Prologue: The Legend of Dewprism
September 2025. The town of Carona.
His hair was platinum white under his orange-and-olive-green cap, the shoulder-length locks tied back in a simple ponytail. His eyes, thick-lashed and coal-black, were bigger than was normal and set wide across his face, making him look somewhat like an oversized doll. He had a small nose, a thin mouth and a rather weak chin, but in spite of this he looked boyish and not at all frail. He looked no older than fourteen. He wore a white polo shirt and black pants—a typical high school uniform in that area—he had on a knapsack for his school things and carried a heavy violin case with his left hand. He was also running as fast as his rubber shoe-clad feet could carry him.
"No no no no no, I'm late!! It's the first day of classes too—what'll my professors think!"
Across the street he practically flew—running a stop light, knocking over a (thankfully empty) garbage bin, and almost tripping over a poor innocent little kitty, until he finally made it past the school gates two and a half minutes after the warning bell. Sliding to a halt, he breathed a sigh of relief before taking off at a run to his class on the third floor. In his haste, he bumped into a pink-haired girl on the second floor landing. He muttered an apology without stopping.
"Nice to see you too, Polly!" the girl shouted at the capped boy's retreating back as he continued to rush up the stairs.
"Oh, it's you, Elena! Can't talk now—" he shouted over his shoulder before ducking into the hallway.
He's late today, Elena thought to herself. That's unlike him. She was headed to the school's front gate. The second bell rang just as she reached it. Mint seems to be running late too.
As if on cue, a red-haired girl turned the corner. She had waist-length hair tied up in twin pony-tails. She wore a light blue dress (definitely not a school uniform), and carried nothing but a plastic envelope for documents. Her eyes were almond-shaped and the color of rare wine, giving her an exotic look. She had a face that somehow didn't seem capable of hiding emotion, and her thin eyebrows didn't look as if they ever did anything but smile and frown. She acknowledged Elena when she approached.
"So, this is Carona High…" she murmured, looking over the school grounds. She smiled mysteriously, narrowing her eyes. "My first step towards world domination."
Carona High seemed like a small school, with a population of only six hundred (she remembered from the brochure), but definitely had large grounds. There was a forest at the back of the campus. Most of the buildings were old but well-kept. The first floor of the main building housed all the offices and the library, which was rumored to be the biggest and oldest that side of the prefecture, while the second to fourth floors were classrooms. A small river ran near the clock tower, where all the laboratories were located.
The school crest, which was sculpted at the top of the main building, particularly caught her attention. It was a symbol of four intertwined rings, intricate in design, that seemed to revolve around an apparently hollow center. It was strangely hypnotic, reminding her of a mobius strip… but it wasn't really.
"Hello. You must be Mint Vanguard." Elena greeted, bringing Mint's attention back to the present. "I'm Elena Klaus, and I'll be your tour guide today."
"Yeeees, the welcoming committee." The taller girl raised an eyebrow. "You seem young for a high school freshman."
"I'm not, I'm in my second year of junior high. My dad's principal of this school. You won't be going to classes today—first we'll have to fix your papers, legal stuff (that will take up most of the morning), and then this afternoon I'll be showing you around school and around town. You're moving into the girl's dorm down at Spencer, aren't you? You'll need help with your stuff, I'll bet… Maybe I could get Polly to help with that—he doesn't talk much though, but I sure hope he'd agree…"
"Err, right." Mint tried to interrupt, but Elena kept on babbling. She slouched in exasperation at the younger girl. Why'd I ever choose to come here… Although she knew very well why. She had no other place to go. Still, such setbacks had never stopped her before.
Mint was a girl used to having her way, eldest daughter of an ancient house, ex-crown princess of a small, isolated kingdom in the mountains, and the primary heiress to all the fatal secrets that came with her birthright. She had been trained in dancing, gymnastics and the martial arts since she was three years old, studied at home with nobody but the best tutors, and grew up selfish and extremely head-strong. She had everything going for her. That was, until her little sister got fed up with her supposed irresponsibility and convinced their father that Mint wasn't the best candidate to inherit the Kingdom of East Heaven…
And so Mint ran away from home. She ran away, right after blurting out hot words that she'd later regret, saying that her puny sister could have East Heaven, that someday Maya'd be sorry she ever took what rightfully belonged to her older sister, that Mint didn't need anyone of them and that they could all go to heck for all she cares. She ran away, on a cold rainy night with nothing but the clothes on her back and a small bag of gold coins, half of which she spent to get a boat ride to another country. The last of the coins and her sweetest smile were used to bribe port officials into giving her a passport.
