Chapter 06: Klaus at the Lake Ruins
It was an hour's drive to the ruins by the lake. Rue sat on the passenger's seat of the Klauses' station wagon. Professor Klaus whistled while driving, and the two of them were headed to another of the many famous ruins that were scattered across Carona town and the surrounding area. It was still rather early on a Sunday morning—the city clock tower read seven a.m. when they passed it, and that must've been only twenty minutes ago.
Rue gazed out the window with his chin cupped in his palm, contemplating once more on the events of yesterday. He had been replaying their adventure over and over in his mind since he got back and reported to Klaus, and still he couldn't understand how things had gotten so out of hand. No, he couldn't understand how he could've let things get out of his hands—he had almost gotten them both lost, he hadn't been able to make out something so blatantly obvious as the true nature of their mechanical enemies, he had let the relic get stolen from right underneath his nose, and he had gotten his companion hurt in the process. Losing the relic wasn't so bad—Klaus would've understood, and Mira would've been totally alright with it so long as he got back home in one piece—but the fact that he had to practically carry Mint wounded and bleeding out of the deserted warehouse was, to him, tantamount to an unforgivable crime. He was there, and he remembered it all—he had watched over Duke's shoulder how Belle virtually overpowered Mint without the younger girl putting up much of a resistance, because she had gotten hurt on Rue's weapon when she saved him from the skull beast. He was there—only five meters away, and yet he was unable to do anything. He had failed to protect her, just as he had failed to protect Claire when she disappeared five years ago. If only he had done this, if only he hadn't done that… so many if's and still nothing would change.
Klaus casually looked sideways at the young boy, his mouth involuntarily curving in a half-smile. Rue's thoughts were so plain on his face—a face so deceivingly open that it didn't seem possible for it to hide anything—that Klaus knew almost exactly what was transpiring on the boy's mind right then. Besides, from the glum set of his jaw, the slight frown and faraway look in his eyes, and the way he had been acting more austere than was usual (even for him) for the past day, it wasn't that hard to second-guess his thoughts. But Klaus dared not say anything to him in consolation, at least not yet. It wasn't the proper time.
There were few vehicles on the road, and the trip passed in silence. It was often that way between the professor and his student—such was the boy's implicit trust in him that Rue almost never questioned Klaus. And Klaus trusted the boy enough that no matter what Rue did, whether he succeeded or failed, Klaus would always take the boy's side. And often no words need to be exchanged for them to understand each other.
Klaus had known Rue for over two years now, after that first time the boy had saved Elena from the thieves. Rue had never been his student in class—such a thing might have raised objections seeing as Rue had practically been adopted by the Klaus family. But of all the professors, and probably of all the people acquainted with Rue, Klaus was the one who knew the boy best. And this was in more ways than the boy himself probably realized.
It was more or less an open secret that Rue was an amnesiac. Even in school, his professors and classmates (those that bothered to ask, at least) knew that the white-haired boy came from an unknown and very questionable past. And yet the times were such that those things mattered little. Rue managed to somehow find a place of belonging in Carona High and in Elena's junior high before that, and was even able to land the top spot academics-wise. He had quickly become very popular with the girls, primarily due to his unusual physical characteristics (meaning the silver-white hair and huge orbed eyes) that the opposite gender somehow found strangely attractive. Even Klaus's own daughter. Klaus smiled inwardly, and he couldn't help turning slightly jealous himself, although strictly he was of an age already way beyond such superficial matters. He remembered his own high school days when he had been degraded as the class geek, and almost always wound up as the hapless victim of the brash Mira's multitude of practical jokes.
They pulled over by the lakeside a couple of meters away from some toppled stone pillars. Carona was littered with many such ruins, and they in fact formed the brunt of what attracted Carona's tourist industry. Several years ago, archeological digs had become all the rage, and it became almost impossible to get reservations at any inns in the entire peninsula for months on end. But, as with all fads, that one died in less than a year. Carona returned to the peaceful town that she was, although there remained the odd archeologist who came to visit every now and then. Klaus himself was an archeologist at heart, but he had taken an education degree in college, as tribute to his parents who were both teachers.
He had always been fascinated by the ruins. One of the more popular tourist attractions then was a ruin known as the 'Tower of Eternal Sun' (nicknamed the Winding Tower, because of the winding staircase that runs from its lowest point to the pinnacle) that rose from a small sandstone bluff within the lake. It was supposedly the mate of another ruin—the 'Tower of Never Moon'—but the latter had been completely destroyed by an earthquake several hundred years ago and was now submerged under the lake waters. The Winding Tower was one of the more beautiful ruins in Carona, but in the past century the staircase had collapsed in the middle, and although the tower stood as tall as ever it was nigh impossible to climb to the top.
