Ch 3
Caleb looked up from the three items in his hands as Wren and Ginger burst back into the dome. Salmendra's Proof, the white silver, and the Mermaid's Tear all went back into the doll's pouch as he stood with Pepper to see them back. He blinked at them and looked slightly suspicious.
"Welcome back, you two. Did you find the blue candle?" he asked. Wren didn't notice the expression as he hurried over with the item.
"Yeah, but Raine had it so I got what was coming to me for so long." he chuckled. Caleb accepted the candlestick and gave Ginger one more wary look before taking the lantern from inside the pack on the mana beast's harness and slipping the stick inside. He lit it and the dome filled with holy light. "So, are we ready to go?"
"Yes, we are. Now that we have the blue candle, things should be easier to navigate." Caleb murmured as he tied the lantern to the harness. Ginger walked up to stroke Pepper's snout, watching Wren and the doll.
"Caleb, are you okay? You sound strange." the chef asked, giving his friend a concerned look. Caleb nodded.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm fine. Let's go." he muttered and headed for the bridge. "Didn't think it'd go through so fast." he sighed to himself with a sad little smile.
"What's with Red?" Ginger asked in confusion as she walked after Caleb and Pepper with Wren beside her. "He's acting weird." Wren gave her a helpless look, shrugging.
"I don't know. To be honest, I don't think I really know him that well. I've only been around him a few months and even then it was on and off." the chef replied and looked worried, "Do you think he's mad at me about something?" The group entered the temple and looked out at the confusing architecture that made up the tiers and catwalks that staggered through the openness of the Temple of Darkness. Caleb led them through a second doorway to a series of stairs. Ginger shrugged back as she squinted at the pitch black just beyond the range of the blue candle's light.
"Dunno. What'd you do to him?" she asked with a grin, "You seem to always be either causing trouble or getting into it." Wren glared back at her.
"I do not! Take that back!" he growled. They came out of the side stairwell to the bottom of the main chamber, looking up several floors at the entrance they came through originally. Caleb searched around, taking in as much as he could see of the structures.
"Hey, quiet. Anyone hear that?" he asked warily as the party made a stop on the open area at the end of the rising ramp. The humans strained their hearing, found nothing, and shook their heads. Pepper went into a quiet trance, then snapped out with her low half-growl, half-hiss, fur lifting in rising anger. "There are still monsters in here. I can hear chanting." the doll pointed out and turned to look back at Wren and Ginger, "Let's hurry down to the lower levels. That's where I wanted to head off to anyway. Shadow's seal is at the bottom level."
They made their way cautiously to the second staircase, one that seemed to descend into pure black ink. Beyond the fifteenth or so step, no one could see what was below though they were fairly sure that whatever might be down there could see them perfectly. Ginger backed behind Wren, gazing fearfully down into the pit as she picked at the red cape to pull across her.
"I don't think I'm gonna like it down there." she whispered and Wren jumped slightly, startled to hear her voice so close.
"It was your idea to follow us! Let go of my cape, too!" he growled back in a hushed tone and followed Pepper and Caleb down.
"Keep quiet or the monsters will just have an easier time tracking us." the doll lectured and looked around, "The candle's pushing back as much of the darkness as it can, but visibility is still very poor. Stay close to each other." He grinned suddenly. "Hey, grab a partner and hold hands. I've got Pepper!" Caleb reached out and took hold of the green sash that served as the mana beast's collar, her brass bell tinkling with the movement, "That leaves Ginger with Wren!"
"You did that on purpose!" the chef yelled, "And I'm not holding her hand...! Hey, I said let go!"
--
Pillars and pathways of stone and what seemed like monuments to the Summon Spirit of Darkness lined the trip to the seal, and many of those paths led to dead ends. Each monument they came across was reason enough for Caleb to stop and study it carefully, same as with the glowing crystals from earlier. For the doll, to study something meant to also touch it as much as possible, using sensors built into his fingertips to take temperature readings, bounce nearly inaudible sound waves into it and record the resulting echoes and what might cause different types of echoes, as well as various other things he couldn't quite explain to Wren, Ginger, and Pepper.
