Chapter 19: To the Raging Mountains
It was the early afternoon, and past two towns west of Carona were the Raging Mountains where Eugene Wylaf had decided to make his home. According to Klaus's hastily-drawn maps (done from memory and emailed to Rue), Wylaf's compound was comprised of a single building, not too big but with three floors, two basements, and one entranceway.
"Tell me again what this 'phantomite' is for?" Mint asked as they walked the lamp-less path towards the compound. "And why this Eugene decided to build his beloved abode in such a beautiful, easily-accessible place," her voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Phantomite are very special power supplies. It's for the device to mimic Prima's DNA, so that there's no need to involve him in the search any more. Only Wylaf's phantomite can emit the particular frequency needed to bypass the genetic sensors' fail-safe systems."
"Whatever," Mint didn't really understand what he said. "Let's just be quick about it, alright?"
Rue couldn't agree more. He wasn't enjoying this trip any better than Mint obviously did. Sometimes the relic hunts did get to him, and right now he could think of many things he'd rather be doing. But no, focus on the task at hand—Claire had always told him. Huh? His train of thought broke. Did Claire really ever tell him that? He realized that he didn't remember.
They reached the computer terminal by the compound's gates, and Rue inserted the disc card into the slot. After a few minutes of typing, the door remained closed. Mint stood on tiptoe to peer over his shoulder. "Well?"
Rue cursed under his breath. Of all the places for their luck to burn out… "Nothing's happening."
"I can see that," she remarked acidly.
Rue's fists were clenched at his sides, and there was a pained look to his face. "Step back, Mint." Just like the Ghost Temple… He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, and he willed the door in front of them to open.
Nothing happened. Mint glared daggers at him. "What do you think you're doing?!"
"N-nothing. Nevermind, let's just try the disc card again." Nothing happened! The door didn't open, and yet he did everything exactly like he had done before. They were no closer to getting inside Wylaf's laboratory, yet Rue couldn't help but breathe out silently in relief. Maybe the Ghost Temple was just a fluke, and Mel was wrong about me after all.
Mint stomped her foot twice in annoyance. "Oh, let me!" she elbowed him slightly as she took his place, and started clicking away at the console. After some time her eyes narrowed. She indicated the bottom of the display. "What logo is this, Rue?"
Rue moved to see better. "Aeon Industries."
"Figures. Klaus' disc card is for Cosmos Corp." she started typing again, trying out password after password. "Hey, I thought Wylaf made his own stuff?"
"Maybe he still needs the spare parts," Rue answered. They didn't seem to be getting anywhere with Mint's approach, but the girl seemed determined.
"[EXPLETIVE]!!" Finally giving up, she loudly kicked the console. It sparked violently, and within five seconds it started to emit smoke. "Oopsie…" And then they heard a soft click, and the door beside them opened.
Rue shrugged. "I guess dumb luck works sometimes."
"Did I say that dumb luck works?!" Rue exclaimed as soon as they stepped into the compound. "I take it back! There's no such thing as dumb luck!!" It was big, it was huge, and it was scary—he'd gone through this before. But this time, it was bigger, it was huger, and it was heck of a lot scarier. It was a real live dragon.
A real live talking dragon.
"WHO DARES TO DISTURB WYLAF THE GREAT?"
A real live talking dragon with clawed limbs and breathed fire—the dragon demonstrated the aforementioned ability right then, intentionally missing both kids as the flames spewed over their heads. Rue froze. "Klaus never said that Wylaf was a dragon." He was so awed with the fabulous being that he didn't notice the very, very strange look Mint gave him at that moment.
"MORTAL FOOLS! ADMIT IT! YOU ONLY SEEK MY DEVICES FOR YOUR SOLE BENEFIT!"
"No, Mr. Wylaf," Rue tried to explain as he stepped forward. "We wish to obtain the power supplies you created—the phantomite—so that we could build this device to save my friend…"
"YOU ARE ALL THE SAME! NONE OF YOU WILL EVER GET THE PHANTOMITE!!"
The dragon attacked. Mint and Rue were forced to split. Wylaf alternated his attacks between clawing at them and shooting flames in the air.
"STAND STILL, YOU RUNTS! YOU SHALL PAY DEARLY FOR DISTURBING ONE AS POWERFUL AS ME!"
Rue was insistent as he dodged a flame pillar. "Look … there's really no need for this fight!"
