would've told you all about my family."

"What are you talking about?"

The blue boy poked at his food, sniffing the indescribable blob of meat before pushing to the side. "So how's the swimming here?" Slowly, his smirk twisted into a grin, his eyes locking with Raz's. "Oh wait! You can't swim, can you Aquato? The Hand will drag you under if you so much as stick a toe in water."

Raz flinched back, breathe catching in his throat as his eyes went wide in shock. He'd never told anyone about the Hand of Galochio. True, he'd told Milla and Elton about the curse (though he'd kind of been forced to with Milla and he hadn't given Elton details), but he'd never mentioned the Hand. Only those under the curse's effects could see the Hand and no one outside his family could possibly know about it except…

"Galochio," Raz choked, staring at the male before him. The boy's grin widened.

"D'artagan Galochio, to be exact, though I prefer Dart."

Raz narrowed his eyes, fists clenching as hate flowed through his veins. This boy was a member of the family that had cursed him and his family to die. And the way he was talking made it seem like he was proud of that fact!

"What hand?" Lili piped up, giving Raz a questioning look. The acrobat winced, rage temporarily forgotten. He hadn't even told his girlfriend about the curse, and judging by Dart's chuckle, the blue boy knew.

"Yeah Raz," Dogan added, looking at Raz as well. "What hand?"

Raz gulped, shrinking back slightly. Dart merely chuckled harder, obviously enjoying the events before him.

"Um… You see… I… Er…"

"He's cursed," Dart stated, answering for Raz. "His whole family is. See, long time ago, the Auquatos did something to the Galochios. So… we cursed them. All their offspring are unable to go near water or the Hand of Galochio will drag them under. And yes, that would include your children should you two really get serious."

Lili turned to Raz, eyes first wide in shock before narrowing into slits. "And you didn't tell me!?"

"I-I was going to!" Raz stuttered, inching away from his angry girlfriend. Dogan whimpered and tried his best to hide out of sight, not wanting Lili's wrath to hit him too.

"When were you going to tell me Raz!? In a few days!? When we were married!? When we had kids!?"

"Oh, that would be fun to see!" Dart cackled, holding his sides. "'Oh honey, what a lovely son we have! By the way, he can't go near water or this hand only he can see will drag him underwater!'"

"Lili, I'm sorry!" Raz yelled, trying to ignore the laughing Dart and pacify his now enraged girlfriend. "I was gonna tell you! Really! It's just-"

"Just what, Razputin!?"

"It's a sore subject, ok!?" Raz snapped, looking away from Lili. "And one that terrifies everyone in my family. Including me…"

Silence. Raz glanced back at Lili, taking in the lack of anger, but lack of sympathy as well. Dart had fallen silent, watching the two quietly as Raz continued, looking away again.

"But I faced that fear, Lili. I went after you when you were kidnapped, braved the curse to save you. I went after the mutant lungfish that kidnapped you and went across Lake Oblongata to the insane asylum all because-"

At that moment however, a pair of lips silenced Raz. For a split second, Raz thought it was Lili, but then realized there was a key flaw in that thought; he was still facing away from Lili.

And Lili's face wasn't so blue.

Raz's eyes grew wider as he gasped, a huge mistake on his part. Dart smirked and took advantage of the mistake to deepen the kiss, using one of his hands to hold Raz's hands down, the other resting on one of his knees. To the acrobat's horror, a moan rose from his throat as his brain came to a terrifying conclusion.

Raz was enjoying this. More than he enjoyed kissing Lili.

Just as Raz's eyes drifted closed, Dart pulled away, chuckling wickedly. "Sorry to break it to you, dear, but I think your boyfriend's gay."

With those words, the blue boy left, strolling out of the dining hall like he'd just been crowned king. Raz was suddenly aware that everyone was watching him now, a deadly silence filling the room. He slowly turned to face Lili…

Slap!

Raz cupped his stinging cheek, staring in shock at his crying, now ex-girlfriend. Lili gave him one last glare before storming out, the watching crowd parting to make way for her. When she had vanished, Dogan scrambled to the shell shocked Raz's side, tugging on his best friend's coat sleeve in an attempt to snap Raz out of his stupor. "Raz? Raz, you ok? Raz? Hey Raz? Raz!"

The young Psychonaut swallowed, the taste of his family's death giver still strong in his mouth.

And, for some reason poor Raz couldn't explain, he didn't mind it at all.