–Flea Ford
Lucrecia's Lament is a level in Psychonauts 2. It takes place inside the mental world of Lucrecia Mux, otherwise known as Nona Aquato. On the second visit to this world, it is the setting of the game's final confrontation with Maligula.
Description[]
The mental world of Lucrecia as seen during this level is divided into three distinct sections.
First is a mental construct put in place by Ford Cruller using the Astralathe, that was meant to keep Lucrecia docile and brainwash her into believing she was her sister Marona Aquato, the wife of deceased circus performer Lazarus Aquato and mother of Augustus; and later, the grandmother of the whole Aquato family, including Razputin. The construct is very simple, no more than a small flea circus set entirely in an enormous suitcase populated by fleas in masks that act out the part of Lucrecia's new family. A flea with a Ford Cruller mask acts as its ringleader, hyping up the family's feats to a non-existent audience. This mental construct will presumably fully fade some time after the events of Psychonauts 2.
While Ford's mental construct was meant to give Lucrecia an unnatural phobia of water, her inner self still managed to figure out that there was a way to escape the construct by jumping off the high dive, and into a cup of tea underneath. Doing this leads to Nona's Quilts, an entirely new and organically developed portion of Lucrecia's mental world that represents the happy memories she was able to make with the Aquatos. The entire area looks like a peaceful forest where everything is hand-stitched from colorful quilting fabric. The effects of Ford's Astralathe procedure are still visible, however, in the form of large dams constructed of Emotional Baggage built on the rivers seen across this area. The closer one gets to the deepest portion of this area, the more shadow and sea foam can be spotted around the place. Finally, the largest dam of all is found in a dark, dilapidated section where all the fabric is torn and filthy. This final dam, chained with a huge locket containing a picture of the real Marona, keeps Maligula locked away.
After the dam is broken, the third section of Lucrecia's mind takes over as its dominant state. This one mostly just looks like Grulovia, in the middle of being devastated by huge waves and floods. It features some loose, floating pieces of the landscape that contain mementos of the family Lucrecia lost to the Valermo Dam Disaster she caused. The section's centerpiece, however, is a plaza with a statue of Maligula. This plaza, as it floats through the ruined landscape, becomes the arena for Razputin's confrontation with Maligula, which comes to a head in front of a memory of the real-life Valermo Dam, behind which the Grulovian Royal Palace can be made out in the distance.
Points of Interest[]
- Flea Circus: Ford's mental construct. It's a flea circus in a big suitcase floating in the void, with much of its infrastructure crudely made from everyday objects. The high dive is off limits, but hides a passage to a different area of Nona's Mind.
- The Flea Stage: Behind the Razorback Arena, a stage made of a box and another object can be noticed. The Flea version of Ford is situated there, announcing any ongoing event from the three main attractions.
- Razorback Arena: The circus' center, where a ramp is set up for Razputin to balance on a tennis ball. Flea Dion and Donatella are seen in this area.
- Carousel of Chaos: A carousel with four fleas instead of horses, on a platform on the right side of the circus. Flea Queepie and Mirtala are seen in here.
- Wheel of Endangerment: A spinning wheel where Flea Augustus is strapped to it so his children can throw knives at him, on a platform on the left side of the circus. Aside from him, Flea Frazie is seen in here too.
- Nona's Quilts: A peaceful forest made from colorful quilting supplies. There are many thimbles, spools of thread and buttons scattered around between the trees and paths. A few portals connecting different sections of the woods feature cross-stitched pictures of Nona's memories. These go from: the reunion of Augustus with Lucrecia, Lucy now going by the name of Nona sharing and spending her time with his son and the family he end up making; lastly the final picture reveals the truth behind the identity of who gave Razputin the pamphlet to Whispering Rock.
- Mental Dam: The deepest portion of the quilted world, where the dam that holds Maligula resides. This portion of the world is dreary and run-down, and is partially made out of Emotional Baggage, pieces of quilt torn apart are seen around multiple parts but what strikes the most from this area is a giant locket which has a photo of young Lucy and her sister Marona.