Ginger watched in boredom, twisting the end of the Wonder Chef's cape in one hand just to annoy him. She happened to glance at the ring Sheena had loaned her and found it to be softly pulsing with a light of its own. It was faintly violet in color and she dropped the cape end to examine it closer. The light immediately faded to nothing and she blinked, startled. Was the glow something she had just imagined, or did the ring really have special powers granted by the Summon Spirit, Volt?
Ginger eyed the ring warily, then shrugged it off, absently picked up the cape end and twisting it again. The glow returned and she dropped the cloth once more when she noticed it, watching the light snuff out upon release of the cape.
"What are you doing?!" she demanded of the chef. Wren glared back at her irritably.
"Me?! You're the one who keeps tugging at my cape like a security blanket!" he growled as sliced up carrots for stew. Caleb had made a comment on the need for dinner while tracing the markings of one tombstone-like slab. The thought caught Wren by surprise, but the feeling of hunger that finally made itself known to him was reason enough to get cooking. Pepper watched happily, eyes following the carrot coins dropping into the small cauldron for the stew.
"Yummy make good din-din for Candy and Pepper?" she asked and clacked as Wren tossed her a whole carrot for an appetizer.
"That's right. Hey, Caleb, are we actually going to have to spend the night in here?" the chef asked loudly. The doll continued tracing, but paused to listen to him.
"We may as well, it'll take too long to retrace our steps just to reach the exit and I haven't heard much movement in the way of monsters." he finally replied and turned his attention back to the stone, "Though that in itself is a little worrisome." Wren sighed with a shake of his head at the idea and shot Ginger another irritated glare as she continued picking up and letting go of his cape.
"Why do you keep doing that?" he grumbled. The confectioner only lifted a finger to her mouth for silence, a strangely focused look on her face. Whatever it was that was puzzling her about a scrap of red cloth seemed to have nothing to do with him personally, but the ring she was wearing on her hand. Ginger kept looking closely at it each time she played with his cape. He sighed again and returned to cooking, deciding to ignore her in favor of tending to his stew.
--
It was reacting to something in the cape, that much Ginger could figure out on her own. After picking at the end a few more times, she grabbed a fistful of the cloth and watched the light grow just a bit brighter. She raised an eyebrow at this new finding, then dropped the cape. The light faded again to nothing and she scooped up another handful of cloth. Again, a brighter light than the beginning. Ginger let go and studied the ring. Sheena had said it would reduce tensions between her and the Wonder Chef, whatever that meant. It was given to Sheena by Volt. That didn't tell her much else about the ring.
"Give me your cape." Ginger finally said to Wren. He looked back at her incredulously, "Take it off and give it to me." She fidgeted for a bit when he narrowed his eyes at her, then mumbled, "Please?"
"Fine." Wren muttered and worked at the folds around his neck. Removing the hat to keep it safe, the blonde slipped the fabric over his head and held it out to Ginger, "I don't see why you'd want it. My father wore this same cape when he was Wonder Chef."
"Really? But I heard... never mind." the confectioner remarked in surprise. Wren gave her a questioning look and she blushed. "When I was a kid, I was always told stories that the Wonder Chef was a being who lived forever, an ancient cook that wandered the earth and could never die. But considering all that you've been through and stuff, I guess not." she explained. Wren laughed, shaking his head.
"That's probably more junk the Dark Chefs came up with to make us look bad. DuGorge probably also said we horde ingredients and only give them out if people vow to obey our way of cooking or some other nonsense." he added with a shrug. Ginger nodded slowly, then blinked at him. "But in truth, that's what the Dark Chefs do."