Klaus had explained to Rue before that underneath Carona were mazes of underground tunnels. There existed maps of the labyrinths, most of them fake, but no one had been able to document all the tunnels completely. No one knew what they were for, although several theories had been juggled around by so-called experts for years. Most of the ruins were found to exist by themselves, but some actually opened underground. The lakeside ruins were one of the latter.
Not that it really mattered now. The lake ruins were locked, and Klaus believed that the key to unlock these particular ruins lay in the secrets of Elroy's box. The markings were too similar to be coincidental.
In spite of his permanent limp, Klaus was fine with visiting the ruins by himself, but Rue insisted on coming. Seeing as how distraught the boy had been over yesterday's misadventure and that the trip might distract him from his misplaced feelings of guilt, Klaus agreed, provided that Rue take a back stand this time and let him do all the dirty work. This meant that the beloved violin case was reluctantly left behind in Rue's dormitory.
Klaus led them inside a small room three meters wide by three meters high that actually looked like the beginning of a tunnel. "There's a stone slab here that contains some text that might help us. I already have copies of the markings on paper, but there's nothing like checking it out against the real thing. Besides, I think I might've missed something." He looked around, searching. "Ah, there it is."
The first stone slab lay inclined against the wall, and further down the tunnel Rue could see two more of them. Klaus laid down his laptop beside the slab that was nearest the door. He compared the markings to the scanned copies on his laptop, and then nodded. He said to Rue, "Good, good. Can you transcribe that for me? No, wait, I haven't taught you how to do that yet… Why don't you just—"
Rue interrupted him. "It's okay. I can check out the other slabs."
"Done that," Klaus said, shaking his head. "This is the only one that hasn't completely eroded yet."
"I'll go check anyway." Rue went further down the semi-dark opening, only to discover that his professor was right. There were a couple of other slabs, yet they were so smoothed by time that no markings were visible. A pity, since Rue did know how to transcribe them. He never mentioned it to Klaus for reasons he himself didn't know, but it had been fairly easy for him to learn the writings of whoever made these ruins. They were called the Aeons, if he remembered his research correctly.
He knelt down beside one of the slabs, and the smooth rock felt cool to his skin. He ran his fingers across its edge, and discovered to his surprise that it was smooth all around, except for a slight dent as big as two of his fingers. When he slid his index finger into the indentation, he heard something click. The side of the slab opened to reveal a thin, ancient tome. Rue pulled it out, amazed at the state of its preservation.
But why would the slab open to him, when so many tourists and archeologists, Klaus included, had probably done in the past the same thing that he did just now. That… that couldn't be just a coincidence. Could it?
Keenly, he checked the other slabs, even the one that Klaus was currently working on. The professor looked up, waiting expectantly for an explanation from Rue.
"I found this inside one of the slabs further down," Rue indicated with a wave as he showed Klaus the book. "It just opened when I touched a small dent at its side. I doubt these other slabs hide anything, though." He had checked that the other slabs weren't as smooth as the one that contained the book.
Klaus walked over to the slab Rue mentioned, but discovered nothing new. "I'll peruse that book later at home, so I can cross-reference it. Keep it in the meantime," he said as he went back to transcribing the markings.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to look over it." But Klaus was already too engrossed in his own work that he paid no attention to Rue. Shrugging, the boy sat down cross-legged beside his professor and started reading.
Eight-thirty displayed the blue-and-gold-painted alarm clock. Mint sleepily opened one eye, and briefly wished that the [expletive] robins outside her dorm room window would shut up and let her sleep in some more. Then again, it was already eight-thirty, already late by her standards, and Mint had always been a morning person—such was dictated by training and her own self-discipline. Extreme fatigue and non-minor injuries were the only exceptions.
Groggily she got out of bed, rubbing her eyes with the side of one palm. She splashed tap water on her face to fully waken, and fixed herself a cup of …powdered milk with no sugar dissolved in warm water… since she frowned on drinking artificial stimulants such as strongly-caffeinated cola and coffee. Which she didn't have in her frugally-furnished dorm room anyway. Yuck.
Still, beggars couldn't be choosers. But Mint wasn't a beggar—she was a crown princess, for cryin' out loud!—She simply chose to live frugally in faithfulness to the gymnastics and martial arts training regime that she would need to follow faithfully in her plans for world domination. History had proven that a strict and harsh routine works. Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great enforced it in their respective armies. The Spartans practiced such tactics, and thus were able to conquer Athens which was then the greatest of the Hellenistic city states of that era blah blah blah. It was discipline, discipline, discipline.