That had been three years ago. She had been traveling aimlessly ever since, not having found any place to stay and refusing on pain of death to stay in any orphanage. She felt homesick sometimes, and although she knew they'd welcome her back if only she'd apologize, she figured she could never show her face there until she had somehow proven herself.
Even if walking to the arctic was her only option, she'd still find a way to get what she wanted. And she'd never settle for anything less than the world.
First things first, though. She figured the only way she could get the world to bow to her was either to become a mad scientist, an evil megalomaniac, president and CEO of a really really big biotechnical company, or head honcho of the world's greatest army. And for that she'd need a college degree and a secondary school education. Being feared and well-known helped a lot too.
"…the club sign-ups are this afternoon. Since that's held only on the first day of school, and most everyone belongs to at least one club, better make sure you sign-up! The soccer team looks really good this year, what with the new coach and all… And then there's the ice cream parlor over the next block…"
Clearing her throat, she pointed towards the school building. "Can't we just get on with it?"
"Oh, right." Elena continued without skipping a beat. "My dad's office is this way. By the way, did you know that there's a really creepy ghost story about our school's clock tower, you know, the building right beside the gymnasium…"
A vein was close to popping in Mint's forehead. Either way, she suffered herself to be led to the principal's office. If this girl's family was anything like her, Mint was definitely glad she was staying at the dormitory rather than with the Klauses.
Thankfully, Principal Klaus wasn't anything like his daughter. Mint found that out in the three hours they spent in his office fixing all of Mint's legal documents. She never realized until now how much red tape foreign transferees had to go through. When everything was sorted out, Klaus offered his hand to Mint.
"Thank you again for choosing to come here. I hope you'll like your stay."
It's not like I have much of a choice. She shook his hand and smiled back at him just to be polite. "I think I will. Thank you for helping me with my papers."
"No trouble at all. If you'll excuse me, I still have a report to the school board to finish. Now, if only I can remember where I left it…" he started leafing through the messy papers stacked on his desk.
He seems like an okay guy, she thought to herself as she exited the room with the principal's daughter in tow. If a bit absent-minded. He walked with a limp, she noticed.
She turned to Elena. Might as well get it over with. "So, Ms. Tour Guide, where are we going?"
Elena clapped her hands in excitement. "Ice cream parlor! Mel's the greatest soda jerk this side of the galaxy…"
"Waitasec, I thought you said club sign-ups were today only?" If she's going to make a name for herself in this school, she had to be prominent.
"Oh, that's right." Elena frowned thoughtfully. "So we go to try-outs then. Which one did you have in mind?"
"I was thinking of gymnastics." Gymnastics were her best sport.
"That's cool! Did I tell you that my mom's the gymnastics coach? Let's go!" Grabbing the taller girl by the arm, Elena practically half-dragged her as they walked.
Before they got far, though, something in the school's trophy case caught her attention, and Mint pulled to a stop at the school's main lobby. "Hey, Elena, what's that?" It was the school crest again, embossed on a silver and gold medal.
"That? Oh, that's the Dewprism medal (don't ask me why it's called that), this school's highest honor. It's rarely awarded—only people who've done 'exceptional deeds' are given it. I don't know what the criteria are. But there is a legend, though…"
Mint raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"Well, it could be just a rumor, I guess… but there seems to be some truth in it. They say that in the rare case that a boy and girl get awarded the Dewprism medal on the same year, they're supposed to, umm, wind up together, if you know what I mean."
Mint choked down a laugh. "That's sissy stuff." She waved a hand, dismissing the thought.
"Maybe. Mom and dad both won the medal in the same year, and they got married."
"I don't care. I want that medal." She smiled to herself. One step at a time. First she'd take over Carona High. "Then it's WORLD DOMINATION TIME!!"
The gym was a small building, old and white washed, and had only two floors plus basement. The first floor was for the team sports—there was only one basketball court, which doubled for volleyball, and the basement was for the pool. The tennis and badminton courts were located outside, not that anybody used them, and also the soccer field. The upper floor was for individual sports, which included martial arts and gymnastics.