"You have a nice laugh." the confectioner remarked suddenly and covered her mouth in shock. Wren cocked his head, gave her a sudden wary expression, then turned back to the cauldron. Ginger shook her head in self-disapproval and picked up the cape, bunching up the cloth and holding the ball of fabric in her hands. She turned the ball to study the ring, blinking in surprise as she found the sardonyx to be dull and unresponsive. Not a bit of light shone out from the stone.
"Ugh! I don't get this!" Ginger grumbled and got up, walking over to Caleb and tapping his shoulder. The doll paused again and looked up at her in confusion.
"What now? Aren't you busy with Wren?" he asked, puzzled. Ginger waved it off in dismissal.
"Bah, let the cook do what he does best; cook. I need some help with this thing." she declared and held out her hand with the ring. "Sheena gave this to me, but it's doing weird things. It was glowing when I was holding Adam's cape, but now it's not." Caleb glared at the stone, then blinked and laughed in relief, shaking his head. "Hey! What's so funny?"
"I'm sorry. I saw the ring on you earlier and I thought... well, nothing really important now. But I see what you mean. The Sardonyx Ring has some interesting side effects to it when worn. Unfortunately, its power only really works when you don't quite understand what it is it does." Caleb explained and looked up at the slab, adjusting his fingertips to stay on the line. "There. I can't really help you there, but I can tell you to trust it and don't think too hard about what it does. Eventually, everything will become clear to you. Relax and take it easy. Go eat or something." Ginger made an irritated sound and went to talk to Pepper.
"Pepper, sweet Pepper!" she cooed and stroked the mana beast's snout, listening to her clack happily, "Can you help me out a bit? I have this magic ring that a friend gave me, but it does funny things when I touch Adam's cape. Do you have any idea what might make it do those things?" Pepper sniffed at the ring and shook her head with a snort.
"Candy magic thing have Volt power. Volt power pull like Gnome but not like Gnome." the mana beast remarked, "Magic thing pull to one. Pull to one and make one. Make same and not same. Two ones pull and make one twos." Ginger stared at her, completely lost. Pepper looked apologetic, ears pulled down as she hunched her shoulders. "Pepper not help? Pepper still little, need help from Guardian to learn." she added meekly.
"No, you helped a little. Thanks a lot. Here, have a candy." Ginger replied hurriedly and with a smile. She slipped Pepper a fruit chew and rubbed her snout as the mana beast gobbled it down with a cheerful clack. She walked back and held out the cape to Wren. "Here. Take it back, it didn't tell me anything." Ginger told the chef in irritation.
"Told you." Wren muttered, reaching out blindly for the fabric. He managed to grab on and Ginger watched in astonishment as the ring glowed softly again. Wren tugged on the cape as he stirred the stew, then glared up at her. "You're supposed to let go." he added and she released the cape, watching the stone fade to darkness again.
"Too strange." she murmured and toyed with the ring, spinning it around her finger as she looked into the cauldron, "Hey, is the soup ready yet?"
"Why not eat your candy for dinner if it's so much better than my recipes?" Wren grumbled but served her a bowl of the stew anyway.
--
Sleeping that night was strange. Ginger stared around herself in constant tension despite being told by Caleb that he would keep watch over the group for the night. She shifted under the blanket and sighed as she looked over at Wren. The chef was fast asleep, wrapped in a blanket of his own with his pack as a pillow and the Wonder Fork on the floor beside him. He looked as if he was used to this, whereas Ginger still couldn't get comfortable on anything other than a bed or mattress.
"This is so not fair. Why can he sleep and I can't?" she muttered and sat up, crawling over to Wren with every intention of pestering him awake, "If I can't sleep than neither can he!" She paused and looked down at the fork that rested on the floor. "This is the thing DuGorge was so gung-ho into getting back into his grip. Caleb said it was made seven thousand years ago and that it has a lot of power in it." she murmured softly. Watching Wren for a moment, Ginger reached down and picked up the fork, original plan dropped in favor of an up-close look at the utensil. Caleb looked over his shoulder at her and shook his head with a grin, confident in the fork's ability to sense its wielder's skill.
