Ch 6
The secondary system kicked in after a minute and Caleb groaned as he lifted himself from where he lay, facedown, in the rubble. He rubbed at his face and coughed up a mouthful of pebbles and earth.
"I thought the secondary system kicked in instantly when the primary fails." he croaked and shook his head of as much dust as he could, coughing out additional debris. The ribbon that held his hair back was gone, probably lost or destroyed in the battles he'd been in, and now got in the way as the doll opened his chest to replace the shattered gem. With only one working crystal powering him after switching back to primary power, Caleb lost the ability to use magic. He studied the glittering shards in his hands and sighed again. "Looks like Pepper is going to have her work cut out for her." he muttered and gave a start, searching the cave in horror, "Pepper! That's right! The dragon!"
Caleb raced to the dirty white form lying on its side on the floor and dropped by Pepper, on the verge of tears. She breathed heavily, each labored gasp filled with pain as the mana beast gazed at him with lidded eyes.
"Pepper... I told you to dodge it, you silly girl..." Caleb whispered. Pepper whistled faintly as if to defend her actions. An image of Mana Fruit bloomed weakly in the doll's mind and he lit up. "Of course! Mana Fruit will help you heal!" He searched his pack and pulled out his entire supply, a week's worth of special treats, then fed them all to the mana beast. Pepper crunched each fruit slowly, gaining strength with each large dose of mana she absorbed into her body. Bit by bit, her wounds began healing and her health began to return. When she lifted her head and licked at Caleb's cheek, he knew that she would be all right.
"You can finish healing on your own, huh?" he asked and Pepper nodded carefully before resting her head again. Caleb stood after stroking her snout and walked towards Wren with the lantern in hand. The chef had remained still in the rubble where he had landed moments before. "Wren... It worked." the doll murmured as he dropped to his knees by the blonde and set the light down nearby. He waited for an answer but received none. "Wren?" he whispered worriedly and poked at his shoulder, "Wren, wake up!" The pokes turned to shakes as Caleb tried to get a response from the silent chef. "Wake up! Come on, I told you to get better!"
On an impulse, the doll pressed his fingertips against Wren's cheek. Still warm, but the color was fading fast, turning a ghastly white under the smudges of dirt that stained his face. Caleb felt for a pulse, found it so weak it barely was detectable, and dove for his pack of supplies. He searched it for the Life Bottles and pulled one out, clutching the small vial so tightly it shattered in his hand.
"No!" Caleb cried and blinked at the shimmering liquid light that flowed between his fingers and disappeared into nothing, "That looks like... liquid mana?" He shook his head and pulled another one from the bag, this time being careful with it as he opened the glass stopper. The doll gently lifted Wren's head and put the vial to his mouth, emptying the contents of the Life Bottle into the Wonder Chef. He waited anxiously for signs that the potion worked. "Wren... please wake up. Please! Don't let your quest end like this!" Caleb whispered fiercely as tears filled his eyes. Droplets fell onto the blonde's dirt-streaked face and Wren finally flinched, moving his mouth to speak as his eyes remained closed.
"...Cold..." he managed to say. Caleb blinked in surprise, then smiled in relief.
"You made it." he murmured and hugged his friend, "We all made it."
Moria Gallery took a backseat in Caleb's list of priorities as he made his way back towards the surface. Pepper had almost fully healed, walking more easily beside the doll as she continued pulling at the lantern hanging from the sash around her for additional mana to continue her recovery. Caleb carried the unconscious Wonder Chef in his arms, glaring out at the network of caves and tunnels with its myriad of beasts that had so nearly succeeded in ending his life. Strapped to his back was the Wonder Fork, unresponsive to any of Caleb's attempts to work with its teleportation ability.
Monsters continued to pursue the group as they worked their way upwards. On Caleb's orders, Pepper fine-tuned her psychic abilities, implanting suggestions that they weren't the prey they were looking for or sending a weak-willed beast upon another as a distraction. The mana beast looked angry and fired an accurate Mana Light beam in the center of a rock golem's head as it tried to block their path. She snorted when it toppled aside and pressed on, tail swishing angrily behind her.
