Chapter 04: Underground Labyrinth
Mint led their way through the tunnels. At least, she did for the first half hour. And then, extremely annoyed, she let Rue take the lead. After walloping what must've been the 50th rodent-thing, she was sick as hell of it. "Gyah, where do these blasted things come from? And what the [expletive] are they anyway?" She practically shouted in anger as she thwacked another one that threatened them from behind.
The critters were unlike anything she'd ever seen before. They were like a cross between a crab, a lobster, a rat and a kangaroo, with really strong copper-colored exoskeletons. The pair of them encountered the first creature several meters down, and they discovered that the rest of the tunnels were full of them.
For some strange reason, she observed that the creatures were approximately a certain distance apart, and they never moved past a certain radius. She also learned that hitting them at the exact center of their …foreheads?... caused them to abruptly stand still, as if dead. Problem was, after five minutes they'd wake up and come to attack again if the kids were still within range.
"Territorial beings… the 'stasis sleep' must be some sort of adaptive/protective mechanism. Worms and caterpillars do the same thing," Rue had commented earlier.
"You think these are the monsters Klaus was talking about?"
Rue whacked another one with his Arc Edge. "Probably," he said offhand.
They had been traveling about a couple of hours and several kilometers already. If Mint's estimations were correct, they were probably to the south-western edge of town by now. They saw no sign of the missing relic, and she was starting to doubt (actually, she had been doubting it for the past hour already) that they were going to find it there. Just when she was about to suggest turning back, they reached the end of the tunnel.
Only to find more tunnel. But this time, the rock had a bluish-green tint, where before they were a plain, dark sandstone-brown. Rather than seeming parallel to the ground, this tunnel led down. Also, critters in that part were fewer and farther in between.
Rue walked over to the wall, feeling it with his hands. "It's damp."
"I can hear water. There must be an underground river somewhere on the other side."
He turned towards her with a determined expression. "I think I know where we are. A year ago, Klaus couldn't stop talking about a relic he called the 'legendary sword,' for lack of a better name. He couldn't figure out where its location was, but he mentioned about an underground lake and these tunnels. It never occurred to me it could be here! Elroy must've purposely located his library in that warehouse because of these tunnels. That sword must be the third relic that opens Elroy's box!"
"A large, flat key, huh? Kinda makes sense." Mint twirled her rings, and then sent one of them flying towards another critter. It hit the creature smack-dab on the forehead, bounced off the tunnel wall and returned neatly to her hand.
Suddenly they heard an ominous rumbling. The creatures were all scuttling back into their holes. "Huh? Why are all the critters leaving…?"
"RUN!" Rue was already sprinting.
A huge boulder that filled practically the entire tunnel was bearing down on them, and there didn't seem to be any way of escaping it. Mint turned abruptly, not caring about anything except going as fast as her legs could carry her.
The boy saw her stumble out of the corner of his eye. "Mint!!"
He didn't stop to think. He jumped towards her, instinctively enclosing his arms about the girl's body in protection and they dropped to the ground, rolling towards the tunnel's side. Rue pushed her hard against the wall as the huge boulder rolled over them both, missing them by millimeters. He didn't know how long they stayed that way. He was reluctant to move until he was sure it was safe to stand.
"Rue…" she called his name softly. "What the HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!!"
KAPOW! He slammed bodily against the opposite wall. The next thing he knew, when the buzzing in his ears and the pain in his abdomen had subsided a little, was that Mint was brushing dust off her shirt sleeves. It took him three tries before he was finally able to stand. "What did you that for?!"
"Hmph. Didn't I say, any funny stuff and I'll jump-kick you in the face?" She crossed her arms angrily. "You're lucky I'm feeling generous. Anyway," she pointed to where the huge boulder had crashed. "Looks like there's another tunnel. We'd better split up. I'm taking the right one."
"Ow, Mint, wait!" He raised his hand to stop her, but she had already gone. Aagh, doesn't she ever stop to listen! The way he saw it, he had two choices—he could follow her to make sure nothing happened to her, or he could do as she said and explore the left tunnel. He winced as he remembered the kick, and suddenly the thought of exploring the deep, dank tunnels alone seemed very appealing. Besides, it was painfully obvious that Mint could take care of herself.
She didn't know how long she traveled the right tunnel before she came to another change of scenery. It had gotten colder and more humid the lower she went, until finally she came to the underground lake. The water was clearer than crystal, and the walls and ledges of the cavern glittered with dew.
It's beautiful… But it doesn't look like I'm gonna find any treasure here.
That, aside from the cookies, was the only reason she consented to accompany Rue to what was probably nothing more than a wild goose chase. Since Rue didn't seem interested in treasure, whatever they'd find would therefore… she shrugged. Whatever treasure they'd find would automatically be hers.
Treasure, as everyone knows, was one of Mint's driving forces. She smiled inwardly. Treasure and World Domination.