She stuck her tongue out at the empty air. Gawd, who am I kidding? It was almost enough to make her homesick. Almost.
Look on the bright side. At least it's not pumpkins…
She downed the milk in one gulp, and then quickly took a shower. She had to hurry as she had yet to fix her stuff. The Klauses would be picking her up that afternoon. Mira had already talked to Mrs. Cartha on the phone yesterday evening, and they'd further discuss their plans for Mint later when the Klauses come. Three bags—two canvas ones and a duffel—would suffice to carry all of Mint's clothes and belongings. It was quite something for a girl who four years ago had no less than four giant room-sized wardrobes for her private use alone.
She was dripping when she got out of the shower, turning the tiled bathroom floor rather slippery. She dried her hair as best as she could with only a towel, since it had been years since she had had the luxury of a blow dryer and maids to comb her hair and do her nails for her. She had to be extra careful now, having the use of only one arm, and she bit her lip in reflex as she suddenly remembered how the first year away from the lavishness of home had been sheer torture.
But she had emerged all the stronger for it. She was able to do such odd jobs that never in her wildest dreams she would have thought she could perform after a lifetime of pampered bliss. Among her many employment ventures, she had worked as an assistant gas station attendant, a back-up singer in a nameless rock band, a janitor that doubled as a dishwasher, and even as a club bouncer (although that one lasted only a couple of days before she took off for the road again). She had lived in a run-down apartment, a one-room shanty, and once camped out by a wooded riverside before she was chased off by the area game warden. For the first time in her life she had experienced ridicule face-front, and had gotten into heated disagreements that thankfully seldom turned to violence, although there were instances that someone ended up with a broken lip or a bloody nose after being on the receiving end of Mint's notorious killer jump-kick. And all throughout that, not once did she neglect nor forget her family's traditional martial arts forms that she had done and was still doing every morning since she was three years old. She may have lost her pride as a crown princess, but she had never lost her pride as a capable East Heaven scion.
That being established, living with the Klauses and sleeping in Elena's room should be a piece of cake.
It took her about half an hour to get all her things ready and tidy up the room a bit. Just in time, too. Three knocks were heard from the main doorway.
"Hello, Mint!" Rod greeted when she opened the door for him. He had a bouquet of fresh chrysanthemums in one hand, his cowboy hat on top of a pizza box in the other, and a wide grin on his deeply tanned face. "I heard you were sick, so I thought I'd drop by to cheer you up."
"Not sick, just cut and bleeding." Mint winked at him. She gestured for him to come inside. Looking pointedly at the flowers, she remarked teasingly, "How sweet, are these for me?"
"Nope, they're for your pet llama to eat. Of course they're for you," Rod replied as he stepped past her into the room. "I'll go put them in a vase or something."
"Don't bother. I'll be living with the Klauses starting this afternoon, and I'd like to take them with me. Doctor's orders." She rolled her eyes. Suddenly she turned to look outside to the corridor. "Hey, where's Johnny Wolf? I kinda miss the guy…"
"You miss him, after he head-butted you… what, ten times already? You have a thing for furry four-legged animals, don't you?"
"Fourteen times. Yup, and they have a thing for me too… I don't imagine Johnny Wolf would've stayed home if he knew you were coming to visit me." She smirked at Rod. The first time Rod had introduced his pet dog to Mint, Johnny Wolf and Mint had hit it off in the worst sense of the word. But right after Mint had beaten the dog silly, and Johnny Wolf head-butted her (reeeaaally hard) once from behind and twice in the stomach, and Mint twirled him overhead by the tail until Johnny Wolf could hardly stand from dizziness anymore, the two seemed to have made peace. In fact, whenever Mint came to visit the Arcade, Rod had to wonder who it was Johnny Wolf still considered his master.
Rod shook his head, amused. "He had to hotfoot back home. Mrs. Cartha wouldn't let anything that walked on four legs to go up here." He laid the bouquet and pizza box on the table. "It's bacon and cheese. I figured you would have a hard time getting food this morning."
Mint sat down on the table across from him, smiling pleasantly. "Thank you so much, Rod. I mean it—it's really sweet of you to do this for me."
"Well, it's the least I can do for my best customer," Rod scratched his head absently in embarrassment. "So, why don't you start on that pizza while I clean up a bit?" He turned his gaze around the room. "On second thought, it doesn't look like you need my help after all." So instead he sat down to join her for the pizza.
