The village the trio found themselves looking over was entirely blue. The buildings were blue. People's clothes were blue. The fences were blue. The flowers were blue. Even a cow, barely visible in the distance, had been painted blue. "I'm surprised the grass isn't blue," Ness murmured wonderingly as the group moved slowly into the town.
The people there wandered around with odd smiles on their faces, greeting each other with chants of "Blue, Blue," as they celebrated their blueness, or whatever it was they were doing. The smiles they sent in the group's direction were...disturbing. "I think we should spend as little time here as possible-" Buzz Buzz began.
"Blue!" one of the townspeople - dressed from head to toe in blue and wielding a paintbrush - charged the group, hostility and madness pouring off of him in waves.
Ness let out a shocked scream and swung his bat, catching the man in the back of the head and sending him sprawling. He then slowly got to his feet and wandered off, seemingly unhurt due to the nature of Ness' PSI Bat, but muttering "Blue, Blue" all the same.
"The grip on their minds is strong," Moondancer mumbled nervously.
"That's not all we should worry about," Buzz Buzz pointed out. "Look at the other people."
Ness glanced around, seeing everyone going about their business. "Looks the same..."
"Exactly," Buzz Buzz pointed out. "One of their own charged a stranger, was struck hard enough in the back of the head to kill if the bat hadn't been designed not to...and none of them so much as blinked. Even the ones staring right at the confrontation had no reaction."
Ness and Moondancer both shivered violently. "Okay," Ness muttered quietly. "Let's not ask questions about where Paula might be."
"Agreed," Moondancer confirmed. "Let's just look around and see what we can find. We came in through a cave in the northwest, and it looks like the entire settlement is walled in by cliffs, so caves would be the only way out."
The trio explored the settlement carefully, doing their best to avoid people without being obvious that they were trying to avoid people. They found only a few buildings they could easily access - one in the southwest labeled a bed and breakfast, one in the center of town obviously some sort of town hall/church, and one in the northeast that was a drugstore with a few other things to sell - and two other caves, one to the north and one to the east. They hadn't gone into any of the buildings or tried to buy anything.
"Anyone overhear anything useful?" Ness asked hopefully as they moved to an empty part of town.
"I buzzed a few people," Buzz Buzz spoke up. "Heard them talking about someone called 'Mr. Carpainter'. If I heard right, he's the 'spiritual leader' of this settlement."
"According to signs, this 'settlement' is called 'Happy Happy Village'," Moondancer pointed out. "Not very useful info, but at least we know what to call the place."
"At least the only thing we had to go on isn't everyone saying 'Welcome to Our Town'," Ness pointed out. "So where do we go?"
"I'd suggest the caves," Moondancer pointed out. "If Paula were within the settlement, I would have felt her by now...unless she's already been sacrificed."
"Let's assume she hasn't," Buzz Buzz spoke up before Ness could sink too far into depression. "North or East?"
"I feel power from the East," Ness pointed out. "Feels like Giant Step, so that's probably the Sanctuary."
"North, then?" Moondancer suggested. "If the Sanctuary's anything like Giant Step, it'd be protected by monsters, not cultists."
Nodding, Ness led the way towards the north cave...only to pause as he got a look into a storage shed. "...huh," he mused idly.
"What?" Moondancer asked curiously.
"It's just...it's full of lawn gnomes," Ness pointed out. "That feels...significant."
"A cult store house full of lawn gnomes feels significant?" Buzz Buzz asked curiously. "...why?"
"Not sure," Ness admitted. "Let's go check the cave to the north."
The north cave was surprisingly empty of creatures of any sort, and led out to a large house not painted blue in a secluded portion of Peaceful Rest Valley. "Wasn't Paula taken to a hideout in Peaceful Rest Valley?" Ness asked hopefully. "I remember hearing someone say that..."
"I can feel her," Moondancer said firmly. "She's here."