There were pillars of fallen stalactites that formed a treacherous path across the icy waters. Somehow, she felt that the way she sought was through there.
Mint had learned through the years to trust her instincts. Her sister Maya had the same gift, even if not as strong as hers—it was something that ran in the family. She sniffed. Spirit guidance and all that crap was what her grandfather had taught her, but personally she never believed a word of it.
She jumped across the natural stepping stones, going deeper and deeper into the labyrinth.
The staircase wound down, down deep into the tunnels. But he eventually came to its end, to see the strangest room he had ever beheld to date.
There were five platforms that were supported by stone pillars. Four of the platforms were designed like chessboards and arranged in a square. He peered across the gaps between them, and wasn't surprised to discover that he couldn't see where the chasm ended.
On the fifth platform was a wooden box. It had the same markings and was just a little bigger than the box of Elroy.
He jumped over the other platforms, and knelt down as he prepared to examine the crate. He brushed his hand tentatively against the lock, only to quickly draw it back in alarm. A booby trap! A small knife had suddenly cut through the box's lid, and his hand was already bleeding.
The ominous rumbling was heard again. He turned, and what he saw almost made the bottom fall out of his stomach.
"—!!!"
It was big, it was huge, it was scary—and although it didn't have a tangible mouth it looked just about ready to eat him. It was just like the critters they had met across the tunnels, except this one sported a tougher constitution and a couple of extra pairs of pincers. In the dim light, its head looked like a monstrous skull.
It attacked, its pincers bearing down on him. He dodged and jumped to one of the other platforms.
Fire-breathing?! This is getting frustrating… He jumped again, avoiding the stream of red flames that issued from the skull beast's mouth. His hand wound ached, but he couldn't afford to think about it now.
Suffice to say it took him a lot of jumping and a lot of maneuvering before he was finally able to subdue the beast. He had bashed it with the Arc Edge so many times on the forehead that the skull was dented.
He took off his bandana to bind his bleeding hand, being careful to keep his cap in place. He had difficulty bandaging his wound with just the left hand to work with—he was right-handed—but eventually he managed it.
The wooden box was now guardianless, and he opened it only to find that it was empty.
I hope Mint has better luck, he sighed in frustration. He kicked the beast's inanimate corpse one more time, just to make sure it was dead, before heading back up the winding staircase.
Her path was blocked by a huge wall of ice. Any number of whacks with the metal rings wouldn't make it give way, so she didn't even bother.
I know I promised mother, but… She brushed the thought away. Keeping promises had never been her forte. Actually, that was one of the reasons Maya had placed to the council on why Mint shouldn't be queen… she brushed that thought away too.
She held her rings upright in front of her, concentrating. Suddenly the ice started to melt. It started melting at the point closest to the center of the girl's rings.
After a few moments more all the ice was gone. She whooped. "YESS!!" Finally, the years of training were paying off. She hadn't used her magick in quite a while, but before, the effort of lighting a mere candle had been enough to make her faint.
Suddenly she fell on one knee, and she had to grasp the wall for support. Ooops, so I guess I'm still not that strong… But she was improving. Considering that it was an entire wall that she had melted, the slight dizziness wasn't such a big deal.
Inside the chamber she found what they were looking for—the large, flat key Rue was talking about. She almost laughed as she pulled it out of its plastic anvil. The hilt was plastic, the blade was aluminum, and words 'legendary sword' were spray-painted on its length in bright crimson. This is it?! It looks like some sort of stage prop. Whoever made these …relics… sure had some really strange eccentricities. Upon closer inspection though, she could see bright blue mechanical workings through a small gap between blade and hilt.
Shrugging, she tied the sword to her belt, deciding to find Rue quickly so they can go home.
Rue was halfway up the winding staircase when he first thought that someone was following him. But whenever he turned, there was always no one there.
He dismissed the thought, alluding it to the wind and his imagination. He knew Mint had taken the westward tunnel, and from what he saw there was no way that tunnel could somehow interconnect with the eastern one. If it did, then unless Mint was running really fast she couldn't possibly have caught up with him already.
Nothing had happened yet, he hadn't found anything significant, and he was already back at the blue-green tunnels. He could see the fork where he and Mint had split up.
He heard something move behind him. He did an abrupt double-take, brandishing his Arc Edge.
Nothing. Still, he couldn't shake his uneasy feeling…
He turned sharply to see a shadow quickening towards him. Without thinking he raised the Arc Edge in front of himself, blocking automatically. Something gold glinted in the dim light as it whooshed past his ear. Within the next split-second another one like it flew to knock his sword off to the side, and then a body slammed into him to fell him onto the ground. He heard a loud crash.
The next thing he knew, Mint was on top of him, and the skull-beast was buried underneath a huge mound of debris where part of the tunnel had collapsed. Gingerly, they both stood. Rue was shaking inwardly, but he managed to conceal it well. He walked towards the monster to examine it. This time the monster was dead, alright.