Hours stretched on as the automatic doll and the mana beast marched their way to the upper levels of Moria. So intent were they on reaching sunlight that Caleb almost missed Wren's revival.
"Ugh. What... hit me?" the chef groaned softly, blinking slowly as he tried to focus on his surroundings. He suddenly panicked. "Let... let me go!" Wren cried and struggled. Caleb yelped and fought to keep him stable, falling back with a grunt as Wren managed to gain control of his legs and kicked for the doll's face. "Let me go! I'm not going to help you hurt more innocent people!" he shouted and thrashed about as Pepper came to a halt and stared at them, cocking her head in uncertainty.
"Wren! Wren, calm down! It's me!" Caleb yelled and pinned the chef down, "Wren! Snap out of it! It's me! Your friend Caleb!" At the name, Wren stilled and blinked at him, catching his breath after the struggle.
"Oh." he finally remarked. Caleb glared at him.
"That's it? You scare the holy hell out of me by nearly dying, you kick me in the face, and then you try to beat me up, and all you can say about it is 'Oh'?" he snapped, "What's wrong with you now, you brainless Wonder Chef?" Wren sniffed and matched him glare for glare.
"Let me up first." he answered and got his wish. He sat up and dusted himself off, then folded his arms over his chest. "Sorry. I had a nightmare. I didn't mean to kick you." he apologized. Caleb rubbed his jaw to check for damage, found none and eyed the blonde warily.
"You tend to get violent when you're startled." he muttered.
"Where are we now?" Wren asked, ignoring the remark in favor of searching the cave visually for signs of the battle, "I remember the blast of fireballs that knocked us for a loop, then telling you to get that meat stew to the dragon." He looked back at the doll. "How did that work out anyway?"
"Dunno. When I gave it the sack, I fell and broke my primary mana crystal. By the time I woke up, the dragon was gone, Pepper was barely conscious and you, you idiot, were a step away from death's door!" Caleb growled, "How many times do I have to tell you to be careful? You're a human! Humans can die!"
"I survived, didn't I?" Wren countered in exasperation, "Now, where are we?"
"Stuck down here, that's where we are." Caleb grumbled and pointed at a rockslide barring the staircase just up ahead, "All of our fighting monsters and that dragon shook up Moria pretty badly. We're trapped down here." Pepper walked up to the wall of rubble, sniffed at it, and sat down in annoyance, ears pulled down. Wren joined her and kicked at one of the boulders, then stood back and sighed, gazing up at the rubble pile with his arms folded over his chest again.
"Well, this isn't good. Did we at least find Moria Gallery?" he asked. Caleb walked up beside him and shook his head. "We can't go back the way we came, we can't go down any further, and we didn't find the Moria Gallery..." Wren growled, narrowing his eyes at the rock wall, fists tightening at his sides. "I hate this stupid quest for stupid recipes!" he finally shrieked at it, turning a shade of red that would make a tomato jealous. Pepper jumped and dashed off in a panic. Caleb threw up his hands in exasperation.
"Stop screaming at things! That's not helping anyone!" he yelled at the blonde.
"You're the one screaming now, you hypocrite!" Wren yelled back. Pepper shrieked from her perch on another pile of rubble, wings spread and fur fluffed up. The threesome spent the next hour or so venting frustration and stress, splitting apart to destroy rocks then coming together to fume and shriek once more. Finally, exhausted and drained, the group came together one last time to fall asleep in a heap.
Refreshed by the long rest they had, Wren, Caleb and Pepper were able to study their situation with clearer minds. Knowing that Wren was still easily frustrated by a problem he couldn't solve with his cooking, Caleb suggested he spend his time helping Pepper multitask by having her float a rock and fire on it with Mana Light at the same time. Wren held a few treats on hand as incentives. With the two living beings occupied, Caleb sat, yoga-like, in front of the wall and ran through various mental simulations of escape, hoping to find one that would be successful without promising certain doom to Wren or Pepper.
