Chapter 34: The Conclusion of Their Second Year
March 2027.
Rue cut his hair. He stopped wearing the cap and bandanna, and even with the Aeon Shard always visible, all the girls admitted that it only added to his alluring aura of mystery, and just made him look even cuter than ever.
They had to confine Claire to the hospital indefinitely. She had been in the life capsule for quite some time, and her body was taking a while to adjust to normal atmosphere. She wasn't allowed any visitors yet (except for Mira, who threatened to burn down the entire hospital ward with a flamethrower if the nurses didn't let her in), so Rue had no choice but to wait. But he was fine with it, since he wasn't very sure if he was ready to see her yet—he would merely pass by Claire's door on his way to visit Mint, and already the figurative butterflies would dance in his stomach.
Mint was in the hospital too, but she only got confined a couple of days. Rue visited her twice, incidentally finding her asleep both times. But that was okay too, since Mint looked so peaceful when she was asleep that Rue felt he could watch her like that forever (plus, she couldn't boss him around if she's sleeping). He would never stay with her for more than an hour, though.
Atenacius provided the necessary antidote to the chroma strain, for both Claire and Ruenis. Kirielle had supplied him with the remaining vials she had stolen from Valen's storage freezers—the same kind she had given Mint and Elena before. Valen's chemists of eight years ago had managed to isolate the particular toxin causing the chroma sickness from samples of Lucine's blood, and thus had produced the only working anti-venom. Thankfully, Atenacius was able to reconstruct the antidote's distilling process.
Ruenis recovered completely from the loss of his Aeon Shard. After only five days, he was pronounced already well enough to be discharged. His inborn magick had helped drastically in his recuperation. His heritage of psyche-strong descent protected him from the madness of chroma—it was this doubling of the magick that had initially forced him into that specific life capsule, when the chroma and East Heaven gifts figuratively warred inside his body. Atenacius's antidote cured this by subduing the power of the chroma strain in his blood. The professor also stipulated that it would be many years before any side-effects of Ruenis's innate condition would manifest, if there were any.
By the time they took the stitches out of his head wound, Ruenis was very eager to enjoy the outside world freely for the first time ever. The wound had closed, but it didn't heal cleanly. He would wear the scar on his forehead for the rest of his life.
Rue would have his own scars to bear as well. But his weren't wounds of physical battle, but the doubts of the soul.
It was on a lazy Saturday afternoon in Carona High when Karwyn approached him to say goodbye. "Narcius and I were offered work overseas. Kirielle will stay only to finish the year, and then she's leaving to join us."
"Best of luck to you all," Rue replied, and extended his arm.
Karwyn took the hand, and his handshake was firm. He bowed gallantly. "I thank you. It was a pleasure, Rue."
Later, Duke approached him also, bringing news. "Rod and I located Ruecian's body. We laid him to rest by the lakeside ruins. There was no trace of Valen, and Milady thinks he may still be alive. By the way, I picked this up amidst the rubble." He held out the Arc Edge to Rue, and the boy, happily surprised, accepted it gratefully.
There was something else he wanted to ask the older man. "Tell me, Duke," Rue began in a somber voice. "We won, didn't we? But… winning doesn't make us right. It just means that …we won."
Duke scratched his head absently. He wasn't one for pep talk—Milady usually handled that aspect of treasure-hunting. But he figured he should say something at least. "I don't profess to know a lot about good and evil, or right and wrong. Valen did a lot of good in his own time, and maybe more evil than we know of. It's never our place to judge a man. Think of it this way, Rue. Valen and Ruecian fought for what they believed in. But so did you."
In the final battle with Valen, he believed that he could protect Mint, and that she, Claire, and his friends yet needed him. He believed that that was his purpose, and that he had to follow his own will. It had seemed plausible at the time. But now that the battle was over, was it enough? Rue turned his gaze towards the lakeside and the setting sun. He could barely make out the outline of the Winding Tower in the distance.
What do I believe in? If there was an answer to that, he realized that he had not truly found it yet.
And then it was Belle's turn. She invited him on a short walk along the school grounds, and Rue had no objections. At first, they talked of trivial things—the weather, the school, Klaus. Eventually the conversation turned to Lucine. It was hard for Belle to admit that Lucine was gone. In all the years she had spent searching, she had always clung to the hope that she would once again be reunited with her sister. Rue was supportive, and kept silent while Belle spoke. But whatever difficulty she was having in dealing with her sister's loss, she seemed to be handling it better than another she could name.
"Rod is taking Lucine's loss pretty hard. He had been in love with her, and never until recently did I realize by how much. Lucine was widowed early, and she loved him right back after a fashion. Nothing happened between them, of course, for Rod was too young then, and a vagabond… But he has friends to help him through this now. Mint…" that last was a whisper. Belle smiled. "I'm glad you're all here for him."
But there was something in the way Belle had said it. "What about you? You're leaving?!"
She nodded somberly. "Valen is still out there, and my vendetta with him isn't over. He may have lost here, but he still has other resources… Valen is a genius, Rue. Even defeated, he might still be able to do something. Duke and I are going to find him and make sure that he doesn't." Another sigh, and a slight pause. "There is one thing that I would like to ask of you, though."
"Name it," Rue told her.
"Technically, I am Ruenis' closest family, and I'm his legal guardian. But, I cannot take him on our journey. If it's alright…" she hesitated a little, "if it's alright, would you and Claire take him in? He has already grown rather fond of Claire, and they both had been in Valen's clutches for some time… she's the one who could understand best what he went through."
His reunion with Claire was more than he ever imagined. Everyone was present—it was practically a party at the small hospital room. Prima and Elena insisted on hanging decorations, and Mira had indulged them, Ruenis helping. Rod brought cake, and he and Klaus stood talking by the wall, while the couch seats were occupied by Neil, Annette and Tonia. Claire was sitting up on her bed, and Mint was looking out the window blinds when Rue finally came in through the door.