She was already nibbling on a slice. "So, how'd you know I was incapacitated?"
"Elena. You know how she likes to talk. She passed by the arcade early yesternight and thought that I ought to know."
"Elena talks too much," she sniffed.
Rod raised one eyebrow. "Don't be so hard on her," he said. "She may be like that, but her heart is in the right place. You may not have noticed it yet, but I think she really cares about you, and thinks of you as a good friend. You should give her a chance."
"Since when have you taken to lecturing about people skills?" Mint sighed heavily, slumping down in her seat. "It's not like I hate the girl. I just can't stand her incessant babbling, that's all. Plus, the way she bats her eyes and practically clings to 'Polly' every time she gets into the same room as him. That last I don't mind so much (it's so funny the way he squirms), but still… have a little dignity, girl!"
Rod almost choked, laughing, on his pizza. "I didn't know you had a mean streak like that, Mint. Poor Rue… Is she that obvious? Well, considering that she has it bad for the guy, I guess you can't really blame her. Anyway," he swallowed the last of his slice before standing up. "Is there anything else I can do for you? I've still got some time before I have to open the arcade."
"Just because I'm temporarily one-armed doesn't mean you have to treat me like an invalid. I'm fine," Mint stood up as well. Suddenly she brightened, as if suddenly coming up with an idea. She grinned mysteriously, her eyes narrowing. "On second thought, come with me."
Pulling Rod by the hand, she led him two flights downstairs into the dormitory lobby, heading straight into the corridor where Mrs. Cartha's room was. She stopped, and abruptly turned to face him. "You have to close your eyes now."
"Is this some sort of forced-labor situation?"
She wrinkled her nose at him. "I'm not telling. Now git, and close your eyes!"
Rod obliged, deciding to humor her. ("No peeking!") Mint knocked on Mrs. Cartha's door and went inside the landlady's room. He could only hear snippets of their conversation: "…that really isn't necessary…" "I'm sure he won't mind it, and besides you know how I don't like to…" "…Oh, alright. I'll leave you two alone." And then the door opened, Mint stepped out, took Rod by the hand and was leading him once more.
His eyes still closed, he asked, "So, are you going to tell me now?"
"Not yet." He felt her lead him further down the hallway, and wondered offhand where she could be taking him. Knowing the girl's tendencies, he wasn't sure if he should be excited or if he should be shaking in terror for his life. Then again, he was with Mint, and whatever it was it couldn't be that bad. Or, at least, he could be certain it would be a unique experience.
When Mint finally allowed him to open his eyes, he was in front of a sink in the dormitory's small kitchen. The sink was filled to the brim with dirty plates, pots and pans, and then some.
She handed him an apron before explaining, "Sunday morning is my turn to do the dishes. Seeing as I can't do it now," she shrugged. "Anyway, Mrs. Cartha has been very kind to me, and I don't like leaving a job unfinished. Not meaning I have to be the one to do it, of course." She was grinning wickedly.
"Well, you didn't have to drag me blindly, making it all seem so mysterious and everything," he scolded as he reluctantly put the apron on.
Mint hung her head. "I wasn't sure you'd agree."
He tweaked her nose and ruffled her hair affectionately. With a shout Mint made as if to punch him, but he caught her fist when she did so. It was now his turn to grin. "Payment for making me do this. Now go away and leave me alone."
She inclined her head quizically. She nodded, and without another word left the room.
Rod laughed silently to himself as he started on the dishes, thinking how easily the girl had (mis)led him. He was glad that Mint had gone, for he wasn't sure how red his face had suddenly become. What was he thinking? The last time a woman had told him to close his eyes and took him by the hand, he had gotten a working vehicle and his first kiss out of it.
Like and yet unlike. I could just as easily fall for a girl like that. He absently combed his fingers through his hair, and then cursed loudly when he remembered his hands were caked with soapsuds.
It took Klaus the better part of the day to finish transcribing. They took a break and picnicked on the lakeside for lunch, and then Klaus immediately went back to his work. Rue had finished reading the book long before then, but discovered that he couldn't stomach too much forgotten lore, which was all that the book contained. Most of what he read were simply older versions of the legends and folk tales that he could easily find in the town library. Maybe Klaus could find something, he didn't know—but honestly, he'd rather let the professor do it. Besides, he could never be sure what scheme Klaus would manage to piece together from the tidbits either of them found.
Rue sat beside the stone archway, eyes downcast, brooding.
