Chapter 32: Dual Haloes
The alarms continued to blare as Mint stepped out of the elevator. Her psychic senses told her that Rue was somewhere in the hallways beyond, steadily making his way up to the top floor laboratories. That idiot, she sniffed. Boys are such trouble. She wasted no time, and broke into a run.
Several floors up, she saw a familiar silhouette sans violin case and ever-present cap. White hair was out of its ponytail and fell across his broad shoulders, but the Arc Edge held in his right hand was a dead giveaway.
Rue stopped short at the well-known sound of indignant footsteps. "What are you doing here?"
"I thought that was obvious." Hard as it was for her, Mint kept her voice level.
He shook his head, not looking back. "I can't go back with you." Deliberately, he clenched and unclenched his free hand. "Ruecian is dead, Mint. And Valen still has Claire."
He heard a very un-princessly snort. "Claire this, Claire that, Claire, Claire, Claire. It's always dearly beloved Claire, isn't it?" her eyes narrowed accusingly.
For no valid reason that he could discern, Rue found himself getting angry at her. Which had always been strange in itself. "I told Claire I'd protect her. I gave Valen my word. I promised," Rue was adamant.
"Well, I promised that I'd get you back. We can't have it both ways, now can we?"
He turned sharply towards her, and he was practically seething. It's just one battle after another! But why did it have to be you?! "Alright! If we really must—"
"Of course we must," Mint sniffed. "We haven't settled our match yet." If she was surprised at his animosity, she hid it well. Or perhaps it was what she had intended all along. "Besides, how am I supposed to conquer the world if I can't even defeat my own high school rival?"
His hands were trembling as he gripped his weapon tightly. Only once and briefly did he glance at the blade. Never against her, the thought flashed across his mind, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He did what he must—always and always—the chains of self-imposed duty bound him fast. He closed his eyes at the shadowed memories that came unbidden. Claire. Rain. The sunset. Red, like blood. Ruenis's blood. Ruecian's. The Aeon Shard. The chroma strain. Claire. Mint. Claire. Burgundy eyes. He opened his own, and it was she who stood before him now. He forced himself calm.
Mint absently twirled one ring before raising both up in readiness. "Until one yields."
"As you wish," he replied reluctantly.
She attacked first. She didn't even wait, and in the dim light her eyes flashed with purpose. Rue concentrated on defending. Very soon, he found himself backed against a wall. He slashed once and heard cloth rip.
Mint somersaulted backwards, her face impassive. Too impassive. Her skirt was torn up to almost her hips. A huge, deep gash cut down the length of her right thigh. Rue's eyes watched a thin, red trail run down her leg until it soaked part of her sock, but she moved as if it was nothing. The blade of the Arc Edge gleamed with a faint tint of blood.
He gently lowered his weapon. "I'm not fighting you any more, Mint."
She kept her eyes downcast as she likewise lowered her rings at her sides. "Rue…" her voice was barely audible. "Why do you look down on me?"
"I'm not looking down on you…"
"Yes you are!" She raised her head suddenly, and her eyes were bright with unshed tears. "[Expletive], I am an East Heaven Scion! Twenty-three wars in three thousand years of history, and today we remain unconquered. We have never been defeated in battle. Never, unless we die first. Do you think a tiny cut like this is going to stop me from what I have sworn to do?"
Warrior's pride. She had come all the way to space, to keep a promise she made to him half-asleep—she was half-asleep then, and barely would have woken up at all, because of his own carelessness. He realized that he knew nil of what she gone through to get to the Tower of Maya, for him, and here he was refusing her. And yet, wounded, she was still willing to fight him if that was what it took to get him to come back with her. Klaus had been right. She had too much of a warrior's pride to give up so easily. Too much pride to use magick against him in battle. Too much pride to make another mistake. The least he could do was trust her in this. He owed her that much.
But he didn't have to like it. She had too much of a warrior's pride, period. 'There can be no secrets between friends'? Damn your pride, princess. Rue raised his Arc Edge in a formal battle stance.
For Augustus Klaus and Benjamin Atenacius, things had gotten completely out of hand. Almost. But they were making progress now, at least.