Ginger stood up and held the fork out, studying it with a wary eye. It looked far simpler than the ones the Dark Chefs used, and much less dangerous looking than the bladed-end fork DuGorge carried. So what about it was so powerful and so valuable that DuGorge had been willing to kill Wren to get it? She held the fork close as a sudden chill came over her. The first and only time DuGorge ever got it was because of her. If Ginger hadn't found out Wren's schedules for the day, managed to draw his attention off his normal path into that ambush... all the danger he'd been in was her fault....
If he had died, the blood would have been on her hands....
"What are you doing with that?" the chef grumbled sleepily. The confectioner jumped and turned around in surprise. Wren sat up and rubbed at one eye before turning a drowsy glare at her in accusation. "Was that what you were after this whole time? Another chance to steal the Wonder Fork and deliver it to DuGorge?" Ginger blinked back a sudden surge of stinging tears.
"You jerk! Is that all you think of me?! You think all I ever do is plot and scheme behind your back to get this stupid thing! N'est-ce pas?!" she cried and threw it at him, not caring if Wren actually managed to grab the fork or not, "You insensitive, self-serving, wretched little pig!" Caleb and Pepper both twitched and turned narrowed eyes back at the two humans. Wren only stared up at Ginger in surprise. "Do you think that I live to watch you and that idiot DuGorge fight and bicker and try to kill each other over that stupid piece of ancient history?! That I like seeing you get turned into a victim of his crazy plans and experiments?!" she seethed, eyes filling with angry tears, "Well, fine! I'll admit it! I get a buzz out of watching him try to mangle you up just so he can get his hard-on out of stealing that stupid piece of junk fork!" Ginger rubbed at her eyes, then ran from the campsite, following the path of stone to a short distance, stopping at the very edge of the blue candle's influence. She sat down and hugged her legs, hiding her face in her knees as she sobbed.
"What did you do to her?!" Caleb snapped, storming up to Wren as he climbed to his feet with a startled expression.
"I didn't...!" the chef began to reply and cried in a panic when the doll grabbed his collar and shook him.
"Don't try to push off the blame! What is wrong with you?! Wren, what kind of person are you to just keep abusing that poor woman?!" Caleb yelled angrily, "The whole point of my taking her along was to get you to stop discriminating against former Dark Chef agents!"
"Guardian, stop!" Pepper barked, using her psychic abilities to freeze Caleb's limbs in place. "Guardian do bad to Yummy! Stop!" The doll blinked back at her, the act of being held in place so suddenly enough to snap him out of the near blinding anger. He looked back at Wren, stunned to see the chef looking fearfully up at him, feet barely skimming the floor as he held onto Caleb's arms to support himself.
"Ah...!" Caleb gasped lightly and looked chagrined, "I... I'm sorry, Wren. I didn't think... I wasn't thinking...." Pepper released him and the doll set Wren back down gently, backing away. "I suggest you go apologize to Ginger for all that you've said and done." he finished softly. Wren nodded quickly and walked by cautiously, rubbing at his collar.
--
"Hey." Ginger heard the soft voice call out to her and lifted her head warily.
"Oh, what now?" she growled bitterly, "I'm not well-done enough? Come to roast me some more?"
"No. Just saying sorry." Wren replied with a subdued sigh and sat down by her, "If I was being rude, and I'm pretty sure I was, just say so. I'm sorry for being a jerk." He shrugged helplessly, a small grin on his face. "You seem to be able to bring that out in me."
"Meh, it's a gift." Ginger answered haughtily. She watched him shift around uneasily.
"Discrimination still runs in all of us. I thought I didn't have that problem. I was taught to accept everyone equally, but when it came to Dark Chefs... they are the enemy of the Wonder Organization." Wren muttered, "Even those that reform still don't get quite the same treatment as normal people."
"I'm not a Dark Chef. I quit." Ginger told him with a frown, "So don't lump me with all those other idiots still working for DuGorge." Wren shook his head in confusion, eyebrows furrowed in thought.