Mint's jaw dropped in amazement. He's really serious in talking to the dragon itself?! The left arm went for her, she dodged and at the same time struck it with her ring, and from the corner of her eye she saw Rue barely avoid another flame pillar. Even as he bashed his weapon at the dragon's arms and underbelly, he couldn't seem to keep his eyes off the dragon's head. "Rue! Concentrate on what you're doing!!"
"It's just that… a dragon… I didn't think that they actually—"
"Rue, the dragon's mechanical!"
Surprisingly, Rue's face flushed. "I can't tell!!"
That's right, he can't… But she didn't have time to ponder about it now.
Another flame pillar. "TAKE THAT, IMPUDENT HUMANS!"
She struck at the dragon, and she sidestepped again. "You know, this isn't getting us anywhere." All their attacks didn't seem to be affecting the monster any. Mint looked around to see if she could think of any ideas. She looked up. "We're better off just turning this [expletive] thing off. The control room should be behind that window. Think you can jump up there?"
Rue looked up as well, even as he dodged the dragon's next swipe. "Too high."
"Not even if I give you a boost?" Rue turned to her quizzically, and she glanced significantly at the dragon's wings. Rue nodded in understanding.
Perhaps they really could read each other's minds. Rue jumped sideways to the left, breaking for the walls, and Mint followed suit (to the right this time) a few half-seconds later. Rue leapt onto the wings, Mint over several crates, and both boy and girl managed to jump onto the dragon's broad back almost simultaneously. Without skipping a beat Mint knelt and held her hands out, Rue stepped over them and he somersaulted as Mint boosted him up. He held his Arc Edge aloft as he spun, using it to bash through the thick window of the second floor control room.
CRAASH!! The glass broke into a million shards, and Rue deftly landed on both feet inside the room. A lone man was there, holding onto the sticks and knobs that controlled the dragon's movements, and the man involuntarily jumped backwards from him in abject fear.
"You—you're one of them!! You're not getting the phantomite!" Without the amplification of the synthetic speakers, Wylaf's voice wasn't as loud, but it still carried an edge. "I knew you'd come for me… but you'll never get it!"
"Sir," Rue tried to placate him, stepping forward. "We're only here for the phantomite."
"And you'll never have it!" Abruptly he leapt towards a different console and grabbed a bright red handle. "I shall destroy it firs—"
"Hey, RUE!!" Mint's voice shouted from the window. A small white hand appeared over the broken pane, and Wylaf stopped short. Mint called again, "A little help?!"
"Coming!" Rue turned and reached his hand to her. He blinked as he inadvertently looked out the window when he helped her up. "You jumped that high?!"
"I'm a gymnast—what did you expect?" Mint brushed the dust off her skirt. "Well?" She turned to see Wylaf studying her. "Hey, didn't your mom tell you it's not polite to stare?"
Unexpectedly, Wylaf grinned. "I guess you're not here to take my life as well as the phantomite after all. Welcome to my lab."
For a scientist, Eugene Wylaf turned out to be a heavy-set man with a booming baritone and very graying reddish-dark-brown hair. He looked rather young for his age, and if it weren't for the gray hair Mint could have sworn he was just as old as Klaus.
"So Augustus needs my help, eh? It's been a long time…" he proceeded to tell them about him and former student. Wylaf used to be Klaus's chemistry professor in Ephlesia University, Klaus being one of his worst protégés until one fateful afternoon they chanced to get stuck in an elevator together. "It's amazing how much you can learn about each other if you're trapped in a cramped space for seven hours straight… no food, no water… no way to relieve yourself…" Wylaf took out a couple of cokes from an antiquated refrigerator and handed one to each of his guests (both refused). "Those were the days… I sometimes miss the companionship. I don't normally get visitors over these parts," he remarked (almost) sadly.
Mint slouched in exasperation. "How do you expect to get visitors when you've got a frenzied fire-breathing mechanical dragon as your butler?"
"You like her, eh?" He grinned. "Took me two years to design and construct. Probably two months to repair, now." He looked out the broken window to survey his machine. "Looks like you guys busted her pretty bad."
"'Busted her pretty bad…?'" Rue repeated dumbly. As far as he and Mint could tell, their attacks didn't even affect the monster any, let alone bust it up.