"Oh, Polly's here too." Elena noticed as they passed by the kendo dojo.
"Polly?"
Elena pointed. "The one wearing the cap."
Mint stopped to look at him. "Weird-looking guy."
"He's from the same junior high as me, and he won the district finals in kendo last year. He gets real good grades too. His real name is Rue Kincaid." Elena blushed slightly, but Mint pretended not to notice. "Anyway, come on… gymnastics try-outs are this way."
"Well, hurry up then!"
Gymnastics try-outs turned out to be headed by a tall upper-classman, who greeted them as they entered. "Hello. Here for the try-outs?"
"Yup, but just her," Elena answered. "Where's mom?"
"Coach Mira's in a meeting. I'll be the one evaluating the candidates today. I'm Tonia Nikolai, assistant manager of this team, by the way. I'm in second year." Tonia had close-cropped brown hair and plain brown eyes. Everything about her said the word reliable.
"Mint Vanguard. Nice to meet you." Mint shook Tonia's extended hand, even as she looked over the girls trying out for the team. Mint kept her face impassive, but inwardly thought that most of the girls were rather pathetic. Hmph. I've got a thing or two to show them. "What's this team's ranking in the prefecture?"
Tonia scratched her head absently. "Actually, we finished dead last last year. Not to worry though, we've got really promising freshmen this time. And Kirielle's back from abroad, so I think we have a good chance."
"Yeah, and now you've got me. I'm taking this team to the top, Tonia."
Tonia smiled. "That's the spirit. But first we'll have to see if you get past the tryouts." She gestured towards an unmarked door. "You'd better change first. Extra uniforms are in the green cabinet. Hurry though, we're almost done with the warm-ups."
The girls smiled at Mint as she passed them. Well, at least they're polite, she thought as she closed the locker room door. Changing quickly, she joined the rest of the team as they were finishing the warm-ups. She took a spot close to the front, and picked up their rhythm almost immediately.
Suddenly a girl with strawberry blonde hair bumped into her, almost knocking her over. "Watch it!" she shouted, trying to keep her balance.
The blonde-haired girl was smirking at her. "I don't like your attitude, newcomer. Learn your place, before I have to make you." She edged closer, forcing Mint towards the back of the formation.
"Nice to meet you too, you [expletive]." Mint murmured through clenched teeth.
The other turned towards her with narrowed eyes. "What did you say?! You have such a big mouth that doesn't match your tiny wit (that is, if you have any at all)…"
"That's it! You are sooo dead!!" Mint would've rushed at the girl, forgetting the school rules, if Tonia and two others hadn't held her back. They dragged her towards the side stands, and it took them a while to calm her down.
"Don't get on her bad side," another girl advised. "That's Kirielle Lockheed, second year, and she's the best gymnast our team has had so far. She's a shoo-in for captaincy next year."
I take it back, at least some of them are polite. Mint frowned to herself, thinking that Ms. Kirielle was going to be trouble. But no matter. I swear, next year I'll be captain of this team.
And that's exactly what she did.
Author's Notes
23 August 2002 Standard disclaimer applies. Err, I'm not very good at writing author's notes (writing anything for that matter, but I do try.) … please read and review? (there's actually nothing to review yet, as this is just a prologue, but please review anyway?)
The story actually takes place in their second year of high school. I don't want to spoil anything yet, coz that would ruin it, so I can't say anything more except that I'm closely basing this fanfic on the game.
P.S. ("I think I made a boo-boo"). Sorry, I know I posted this just this morning, but there was something wrong with the chapter, so I did a re-hash. I changed some of the names (coz I really am basing this on the game but I apologize in advance if some significant stuff will not conform, because this fic is set in the hypothetical real world so we can't have magic or live dragons or animated dolls), plus I didn't think the first chapter was true to Mint's personality, so, well, if you've read the errant chapter (that is already forever gone) you'll know what I changed. Thank you very very much to Liol and BennyC for reviewing ^_^. Err, I'm not sure what "pre Mint/Rue" means, but yes, I am a huge fan of the Mint/Rue pairing. This is not a romance fic though, and also, in the game, it seems that Rue is hopelessly dead-set about Claire.