It was Klaus and Atenacius who had raised the evacuation alarm in the Tower of Maya. Valen's empire was obviously failing with him at the center, and his old colleagues-turned-enemies wanted to get as many people out of the accursed Tower before it collapsed in on them. Klaus hadn't been sure if the idea would work, but Atenacius had tried his luck at it anyway. Since Rue moved into the Tower, they had already set up a small communications center in Klaus's office in Carona High, and from there Atenacius tried hacking into Valen's computer systems. Mel and the Masters helped, Karwyn especially, but their attempts hadn't been enough. Perhaps Belle could have succeeded, but she and Duke were en route to Undercity then. In the end it was Ruecian who had made it possible, by letting their signal get through in the first place.
Atenacius understood this much at least, that Ruecian never intended for Rue to step into the psyche-transplant machines for the final time. Ruecian had merely played along, driven by his love of a long-dead woman who had not once reciprocated his feelings, a woman whose still-living child had been doubly cursed by the venomous amalgamation of chroma strain and East Heaven blood. Ruecian had played along in the hope that Valen's experiments involving Rue would lead to the elusive cure.
It was Rue himself who tipped Ruecian's hand. Ruecian had been forced to decide then and there if he would let the captive children go. And in letting Maya and Ruenis escape, he had inadvertently laid his true loyalties bare to Dr. Terry Valen.
Heaven only knows the price Ruecian would have to pay for that betrayal. If he hadn't already.
The scream of fusion-propulsion engines in the yard outside broke the silence. The Pulsar Inferno Typhoon Omega was landing in the soccer field, and Klaus, Mira and Atenacius ran out to meet them. Atenacius carried Ruenis down and handed the unconscious boy to Mira, who ran off towards the clinic at breakneck speed as soon as Ruenis was in her arms, and then he helped Maya dismount. Rod was having second thoughts about dismounting—he wanted no delay in getting back to the tower—but Klaus motioned for him to come down. They needed the Blade Star on earth for the meantime.
Maya asked Atenacius about Ruenis. At the familiar way she addressed the older man, it seemed as if princess and professor went a long way back. "He'll be alright," Atenacius told her to quiet her concerns. "I'll do what I can for him. I have a couple of leads on magick and the chroma strain that I doubt even Valen would know about," he winked in reassurance. "But not now. We must first do what we can for Rue."
"Ben," Maya whispered softly. "I… I'm sorry about before. And thank you."
"Don't thank me yet," Atenacius turned somber again. "We're trying to send a message to Rue in the Tower. But even Karwyn barely knows enough to let us hack into Valen's computer systems. You know how Valen had worked with psyche-amps before—"
Maya pulled the Cosmo-Penalty from its hidden holster on her left thigh. "Perhaps this could help? I let Valen borrow it once."
"This would do more than help, your highness," a small smile of relief tugged at his mouth. "For Belle and Ruenis as well."
Rod was talking to Belle via video-net in Klaus's office. Belle was updating him regarding the latest on her situation. "We've accessed the Undercity data files already, but we need the higher passcodes to gain physical entrance. Does Ben have them yet?"
Rod shook his head no. "Belle… there's something else that… I mean, I just found out…" he realized he was stammering, and with an effort he composed himself. "Lucine is dead."
A pause. After a while, Belle nodded. Strangely, she didn't feel as dismal or angry about it as she thought she would. On the video screen, Rod saw her avert her eyes from the mini-cam. "I guess… I've always known. A part of me never believed I'd actually find her again. Maybe being right about it…" She blinked once, and then the moment was past. She turned squarely towards him, all business again. "Tell Ben that when he's analyzed the Cosmo-Penalty, immediately send the codes to me." Rod nodded. Belle continued, "And if they ever send that message, tell Rue that I swear I'll get his Claire back."
"I will." A disconnecting beep, and the video screen went blank.
Time to head back into space. Belle would probably meet with trouble in Undercity, but surely nothing she and Duke couldn't handle together. Rod absently combed his fingers through his hair and jiggled the Pinto keys in his pocket. Heaven blast him if he couldn't keep his own end of the deal.