Wylaf raised one eyebrow at them. "I built her, so I can tell. The servos are my own design. They work best under severe duress, just like what you guys put her through, but too much stress and they do break. They will work past fifteen minutes after reaching critical damage."
Rue was impressed. Mint whispered sideways to him, "I didn't think that was possible."
"I didn't either," he whispered back. Mint glanced significantly at him, then at the old professor who again ducked into the fridge, this time for some apple cider. At least we now have an idea why Wylaf chose to live so secluded from the world.
"Oh, yeah, the phantomite…" Wylaf remarked suddenly as he sipped his juice. Aside from being eccentric and having a really weird sense of humor, he was a little absent-minded to boot. "It's over by the other drawer… no, no… downstairs. No… I moved it up here!" He walked over to a steel cabinet on the other side of the room. When he opened it, Rue thought he could see nothing but extra lab coats.
Mint took to looking around the room in the meantime. Her gaze fell towards one of the side desks, at an aged piece of paper that seemed to have gotten stuck awkwardly between its myriad assorted (and probably useless) knick-knacks. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a faded photo of Wylaf, Mel, and several others. A much younger Klaus was there, as well as an old man with white hair. The old man somehow seemed familiar, yet she was absolutely certain that she had never seen him before in her life. She frowned.
Wylaf's voice brought her thoughts back to the present. "Here they are, plus a couple of extra," he said, handing Rue four batteries that could be easily mistaken for medicine tablets. "Take one of these pills a day, and your headaches will be gone in no time."
Rue laughed and thanked the old professor. "I guess we should be going now."
"Give my regards to Mel and Augustus," he said as he walked them towards his laboratory door. "And don't ever come back or you will have to fight my dragon again. Next time I won't be so merciful," he winked at them as they left.
It was already the late afternoon when they left, the sun low on the horizon. They hadn't gone too far from Wylaf's hermitage when Mint stopped walking abruptly, and Rue almost bumped into her. She angrily turned towards him. "Alright, this has gone far enough. What the [expletive] is going on here?!"
He frowned at her. "What are you talking about?"
"Don't play innocent with me! Something's going on and I just know it." One look at Mint's face and Rue was convinced that whatever she was reaching for, she was dead serious about it. "I didn't say anything before, 'cause you always seemed so uptight whenever I'd even come close to this topic, but enough is enough! Even you would have to admit that…" she trailed off, and with an obvious effort forced herself to remain calm. She continued, "Rue, I think you're putting your trust in Klaus too much."
He winced at the words, and for some unexplainable reason Rue started to feel angry himself. "Let's not talk about that, Mint."
"There you go again! For how long are you going to keep blinding yourself like this?!" She stomped her foot in frustration, "Don't you think that it's freakin' weird?! Look at you! You're a straight-A student with A-pluses in all the mechatronics related classes, you fixed an Aero-scooter whose innards you've never seen before without once glancing at a manual, you repaired a two-decade old lamp without even using so much as a multi-tool! And yet you, of all people, can't recognize these 'creatures' as mechanical?!" She was practically seething. "I really think there's something that Klaus isn't telling us. If only you'd stop moping so much about a girl whom you don't even know is alive for you to see what's directly in front of your face—"
"Stop it!!"
Rue raised his hand to slap her, causing Mint to involuntarily take a half-step backwards in shock, but she held her face up to him defiantly. "Go ahead and do it." Burgundy eyes narrowed lividly at coal-black ones. He was so angry that his hand was shaking, but Rue had better control than that. With an effort he lowered his hand. "Coward." Mint swiftly turned her back on him, her hair flying in the soft breeze as she did so, and she began to walk away.
"Wait, Mint," he grabbed her elbow to stop her from leaving. "Mint, I… I'm sorry I snapped at you."
She didn't turn to face him. "That's not why I'm angry and you know it."
"There's something you have to understand. I—I'm not… I mean…" But Mint cut him off.
"Don't say anything, Rue. When you're ready to tell, I'll be ready to listen. Let me go," she told him, and she pulled away the moment he released her arm. Rue stood unmoving for a long time even after she left.
They came to the Raging Mountains in separate trains, and they left in separate trains as well. Mint took the six o'clock express, but Rue arrived at the station well after that. Mint had taken a taxi to the station—he had decided to walk. The exercise gave him time to think over Mint's words.
