Chapter 24

Cajun Country

Kit's red Mustang GT cruised down the Louisiana Superdome exit off the westbound I-10 and onto Derbigny Street. Nita's manual sat comfortably on the dash, occasionally sending up a small cloud of smoke as it heated up and flipped to the message section, where Tom or Carl would be posting instructions on where to meet them.

Okay, you're on Derbigny. Hang a right onto Canal Street… yeah, there you go. Then follow the street down into the U-bend at the end and turn right onto Peters.

All the way down… now a RIGHT.

Now, turn right onto Conti Avenue… RIGHT, KIT, RIGHT.

Aaaand there you go. Wait… where are you?

Nita sighed as she read the last manual entry and flipped the manual shut. She could see Tom and Carl at the edge of Riverfront Park, looking around bemusedly for them. Heaving another sigh, she hurried over to them and greeted them.

"Daist'iho."

Carl jumped and looked around sheepishly at her. "Nita? Where were you? We've been sitting here for hours and we haven't seen the Civic…"

Nita looked at Carl incredulously. "Kit drives a red Mustang, Carl…"

Carl's head swiveled around, his gaze presumably settling on Kit, who was flashing the Mustang's headlights and waving frantically.

Tom watched impassively as Kit climbed out of the car, slipped, and bashed his elbow hard.

Unfortunately, it was on the horn that he bashed his elbow.

The Mustang's horn instantly deafened the poor, innocent squirrels hanging from an oak limb directly above the unfortunate Kit.

One of the said squirrels toppled off the branch and landed, kicking and squeaking, smack dab in the middle of Kit's head.

Kit froze, and reached a tentative hand up to touch his new fur cap, which, in its pure terror, sank its sharp incisors into Kit's index finger, instantly destroying its 'cute and cuddly' appearance. Well, at least, to Kit.

With a yell, Kit dashed past Tom, Carl, and Nita, swiping madly at the squirrel clinging to the top of his head for dear life.

All three watched as Kit pulled the squirrel off his head for a split second before the squirrel, dizzy, deaf, and confused, skittered back down his arm to find its place of comfort- namely, Kit's dark hair.

Kit ran past them again, trying in vain to wrench the squirrel out of its cozy nest and yelling at the top of his lungs.

"AAAAAAUGHGETITOUTGETITOUTSOMEBODYHELPME…"

Nita grabbed the collar of his shirt, and, holding him still against her chest in a crushing bear hug, gently pried the chattering animal out of Kit's hair and let it down onto the ground.

Go on, you can leave… she said in the Speech.

With a "Meep," the squirrel bounded away and skittered up a tree, where it perched on a branch and promptly forgot about the whole incident as it found a large acorn hanging off one of the branches.

Nita quickly realized just whom she was hugging Kit in front of, and they broke apart fairly quickly, much to Tom and Carls' amusement.

Tom cast a merry glance at Carl. "Hey, Carl, why d'you think they never told us about their feelings for one another?"

Carl, catching on very quickly, nodded somberly in agreement. "Yeah, Tom. Us,their resident Area Seniors. They should be ashamed of themselves."

Kit, patting the top of his head as if to reassure himself he was not wearing a squirrel as a hat still, had to restrain himself from rolling his eyes as Tom and Carl launched into a perfectly audible discussion of the hundreds of punishments they could use against the two 'lovebirds' for not revealing their secret. Nita, on the other hand, looked worried and asked in an undertone, "D'you think they're kidding?"

Kit shrugged indifferently. "Yeah, actually…"

He was interrupted by Tom and Carls' agreed punishment. "Make them eat something!"

Nita glared at Kit and socked him forcefully in the arm.

"See what you've gotten us into?" she hissed.

Kit stared innocently at her, failed miserably, and resorted to begging instead.

"C'mon, Neets… I really didn't mean it… heh heh…"

He chuckled meagerly as Nita advanced menacingly on him, but Kit was saved a major pummeling by Tom's voice as he popped the passenger side door on the '89 Maxima they owned.

"Hey, Nita, Kit? Come over here."

Nita buried her face in her hands and paced forward, believing she was doomed to a slow and disgusting, tasteless death by food. Kit, on the other hand, looked somewhat delighted, but his joy subsided as Tom, grinning wickedly, removed two foil-covered Styrofoam bowls from the interior of the car and presented them to the pair.

"Shrimp jambalaya?"

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Nita swallowed another forkful of the spicy seafood goodness before laying her fork down and inquiring, "So, why on earth did you yank us out of Vermont like that?"

Carl's smile froze on his face, and he lay down his fork as well, having been stuffing his face with Eggs Pontchartrain, as Emeril called it.

"Listen, Nita? Do you know what Atlantis was?"

Nita nodded, repeating the name in the Speech. "Afallone?" She smiled sadly as she recalled the time when a creature much larger than her usual self had sung that at her.

Tom mimicked her action, nodding, and said gravely, "It's resurfaced."

Kit put down his fork, saying quietly, "So how does this affect us?"

Carl looked incredulously at him. "Kit, do you know what kind of power, what kind of technology, is hidden on that island? Stuff even the Lone One doesn't have."

Nita looked confused. "Well, I was told it broke apart…"

"The crust underneath it did, the city itself didn't. I suppose it must have moved somehow with the currents and the movements of the crust over the years, and it's now off the coast of Louisiana."

"But wait," Kit interjected. "If there was technology that even the Lone Power didn't have, then, why, exactly, did he destroy it?"

"Because he wanted revenge, Kit. The Master Wizards there refused to let him through the gates, and, enraged, he kicked off the first of the earthquakes. And now that it's resurfaced, he once again has access to those technologies. And it's vital to the wellbeing of this earth, of the way we live at this moment in time, that we prevent the Lone One from obtaining these items."

Kit nodded. "Damn right."

Nita voiced her strong agreement as well, but inquired, "How, exactly, do we do that?"

Tom smiled genially at her, trying to lighten the mood.

"You'll see tomorrow. Finish off that jambalaya and go take a walk. We'll make reservations at the hotel for you."

Kit grinned. "Thanks, you guys…"

Carl laughed. "No problem. Now eat up, and we'll meet you back here."

Both teens obliged with a will.

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A/N: 10 reviews!!! 10 more reviews!!! Will update within the next week, as a promise… IF, and only IF, there are 10 more reviews in my email inbox. Thank you, ladies and gents, I'll see you all soon… I hope.