"That's something I don't get. You were DuGorge's right hand agent, right? Why would you give up all the power that gave you? Why would you abandon all that?" he wondered aloud, pulling out his box of candy. He picked one out and blinked at it with a sudden grimace. "Ick. This stuff is sickening." he muttered.
"I quit because I found out what DuGorge was planning to do with my family's recipes. There's no way he could have gotten those without having tricked me sometime earlier, like when I first joined the Dark Chef Alliance three years ago." Ginger growled, glaring out at the darkness, "And now he's going to use them in a way that candy should never be used!"
Wren studied the almonds as she went on venting her frustration and anger into the pitch black beyond. When he first got the candy, they tasted delicious, though a bit off for some reason. But as he kept eating them, they began losing their appeal. They were lightly roasted, covered in a layer of honey and then dusted with sugar. Wren had thought they were familiar and with Ginger ranting beside him, it dawned on him why. These candies were the same ones she used in her disappearing tricks. He dug into his pocket and pulled out one of the few almonds he still had from their first solo meeting in Triet months before. He compared the two nuts visually, found them both to look exactly alike, then ate the almond from Triet.
It tasted delicious as well, with all the perfection that only a top quality cook, or candy-maker in this case, could pull off. This was Ginger's handiwork, and the reason why Wren couldn't figure out why she had worked for the Dark Chefs. He studied the other candy, then sighed and ate that as well. Almost instantly he could taste a difference in the two candies.
"You didn't make that one!" Wren cried in realization, startling Ginger out of her raving. She jumped up.
"Yow! What?!" she cried. Another yell caught their attention and they turned back to see Caleb and Pepper running towards them in a panic.
"Run! Monsters! They were gathering for a full attack!" the doll wailed and scooped up both chefs as he raced by them, slinging them under his arms as he ran.
"What?! Where?!" Wren yelled and blinked as he watched the mass of moving black figures advancing towards them, "Dios mio! Where's the Wonder Fork?!"
"Pepper's got it! Now don't move around! I can't run at my top speed with you two squirming!" Caleb cried, dashing past more tombstones and down lengthy staircases towards the end of the many levels of the temple.
"And here I thought traveling with you guys was gonna be boring!" Ginger laughed at Wren, "Woooohoooo! Run, run, baby!" She moved her hand and reached for her pouch, bringing out a handful of candy. She picked out several roasted hazelnuts and tossed them in front of the incoming monsters. As the figures passed over the nuts, they detonated on impact, sending hordes of pharaoh knights and druids flying over the edges of the pillars and stairs into bottomless pits beyond the shadows. Wren looked astonished, then turned an excited face towards the confectioner.
"That was awesome! Candy can do that?!" he blurted out, impressed by the display. Ginger nodded proudly.
"My candy can!" she replied with a smile.
Caleb dashed onwards and turned down one path, skidding to a halt only moments later when he found it end suddenly into darkness. He gasped softly, then quickly turned back to find a new path. The fork was blocked off by the horde of druids, pharaoh knights and chimeras closing in on the group. The doll uttered a yelp and promptly raced back down the original dead end path.
"This doesn't look good on our end." Wren muttered, "Are we doomed?"
"Probably. It certainly looks that way." Ginger added as she dug through her candy bag, "And I'm out of bomb candies."
"Pepper! Mana Light!" Caleb cried out as they stopped at the end of the path once again. The mana beast turned and shrieked, firing the bursts of light into the group of monsters, cutting through them easily.
"Bad things go away! Leave Pepper friends alone!" she demanded, sending additional bursts in rapid fire sequence. A druid cast out a spell of its own, wrapping Pepper in a Gravity Well that threw her off balance and startled her out of her concentration. She yipped painfully as Caleb called out her name and set down the two humans.