The trio quickly rushed around to enter the house through the front door, scaring off some Spiteful Crows along the way. The interior was surprisingly spartan, with only a single table, a single chair, and a large metal cell wall and locked door cutting off the entire back half of the building. Behind the metal bars was a teddy bear...and a blonde girl about Ness' age in a pretty pink dress, red ribbons holding her hair in twin bobs. She looked up at the group with a smile. "Ness, Moondancer, Buzz Buzz...I knew you'd come," she spoke softly as she moved up to the bars.
"Paula..." Ness breathed softly as he moved to her side. "I'll get you out of here, don't worry." He tugged on the bars.
"It's locked," Paula pointed out softly. "Mr. Carpainter has the key-"
"These bars don't block PSI," Moondancer pointed out as she examined the cage.
"All I know is PSI Freeze and Fire Alpha," Paula admitted. "And the second I only know because Lucky of the Runaway Five has been giving me special PSI training for the week or so before I got kidnapped. Not sure how a singer in a band knows so much about PSI, but I knew I could trust him." She gestured around. "Still, blasts of ice or fire didn't seem a good idea on metal bars or in a wooden house."
"Fair enough," Moondancer allowed as she stuck her horn through the bars and fired off a PSI Beam Delta, punching a hole in the back wall big enough for Paula to climb through. "I can't really use PSI Beam in combat since it's a bit too fast paced and that one takes more focus than I can handle quickly, but it works great for making shortcuts."
Paula stared at the hole. "...well, that certainly works," she offered happily. "I'll meet you around front!" Grabbing the teddy bear, she pulled a frying pan out from under her skirt.
"...where were you hiding that?" Buzz Buzz asked in shock.
Paula giggled impishly. "A girl's gotta have her secrets!" she offered teasingly.
"Oh!" Moondancer called out. Reaching into her item-space, she pulled out the shield-spoon she'd gotten at the same time as the PSI Bat. "This looks like you might be able to use it."
"Ooh!" Paula breathed as she took the weapon. "It's a Magic Fry Pan! This'll be great!"
"And wear this!" Moondancer added, floating over a Star Pendant and Goddess Ribbon. "It'll protect you."
"Meet you out front!" Ness said happily as Paula donned the Pendant and tied the Ribbon in her hair as the group moved to leave the house.
Outside, Pokey was waiting for them, grinning ear to ear as he was flanked by two of the cultists dressed all in blue and a Spiteful Crow. "Hey Ness!" he declared smugly. "You're just here to bother me, aren't you? Well, you can call me Master Pokey, since Mr. Carpainter made me an important person in Happy-Happyism-"
"PK Fire!" Paula shouted out as a stream of fire shot over the two cultists, igniting their clothes and sending them running around like crazy as they struggled to put themselves out. Rushing forward, Paula knocked the crow aside with the Magic Fry Pan.
Pokey stared. "What? But...you haven't fought Carpainter...key..." His eyes caught sight of Moondancer blowing smoke off her horn. "No fair!" he screamed out angrily as he began to bounce up and down. "Cheater cheater cheater!" With that, he dashed off.
Buzz Buzz looked at Paula. "...PK?" he asked in confusion.
Paula blushed prettily. "...PSI Kickass?" she offered in embarrassment.
Ness grinned. "I like the sound of that," he offered with a chuckle as Moondancer facehooved.
"Oh, here," Paula offered, holding out an oddly configured badge. "Mr. Carpainter uses lightning, so you'd better be wearing this when you fight him to free the village. It's called the Franklin Badge."
Smiling, Ness took the badge. "Thanks. It's...good to meet you, Paula." He glanced away, rubbing the back of his head.
Paula smiled happily, moving closer to Ness.
"So...how long until they start sneaking off to trade kisses you think?" Moondancer asked Buzz Buzz, making both youngsters leap apart with bright blushes on their faces.
"They're 13," Buzz Buzz replied. "I'd say the minute they're somewhere they don't have to worry about a monster attacking."
"Huh," Moondancer observed ruefully. "So it's my Father that's being the chaperone then. How ironic."