He had dreamed it, fantasized about it, replayed the many scenarios over and over in his mind for the past five years, yet nothing could compare to the simple feeling of having her really there with him. He ran over to her, clumsily almost falling over his own two feet, and fell on his knees beside her bed as he threw his arms about her waist. Claire was no less enthusiastic as she hugged him back. And Rue wasn't ashamed when he actually broke down and cried.
Surprisingly, it was Mint who ushered everyone out of the room to leave the two alone. She quietly closed the door behind her, sighed once, and quickly excused herself that she had to check some things out at the Carona High library. Nobody made a big deal out of it.
With Belle gone and their old chemistry teacher lately returned from abroad, Mint didn't feel the need to sit at the back row with Rue anymore. She moved to sit by the window like she did in every other class. An unknown messenger had delivered the wanted bracelets to the school board, clearing her of all former charges, but she never accepted her reinstatement as gymnastics team captain, and she resigned her position as assistant class rep as well as all her other extra-curricular involvements. Everyday, she would break for the BladeStar Arcade immediately after the dismissal bell. Rue hated to admit it, but he had gotten used having her purposely ignoring him and bossing him around, and he actually missed her somewhat. Offhand, he couldn't help but wonder if his living again with Claire had anything to do with it.
Things were back to normal in all appearances. He had wanted to talk to her and badly, about the final battle with Valen—she was the only other person who had been present. There were things he wanted—no, needed—to know, about the battle and about her, why she had done as she had. But she would never raise the subject up, and for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to approach her about it either.
A couple of weeks later in class, he found out that she was leaving too, and returning to the Orient. "You're not finishing the year?" Rue had asked, surprised.
Mint shook her head no. "Maya needs me at home. Rebuilding, drafting laws, supervising government projects and bullying the council, that kinda thing." Unlike Maya, Mint had been born and raised to rule. Command came naturally to her in spite of her unconventionalities. Suddenly, she winked mischievously, "If I can't conquer the world yet, East Heaven kingdom is as good a place to start as any."
Only Rue and Claire accompanied Mint to the airport. Everyone else had said their fond farewells the day before, at a huge bash in her honor. But when it came the actual time for her to leave, Mint wasn't one for prolonged goodbyes.
"That's the plane," she pointed. "Based on the Concorde, and it's the smallest plane capable of sub-space flights." The plane was small but impressive—spanning less than three-fourths the length of normal passenger jets and could carry only a select three hundred passengers.
"My, my, Mint is traveling first class." Claire commented.
"Of course," Mint grinned. "I'm a princess—can you expect anything less?"
Claire excused herself. "I think I have to go to the ladies' room for a while. Will you guys be alright if I leave you for a few minutes?" Claire winked ever so slightly, and Rue didn't miss it. "Please excuse me," she said, and then walked off to the far end of the corridor.
The pair lapsed into silence. Rue took to examining the plane, at its clean whitewashed exterior with silver trimmings. It was impressive at first glance—it still was—but even without mechavehicle technology he found it boring after a while. He kept glancing down the corridor. Claire seemed to be taking her sweet time.
Mint broke the silence. "Say, Rue? Claire will resume her studies at Carona High, won't she? That means you guys will be classmates next year?" Claire was in her third year of high school when she disappeared five years ago. Three years in the life capsule had meant that her body had been in total stasis at that time and therefore three years younger than her actual age.
"Probably," Rue replied. "Claire will be the oldest in the year, but she doesn't look it." Mint raised her eyebrows quizzically at him. "Um, Mint? Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Mint… do you think we'll ever see each other again?"
"Pfft," she exclaimed suddenly, pretending to gag. "What kind of a stupid question is that?! Of course we'll see each other again! Not saying when, but that's not the point." Hands on hips, she pouted at him in mock-anger.
"There's something else," Rue continued. He took something out of his pocket, and then opened his palm to reveal a pair of gold earrings. "I noticed that you had pierced ears, but you didn't wear any jewelry. I was supposed to give you a present like this last Christmas, but I didn't finish it in time."
For the first time since he could remember, Mint was at a loss for words. "T-Thank you… they look just like my Dual Haloes."
"They are," Rue told her. She looked up at him expectantly. He explained, "Before we went to fight Valen that last time, I managed to save one of your shattered Halo's fragments. I melted it in shop class and reshaped it into those earrings. I thought you'd like it." He smiled meekly, a little embarrassed at his own sentimentality.
"I do like it…" He helped her put them on. She grinned. "Looks good on me, don't you think? Hey, Claire!" she waved as Claire approached. "My new earrings are cool, aren't they?"
Claire smiled and nodded, and she nudged Rue affectionately. "I'm glad he finally had the guts to give them to you."
Rue and Mint both blushed (just a little), and then the girl bent to pick up her bag. "Well, I gotta go. Can't miss my flight," she told them as she slung her duffel over one shoulder. She turned and walked towards the moving ramp on the other end of the corridor.
"Goodbye, Mint! Don't forget to write!" Claire waved. "We'll miss you!!"
Mint waved back, "You guys write to me too! Bye, Claire! Bye, Rue!"
"Yeah, Mint. Goodbye," Rue whispered softly. He turned towards the plane, and watched silently as the girl crossed the runway and climbed up the moving stairs, her twin ponytails blowing gently in the soft breeze. The last he saw of her was the sunset red hair disappearing behind the airplane's cabin door as it closed.
It was the second Sunday of April, 2027. SunCoast Air flight to East Heaven, departing from Carona International Airport at 4:21pm local time zone. He would remember it for a long time.