She just had to be wrong. It was Klaus who took him in—took both of them in—when they were turned out from every other place. Klaus gave him hope again when he had all but given up on Claire. He would trust the professor with his life. Admittedly, Klaus did have rather unusual methods… even Rue couldn't figure out how he got their leads from the seemingly random tidbits that they were able to gather with each relic hunt. Perhaps… perhaps there's some truth to what Mint is saying. He shook his head. Even if he didn't know what was going on, he knew that he trusted the professor. That's all that matters, isn't it?
But, he trusted Mint too… and earlier, he had almost… almost… He grabbed his head and exclaimed, "Aaargh, I don't want to think anymore!!" Why does she always do that to me, anyway?! How in all the heavens does she know these things?!! Girls are such a pain!!!
Seriously, he didn't mean it of course. Still, he couldn't help but wonder (and silently fume) as he sat on his train seat, staring out the window into nothingness.
It was past midnight when he got back to Carona, but he knew Klaus would still be awake. A sleepy-eyed Mira let him in, and he went to the professor's basement immediately.
Rue greeted, "Wylaf sends his regards."
"Ah, thank you, Rue," Klaus said as Rue handed him the phantomite. "How is Eugene?" Rue couldn't find any words to describe Klaus's friend, and the professor laughed at his expression. "I take it he hasn't changed much."
"Anyway, how goes your research?"
Klaus shook his head. "I've finished modifying Elroy's circuits, but other than that, there's nothing new that I haven't told you yet." Klaus went back to his diagrams.
Rue bit his lip, wondering how to breach the subject. "Professor, there's something I wish to ask. It's about…" he hesitated.
"What is it, Rue?"
"No… Nevermind." He wasn't sure he wanted to know, anyway. "Some other time."
"Speaking of other times, Tonia called earlier about the program for the fair opening ceremonies."
"The school fair? I totally forgot!!" Rue slapped his forehead in consternation.
Klaus didn't even look up from his papers. "Remember that the 2-A and 3-A class reps traditionally open the fair. You can't go without a date."
"A date?! Heaven have mercy…" As if the search for Claire wasn't enough for him to worry about. Rue let out a deep, frustrated sigh.
Author's Notes
01 February 2003. Three chapters at once! I apologize for the delay and sincerely hope the wait's worth it for you guys. ^_^. Disclaimer: I do not own the Carona High unofficial theme song. Credits go to Ryan Cayabyab and Regine Velasquez.
The latest chapter, If You Believe, is dedicated to Liol. Arigato gozaimashita, Liol, for being such a good friend.
Special thanks this chapter goes to: the Crew of Light, Tenshi Kanashimi, Nagia, Shadow, Duo and Ryan, GoddessOfTheBlueRose (formerly known as Lady Foxfire 195), Access, James Birdsong, the Crew of Light and the Guardianship of the Pokémon, and twice again to Kawaii Doll. Extra Special Thanks to Ryan and to Nagia (beloved Ed-sama) for being my beta-editors (first time Adi have them) ^_^.
To the Crew of Light: No, I didn't give up on the story. (I've already written parts of the final chapters ^_~.) I wanted to upload up to the part that they meet Ruecian. The latest one is my personal fave in the series—I think it's the most dramatic—although it could be argued that the chapter with the 2nd Rue vs. Mint battle should take that title (but that part isn't until the series conclusion, so you'll have to wait until I write it so you can judge for yourself).
To GoddessOfTheBlueRose: Yes, I know… the longer the chapters, the less there are. But the problem with this fic is that the chapters are already paced and laid out since heaven-knows-when. ^_^. I already know what goes in each chapter but don't have all details ironed out yet. And… well, I worked really hard on Carona High… I make it a point that literally every detail counts one way or another. But I still miss stuff sometimes. ^_^. As for the cliffhanger issue… well, we'll just have to see how things turn out, since I don't know what you guys would consider cliffhangers and all I have to guide me are my chapter outlines…
To The Shadow Trio (and Ryan in particular): That's the exact point! (Why, you think I didn't know what you were going to expect? Adi planned it out! Adi psychic too, sort of… Okay, fine, don't believe me. _.) I tricked you? You mean that I can actually trick you? How could I have done that? *Adi bats eyes innocently*. Besides, the story's not over yet… Aaah! Fine! If you be psychic, you psychic!! Adi no like to argue about it!
To James Birdsong: Claire wasn't eating pizza, she was working for the restaurant. The bloopers were for Carona High, not the actual game. Have a nice day, reader.