"We're even," Mint said haughtily, although there was an odd tone to her voice. "That was thanks for saving my life earlier."
He didn't bother to reply. He was already busy looking over the monster's corpse, if it could be called that now. Mint's ring had hit the skull at the same spot where he had dented it earlier, finally breaking through the armor. It was embedded half-way into the head, and he could see wires fizzing with static where her weapon had broken through the exoskeleton—the life-like metal exoskeleton. Oil and kerosene eerily poured through the monster's hull like blood. It no longer moved—the girl's ring must've broken through the main control circuitry.
This is a machine…and it followed me up without my noticing! The critters must be mechanical too—that accounted for their extremely unnatural behavior. The fire-breathing alone should have made him realize it already. And skulls crack—they don't dent. How could I have missed it?!! Rue clenched and unclenched his fists at his sides, a little shocked and a lot angry at himself for putting them both in unnecessary danger with his ignorance.
He walked up to the skull beast's dead front and forcibly pulled out the golden ring, noticing it was almost half as heavy as his own weapon. No wonder she could lift the Arc Edge so easily. "That was close. Thank the heavens you were able to stop this thing." He turned towards her, impressed in spite of himself at the girl's spunk.
She was sitting down, leaning heavily against the wall and gripping her shoulder in pain. Her left sleeve was torn, and Rue's eyes followed a stream of blood as it trickled down her arm…
"Mint! You're hurt!"
She shrugged him off. "I must've cut myself on the Arc Edge when I bumped into you. Don't worry, it's just a flesh wound."
"Here, let me look at it." She winced slightly as Rue folded up the bloody sleeve. "It's deep, but doesn't seem too serious. Nothing that a good medkit won't fix—it's just too bad we don't have one right now," he sighed. "Let me see what I can do."
She tried to protest. "It's not so bad. Look, you're hurt too. Your hand wound has already bled through the bandage."
"Don't mind it," he said. He lifted her arm gently, being careful not to touch her chest, and braced it up by placing her hand on his shoulder. He tore a long strip from his shirt and used it to bind her wound.
Mint watched him as he did so. Ignoring his own injury, Rue was doing his best to be gentle, but the wound hurt nevertheless. But of course, no matter how painful the hurt she'd never, ever admit to feeling it. Instead, she looked up at Rue's face. She inclined her head and frowned thoughtfully, which Rue didn't see. "I'd have to admit," she whispered after a while, "that Annette was right…" She laughed softly.
Rue turned to look at her face in concern when he finished. "You said something?" He saw that her face and neck were flushed, but that could have been due to the pain.
She shook her head. "Nothing. Let's just get out of here. I have the sword," she added. Rue had already seen it strapped to her belt.
"Can you walk?" She nodded ("I hurt my shoulder, idiot!"), and he pulled her up by the good arm. "I doubt any critters are going to bother us now." He had a strong suspicion that their programmed hostility were instructions relayed from the skull beast's control circuits. With the central monster dead, or inactive rather, the critters should now be as harmful as a bunch of matchbox toys.
They traveled slowly, the boy favoring Mint's injury. He could tell that she was already tiring. After some time she spoke. "Rue, why do I get the feeling that…" she paused, as if searching for the right words. "…that this adventure isn't over yet?"
He smiled reassuringly at her. "Everything will be okay. We got all the relics, didn't we? I'm more worried about what Mira will say when we get back. There's no hiding these from her," he indicated their slap-shod bindings.
"I'm blaming it all on you." For the first time since he had known her, she smiled back at him.
Author's Notes
03 September 2002 Well, that's it for the first … umm … 1/5th? of this fanfic… I doubt I'll be updating for a while (exams and a new term coming up). Hmm, apparently the last few chapters focused a lot on Mint and Rue's adventures. I promise the next ones will have more characters. I'm sure we'll see Kirielle again. ^_^.
AAAGH, It's weird! Don't ask me why it turned out that way!! I don't know!!! Curses, it's Mint & Rue vs. Belle & Duke coming up next… shniff, no one has reviewed my work in a while…
04 September 2002 Thanks again for reading this stuff!
I don't know what possessed me, but I'm uploading a sort of teaser for Carona High. Mint and Rue again, sigh. Can't help it, they're the protagonists! Sorry, it's rated (for violence). Probably over-rated, pardon the pun, :P I'm only keeping it posted for about a week or two until I finish my schoolwork and have time to write meaningless stuff again. Please, please review. (No, it's NOT a Mint/Rue hinting — will you guys stop reading between the lines! Then again… oh, nevermind. Don't mind me, I'm slightly crazy. X_x ) (Since it'll only be up for a short time, may I request that reviews, if any, for that one be posted under the main series? Don't worry, that article will find its way in soon enough… near the ending… eventually… heheh. I want to finish this ASAP even more than you do. Thank you very much!)