In the abandoned hallways of the Tower of Maya, they danced a grim fandango where a single misstep could prove fatal. But there was no turning back for either of them.
Rue held his sword as if it was an extension of his own arms. His body movements were natural, needing not even thought to execute. Green, slash up and sideways from below, as leafy shoots emerged from soil in new spring. White, attack from on high, like an avalanche of ice from snow-capped peaks. Yellow, stab as the lightning flashed across a cloud-heavy sky.
Rain. The memory of raindrops was their melody. Mint moved on tiptoe, forward, pitter-patter forward, pushing the other slowly back. Blood from her leg wound spurted, drop by painful drop, with each jump, twirl, and kick as she pressed on.
Black, Gravitation. Rue stood his ground, measuring carefully with dark eyes as his opponent now moved sideways around him. Like a planet circling about the sun. Defend and take force, as the blackness sucked in light. Strike low, strike slow, strike left or right, but be concentric with the black.
Tail Feathers of the Phoenix. Rue switched one-handed. Slash and thrust, move quick in heat. Slash and thrust, as if the blade was aflame. Slash and thrust, until it drew a bloody red. Sunset Red. Mint struck back, matching him blow for blow. Red hair tied in twin pony-tails followed in her movements as she moved swift and sleek, fluid like fire. Her red eyes blazed, a mere glance from which struck the psyche in a way no physical weapon ever could—in a way that had nothing to do with magick. Her leg wound in the odd lighting flared a sinister crimson. Rue switched his weapon back two-handed.
Scales of the Water Dragon. Long, arcing slashes of the sword, and it was Mint's turn to step backwards. The Arc Edge was aptly named, and Rue wielded it fully and wielded it well. Like the cycle of the seasons, day and night, sunrise and sunset. Like the blue earth, everything came full circle. Like rain, raised from blue oceans, falling from azure skies. Mint raised her rings in anticipation of Rue's next move. But the music stops with the seventh form!
A downward swipe of the Arc Edge, she sidestepped, he slashed sideways and she took the blow, blocking the sword with her twin metal rings. Their weapons echoed as they clashed—the eerie sound of metal against metal reverberating across the room's stone walls.
The pace of their movements changed abruptly—faster, faster, and more forceful—as if the gentle accompaniment music had suddenly turned into the beating of a thousand war-gongs. Just like before, she somersaulted over him, landing deftly with her back turned. Rue raised his weapon for the killing blow. But Mint knew, and she was ready—she swiftly twirled on one leg, barely making the turn in time. She blocked the Arc Edge with her arms and the Dual Haloes crossed over her head, and her body shuddered with the force of the impact. Rue twisted his grip, but the sword had hit the crossed rings in such a way that their weapons interlocked, making it impossible for him to break away without letting go of his weapon.
It happened so fast he could barely remember it afterwards. Mint twisted her Dual Haloes, spinning them with such force that the Arc Edge slid out of his grip and sent their weapons flying through the air. One of the rings was unable to withstand the strain and shattered into several pieces. At the same time, she lashed one leg out at him, missing his head by centimeters. He lunged towards her instinctively, grabbing her by the wrists and they both toppled to the ground, Rue managing to land on top of the girl. He pinned her hands down either side of her head, his knees straddling her legs.
Silence. For what seemed to him an eternity they remained in that position. Rue's hair hung down one side of his face, and they were so close that its ends touched Mint's left ear. Although he kept his eyes locked onto hers, he became vaguely aware of her other features… the small mouth, the white throat… the soft, cerulean blouse… slightly… …torn…
He felt heat rush up to his face. Damn it, no— it wasn't just his face… Thank the heavens he had been able to brace himself when they fell, or there was no way she could have missed it…
She returned him stare for stare, her countenance extruding nothing but calm. "Rue?" she called his name softly.
He hadn't even realized he was holding his breath. His throat felt dry all of a sudden, and he croaked the words when he answered. "Y-yes, Mint?"
She smiled sweetly up at him before blowing at the silver locks that brushed against her cheek. "You really need a haircut."