- The Deluge of Grulovia: A section made up of Lucrecia's real memories of Grulovia, destroyed by her actions as Maligula. The entire town is flooded, with many buildings and cars sent fly by huge waves, some others drowning and falling apart but more interestingly; a replica of the Valermo Dam by the end of the road.
- The Valermo Dam & Gzar's Palace: Situated at the top of a huge mountain, this is the last point where Maligula is faced. As for the dam itself, it is situated at the middle of two frontal parts of the mountain, whoever the dam is destroyed.
Story[]
After some side errands to get the Astralathe up and running, Razputin and Ford receive the help of the other members of the Psychic Six to prepare and control the device while they head into Lucrecia's mind to permanently get rid of Maligula.
When they enter the first time, Raz and Ford find a mental construct that looks like a flea circus, which was created by the Astralathe to make Lucrecia believe that she is Marona, the grandmother of the Aquatos. It is populated by fleas wearing masks of the family members. As they shrink down to enter the suitcase the circus is built inside, Raz accidentally steps on the flea that represents himself, and so he has to take his place and help the fleas with their acts to keep Nona calm. Once Raz completes all three tasks, Nona tells him he'll show him a secret, whereupon she climbs the high diving board and dives into a teacup. Raz and Ford follow.
After the leap, Raz finds himself in a landscape made of quilts, seemingly made by Nona herself, even though she should not have been able to escape the construct. This area represents real memories made after the Astralathe incident. Nona takes Ford to large cross-stitch hoops that show images of precious memories of hers; Nona and Augustus together, Nona with the Aquatos, and finally, Nona as the figure who gave Raz the Whispering Rock pamphlet, setting his journey in motion. The group passes through each cross-stitch into further areas.
After the third gate, they end up at the Mental Dam, behind which Maligula is sealed. Raz must fight off every enemy type in the game to keep Nona calm. He and Ford then prepare to put the plan in motion: to break open the dam and hold Maligula back until the Astralathe can blast open a pit into Lucrecia's deepest subconscious, so the primal murderous urges Maligula represents can go back where they belong. Raz then opens the locket that chains up the Mental Dam, which contains pictures of a younger Lucrecia and Marona. As Nona finally begins to remember the truth, Ford and Raz use the Astralathe to break the lock and release Maligula. However, just before the moment of truth, Raz is ejected into the sky, having been awakened in the real world by Truman Zanotto using Smelling Salts. Truman was informed of suspicious happenings at the Heptadome by Norma, who is still convinced Razputin is the mole. Lili also appears, and tells Norma off before she and Raz dive into Truman's head to find out the truth about the mole. By the time they get out, however, Ford is ejected from Lucrecia's mind. Lucrecia awakens, once again ruled by Maligula, and unleashes a huge torrent of water that consumes everyone in the immediate area. Raz manages to escape, however.

Maligula grabbing Adam's yo-yo.
With the Aquatos' help, Raz manages to re-enter Lucrecia's mind, the inside of which is now dominated by a flooded Grulovia. Raz attempts to convince Maligula/Lucrecia to stop, appealing to their familial ties. She proves unreasonable and attempts to attack, only to be foiled by Sam, who rides in on a mental version of her whale Esmeralda. Razputin begins to fight off Maligula while getting assistance throughout the fight from the other interns, who Norma gathered with the help of Morris's pirate radio to try and fix the damage she caused by trusting Truman over Razputin.
While the interns' astral projections are defeated, Razputin's efforts wear Maligula down to the point that they eventually allow Nona's consciousness to separate from Maligula. Maligula relives her sister's death, but only accepts the harm she's caused, reveling in it and turning giant. To fight her off once and for all, Lucrecia gives Raz all her mental energy, which turns his projection just as big as Maligula. After one more standoff, he punches Maligula into the pit Ford made with the Astralathe. As Lucrecia goes out to the edge of the pit, however, Maligula attempts to drag her down with her, yelling that she is a part of Lucrecia and Raz "cannot get rid of her". At this, Lucrecia uses her tailor's scissors to cut off the piece of her shawl Maligula was holding on to, causing her to plummet into the pit and finally return to her natural place in Lucrecia's subconscious. Lucrecia can now finally live a normal life as herself.