"Stop it! Fireball!" the doll exclaimed, throwing out his hand as the half-dozen little balls of flame slammed into the druid. Ginger and Wren both stood to face the incoming group of monsters, the confectioner already loading a frozen jelly bean into her spoon to catapult into the crowd. She yelped in surprise as she watched the bean sparkle with electricity, gazing briefly at the ring on her hand in awe. Pepper had dropped the Wonder Fork upon her first yell of anger and Wren snatched it up before anything could knock it over the edge of the dead end. The mana beast shook herself off after the spell ended and resumed firing at the group, this time aiming more for the druids than anyone else.
"Caleb, what can I do to help? There's not enough room here for me to get one of the recipes cooked up!" he exclaimed. The doll looked back at him while summoning up another spell.
"Get on Pepper and get out of the way! Ginger and I can take it from here!" he called back, "Pepper! Get Wren out!" The mana beast stopped her assault and looked over at the chef. Wren shook his head furiously.
"What?! No way! I can help too!" he yelled, "Just 'cause I don't have the ability to whip up something right here, that doesn't mean I'm completely useless!" Ginger grinned back at him as she launched another electrified jelly bean.
"Nah! It means you're totally useless! Go on, little Wonder Chef, and run away! Leave the fighting to the pros!" she laughed. Wren scowled in frustration, mind already racing to the one option he had to prove his own capabilities.
"There's too many of them for just the two of you to handle on your own without Pepper!" he snapped, "Caleb! Let me take care of this! I can get rid of all of them with one attack!" The doll looked back at him in shock.
"Wren! No, you can't use that! The requirements haven't been met!" he cried, casting out Wind Blade to force back the approaching knights, "And we're in close quarters! What will happen to the rest of us if you cast it here?!"
"Force the requirements on me!" Wren yelled, "Both of you get out of here on Pepper! If I'm stranded here on my own, that will fulfill the needs of the spell! Stop treating me like a child and let me make my own choices!" Caleb stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded grimly.
"All right, but you'd better stay alive!" he finally declared and turned to Pepper, "Pepper! Can you carry me and Ginger out of range?!" Pepper looked unsure of herself, stretching her wings out and flapping them uncertainly.
"Two on Pepper back? With stuff? That heavy, but Pepper try. Yummy make bright FireLight?" she asked. Caleb nodded. "FireLight pretty and strong. Yummy do good spell. Pepper take Guardian and Candy to safe place. We go!" she declared and bent to allow them to climb on. Caleb got onto the mana beast's back and held out a hand to Ginger.
"Come on! We have to get out of here!" he exclaimed. Ginger glared back at him as she fired another bean.
"Are you crazy?! She won't be able to carry all of us out of here! What about Adam?!" she demanded, "Even if he's an insensitive idiot, I'm not going to abandon him to his death!" She yelped again as Wren grabbed, then shoved her towards the doll. "Hey! What the hell is wrong with you?! I defend you for once in your miserable life and this is how you thank me?! Trahison!" Ginger snapped at him. She climbed onto the mana beast, face twisted with caged fury and no one to truly vent it on.
"Okay, Pepper. How are you doing?" Caleb asked as the mana beast shifted about uncomfortably.
"More heavy than Pepper like, but Pepper can fly. All ready?" she replied, flapping her wings as the monsters surged forward to finish them off.
"Yes! Go!" Caleb cried as Wren lifted the Wonder Fork and began spinning it with both hands, murmuring to himself again. Pepper leaped out into the shadows, taking the blue candle with her. Ginger shrieked in sudden fear as the darkness swallowed up the blonde chef down below her, along with the druids, chimeras and pharaoh knights that closed in on him.
"Adaaam!" she called out and cried in shock as a dome of brilliant light and fire suddenly erupted from the point where she had last seen the chef, growing and swelling in size as shrieks of fury and horror filled the air. Blinded, Ginger turned away and hugged the doll from behind, sobbing as the mana beast struggled to fly them away from the ever rising explosion of heat and light that filled the lower level of the Temple of Darkness.