She kicked her legs up, twisting her body simultaneously so that her hip hit him in the stomach. He almost doubled over, and in that split-second she managed to break free, making a desperate rush for what remained of her Dual Haloes. He sprinted after her, running slightly askew towards his own weapon. In three strides he reached it and firmly grabbed the Arc Edge's handle.
Only to stop dead at a pair of bright, bright burgundy eyes.
She was pressing the broken ring against his throat, her knuckles shaking at the tightness of her grip. The other ring she held up perpendicular to the ground, mere centimeters from the tip of his nose.
"Don't move!!"
Her breathing was rough and uneven. Although she managed to keep upright, her entire body was shivering, and Rue could tell that she was very close to collapsing from the effort. He lowered his hand away from the handle of the Arc Edge. Slowly, keeping his gaze steady, he knelt down on one knee in a gesture of acquiescence.
Suddenly the pressure on his neck was gone. The burgundy eyes rolled upwards, the elfin frame buckled, and the Dual Haloes dropped to the floor with one loud clang after the other. He rushed forward to catch her, his arms pulling her close and moving to support her upper body.
She propped her head weakly against his shoulder. "Don't look, you pervert."
He closed his eyes tight and sighed heavily. "You knew?" He felt her nod, almost imperceptibly.
"Say, Rue," she whispered. Although her voice was faint and muffled, it had an edge of humor when she spoke. "Could you bandage my leg for me? It's throbbing like crazy…"
Her body went limp at last, and collapsed lifelessly in his embrace.
Author's Notes
Yes, that 'grim fandango' line was homage to one of the greatest games ever released by LucasArts to date. (Go and play it! Support a dying genre!!) Ara… I think I just went overboard with that fight scene. Overly dramatic, grumble… insert incoherent sound effects here…
And yes, the series will be over soon. Another promise: you guys won't have to wait until 2004 for the conclusion (I'm crossing my fingers I can finish the entire thing within the month, and have my website up too. With pictures! Err, the web-worthy ones at least. ^_~).
I said it before and I'll say it again too.
Reviews. Are. Nice. ^_~.
A Word
Dual Haloes, while not as dramatic as If You Believe IMO, is a significant chapter, for it marks the beginning of the end of the series. The Carona High concept started out as a doujinshi, but the CH fanfic began when Anti-R wouldn't update ToF:A Continuation for the longest time, leaving it hanging with the hintings of a Rue vs. Mint battle—I got impatient and wrote my own Rue vs. Mint episode. The ending snippet of this chapter is actually over a year old, written even before I thought up the words 'mechavehicle', 'psyche amplifier', and 'chroma strain'.
I've been working on Carona High for over a year now since I published it on FFNet, and a year before that since I first thought of the concept. This fanfic has been with me through everything—a candidacy for my university's Honor's Society and its loss (though with luck I think I may still come away with something on graduation day laugh), a severely damaged heart from my best guy friend who remains ignorant of my feelings to this day, a suicide attempt that landed me four days in the hospital (successful and you never would have seen past the sixteenth installment—but I think I learned my lesson). Recently is my pseudo-Ms-Congeniality-make-over (a good thing so my friends say, but it's hard to get rid of tomboyish habits when you've used the tough-guy act as a mask for as long as I have). Drawing and writing has helped me live through life's pain
Another blessing this fanfic has brought about, that means ever so much to me, is that I got to know really cool online friends like artist Brittany Jackson aka Liol, the Lady of the Blue Moon aka Selene, Ryan 'Shadow Duo', Victoria Chastan and her numerous OCs, Andiavas formerly known as Cherry Lee, Jenn FirePhoenix, John 'Snake' Hangen, and kababayan Twisting Demon. Non-online friends that deserve mention: Sacha, Kathy, Gladys, Edjo, Jaycee, Kendra, Elaigh, Shinji-kun, Archure and Bjoe—you know who you are. Love you all. Friends have always managed to pull me through tough times, even if they don't know it. And to the people reading this, who have kept me writing—I have gone this far because of you.
So, I'd just like to say Thanks.