Upon revisiting this mind, the flea circus is now empty. Raz remarks that he feels for them having to shut down, since he knows the circus business can be tough. The flooded Grulovia section of Lucrecia's mind cannot be revisited.
Collectibles[]
Figments[]
There are 106 figments in Lucrecia's Lament. They are mostly themed around the circus and fleas for its first section, and around sewing for the second. Drowned Grulovia contains no collectibles.
Figments of Interest[]
Among Lucrecia's Figments, some that stand out include:
- A figment shaped like the suitcase the flea circus is built in, itself
- A figment that looks like a cross-stitch of Nona's own face
Emotional Baggage[]
- Steamer Trunk
- Bag: Found at the end of this Mental World at the Mental Dam.
- Tag: Located in the first section of Nona's Quilts, on the left towards the river past a pin-cushion tomato and next to a quilted log.
- Suitcase
- Bag: Found at the end of this Mental World at the Mental Dam.
- Tag: Located in the Flea Circus, head up the high-rise ladder up to the top and go right when reaching the platform. Walk along the backdrop of the circus towards the tag.
- Hatbox
- Bag: Found at the end of this Mental World at the Mental Dam.
- Tag: Located in the first section of Nona's Quilts, behind the cross-stitch art that brings you to the second section.
- Dufflebag
- Bag: Found at the end of this Mental World at the Mental Dam.
- Tag: Located in the third section of Nona's Quilts, use Telekinesis on the first large magenta button on the ground to open a tunnel to a secret area containing the tag.
- Purse
- Bag: Found at the end of this Mental World at the Mental Dam.
- Tag: Located in the third section of Nona's Quilts, behind the cross-stitch art that brings you to the third section.
Memory Vaults[]
- Nona's Call for Help - Located in the first section of Nona's Quilts, across the river on the right next to a campfire.
- The Deluge of Grulovia - Located in the Flea Circus on the floor near the Wheel of Endangerment.
Nuggets of Wisdom[]
Every Nugget in Lucrecia's Lament is shaped like a spool of thread.
- Found in the Flea Circus on top of the red platform next to the tennis ball holder. Use the ropes to climb up and collect the Nugget.
- Located in the first section of Nona's Quilts, cross the river and look left to see this Nugget on an upright log.
- Located in the third section of Nona's Quilts, use Telekinesis on the second large magenta button on the ground to open a tunnel to a secret area containing the Nugget.
Enemies[]
- Bad Idea
- Bad Mood (Mid-Boss Fight)
- Censors
- Heavy Censors (Mid-Boss Fight)
- Little Censors
- Stamping Censors
- Deep Regrets
- Doubts
- Enablers
- Judge (Mid-Boss Fight)
- Maligula (Final Boss Fight)
- Panic Attack (Mid-Boss Fight)
NPCs[]
- Ford Cruller
- Lucrecia Mux / Nona Aquato
- Mental Esmeralda
- Psychonaut Interns
Trivia[]
- During development, certain members of Double Fine wanted to have Raz say "What a thrill" after he climbed the ladder in the Flea Circus section, in reference to the ladder scene from Metal Gear Solid 3, but Tim Schafer shot the idea down.[1][2]
- This is the only Mental World in the Psychonauts franchise in which all of the Emotional Baggage is located in one room.
- Both the Mental Dam and the other dam that's visible in the Nona's Quilts area are made up of baggage, and many of them have luggage stickers. They read: "Los Marbles", "Psi-gon", "Guapotown", "Boony Doone", "Daimyville", "Millatopia", and "Lungfishopolis".
- Using the "plucky" pin in Lucrecia's Lament will have Raz pick up a rock, like in most areas of the real world.
- The music for the Flea Circus, simply titled "The Flea Circus", is a re-orchestrated version of the music that plays in the Meat Circus in Psychonauts.
- Moreover, the track that plays during the final boss battle with gigantic Maligula, titled "Mal-BIG-ula", reprises portions of the theme from Lungfishopolis.