"Why so quiet, Rue?" Klaus remarked suddenly.
Rue was sure that Klaus already knew the answer to that, thinking that once again someone managed to read his mind. "It was my fault she got hurt."
Klaus glanced sideways at his companion. Apparently, Rue was still taking yesterday's events seriously. A bit too seriously, which was typical of him, now that Klaus thought about it. By way of consolation he told the boy, "I think Mint has too much of a …warrior's pride… to ever blame that on you (everything else, yes, but not that, heheh). She'd be insulted if she heard you say that."
The other looked at him expectantly. "You think so?"
He nodded solemnly. "I'm sure of it."
"Professor, can I ask you something else? Mint mentioned it when we were at the library… She said that, well, she didn't think you were completely honest with us."
"She's right," he admitted after a moment, surprising Rue. "Of course I've got things to hide. Then again," he paused significantly, "so do you."
Rue reflexively clasped at his forehead, feeling under the ever-present cap and bandanna for his painfully unwanted birthmark. His eyes suddenly glazed over in some strong emotion he didn't know as he was reminded of it. The next thing he realized, Klaus was speaking to him.
"Tell me, Rue, what do you remember before you met Claire?"
He shook his head somberly. "You already know the answer to that. Nothing. I remember nothing."
"And don't you want to find out?"
Rue turned his gaze towards the far end of the lake. He could see the Winding Tower in the distance, the white stone reflecting the sunlight, standing as a testimony to the undying ages. The sun was still high above them, and in a couple of hours more they would see it go down upon the horizon to turn the azure waters of the lake into a sea of red as it reflects the deep oranges and crimsons of a sunset sky.
Finally, he answered, "I don't know. When I was with Claire, before, it just didn't seem important. And now all I want is to find her again."
Silence fell between them once more. After several moments, Klaus shut his laptop closed and remarked, "Well, I've got all the data I need for now. A good thing too—it's almost time for me to pick up Mint." He kept away his portable PC into its case, tucked his pencil into his shirt pocket, and headed for the car.
Rue stood up as well. "I'm coming with you."
Klaus raised one eyebrow questioningly. "I thought you have another one of Professor Cadmon's dreaded forty-page technical reports due tomorrow? Shouldn't you be doing that?"
"I've almost finished it," Rue dismissed it with a wave. "Besides, I want to see how Mint is doing."
He followed the professor into the car, carrying the ancient tome in one hand. In another couple of minutes, the lakeside was again bereft of people, and the Klaus station wagon was heading back towards Carona.
Author's Notes
Aaagh, what was that chapter all about?! Ieda, No, Non, Niet! Adelaine, What Were You Thinking?!
Sorry. Sometimes I can't control my own stories. Weird but it does happen.
25 September 2002
Thanks for reading and thank you more for reviewing!
I'll admit, the chapter seems to focus more on Mint again. Somehow I find it more difficult to write from Rue's POV, though I actually prefer his story over Mint's. Or maybe it's because Mint has more background material at this point of the story, since Rue is still struggling with amnesia. :p Anywayz.
To Ms. Cherry Lee — the most ardent Rue/Mint fan out there that I know of — (if you're not Ms. Lee you can close your eyes now. ^_^)
I didn't say this isn't a Rue/Mint fic, I said that this isn't a Rue/Mint ROMANCE fic. But, If I'm going to pair Mr. Rue Kincaid and Ms. Mint Vanguard, I WILL HAVE TO SET THE STAGE FIRST. Because The Real Rue and the Real Mint Never Even Remotely Had Some Semblance of a Relationship in the Game (but that's debatable, of course). I don't want to spoil anything, so if you want, email me and we'll discuss it. adelaine@angelfire.com or kireene@hotmail.com.
Side note: When I write, plot necessities take precedence over personal preferences. If an event is necessary for the figurative emotional atmosphere I want to convey, no matter how much I don't want it to happen (such as a character dying) I still put it in. In one story I made, literally everyone who has heard it told me that the heroine and the antagonist make a better couple than the story's main pair, and I totally agree, but I couldn't give in to anyone's wishes (including my own) because it would contradict with the heroine's personality.
However, there are times when one can wiggle plot lines to make way for what you want… But that does take time and several odd chapters, unfortunately. At this point it can still go either way, I think. I thought I had decided on it already, but I keep getting contradictory feedback. And sometimes no feedback at all. _ Hint Hint.
Ms. Cherry Lee, the next chapter ("Chocolate at Fancy Mel's") is dedicated to you. ^_~.