"I might need a little help with this one." he muttered after a bit. He closed his eyes and focused. "Martel, can you hear me? I need your help."
"Caleb? I sense a great amount of earth mana around you. Are you in the Temple of Earth?" the goddess questioned in confusion.
"I'm trapped in Moria with Pepper and Wren."
"Wren?"
"Ah, the Wonder Chef."
"Adam? Adam Voraci?" Martel asked. Caleb turned to look at Wren in confusion.
"Wren! Hey, Wren!" he called out. The blonde chef turned to him, head tilted as he waited to see what Caleb wanted. "Do you know anyone named Adam Voraci?" Caleb asked. Wren stared at him with wide eyes, then turned and fled. "Oookay." the doll muttered, still confused as he returned to his sister, "Martel? Wren just ran off on me when I asked him about that Adam guy."
"No, no, Caleb. The Wonder Chef's name is Adam Voraci. So, you got yourself sealed up in Moria with Pepper and Adam? Why in the world are you down there anyway?"
"Looking for the Moria Gallery." Caleb answered and mulled over the new bit of information, "So Adam is Wren's real name, huh?"
"I told you it wasn't important to people." Wren remarked, coming back to confront the doll, "How did you find out what my name is, anyway? I never told anyone my name."
"Ah, hold on." Caleb told him and returned to his conversation with the goddess, "Martel, we're stuck in Moria and we can't get out. We haven't found the Moria Gallery and we're almost out of food and water. We had a few close calls and I don't want to risk Pepper and Wren any longer."
"I can send a pair of MudPuppies to clear the way for you. I'm sure they can also help find the Gallery. Good luck and stay safe. Symphonia still needs you... all of you." Martel answered and Caleb stood up.
"Okay, Wren, how's Pepper doing?" he asked, turning to the Wonder Chef.
"Doing well. She's getting the hang of it but it took a heckuva lotta tries to get the concept through to her." Wren answered, "Now, how did you find out my name?"
"Martel told me. Listen. A couple of mana beasts are gonna come and help bail us out. We will continue the search for the Moria Gallery." Caleb planned and thrust his fists into the air, a confident grin on his face, "We're not gonna let Moria beat us! We're going to find that Gallery and get the library of information that's stored inside! The treasure of the deep will be ours!" The Wonder Chef stared at him, then sighed and shook his head, mentally asking himself why he insisted on entering an ancient catacomb with a doll set to Ruin Mode.
It didn't take long before the rock slide that blocked the path fell to the wayside, two large dusty-brown mana beasts standing just outside the open tunnel. The three friends ran up and thanked them, then explained their situation. With three mana beasts defending the two men, monsters chose not to try attacking, not after what they witnessed in a very angry Pepper. They traveled and searched the mines for the Moria Gallery, watching in awe as the earth-based power of the MudPuppies helped rebuild and restore the collapsed portions of Moria. Caleb studied everything he could, laughing as he pointed out sections that had evidence of dwarven craftwork.
"I wish he wouldn't do that." Wren sighed, one hand covering his eyes in exasperation as Pepper rolled her own green eyes and shrugged, "It's embarrassing!"
It wasn't until they neared the top level that the MudPuppies stopped at a wall and peered at it. Caleb and Wren looked at the exit that they found with apprehension. If they walked out now, they would be admitting that they were unable to find the Gallery. The two other mana beasts squawked back at them and began clawing at the wall, then leaped back and screeched, sending pillars of stone stabbing into it from the cave floor, chipping away huge slabs of rock.
"Hey!" Caleb yelled once he saw what they were doing, "Knock it off! You're going to bring down the roof again!" Pepper blinked as she watched them, then lit up and darted in to help them out.
"I think they're onto something, Caleb!" Wren exclaimed as the wall continued to crumble apart. Under the assault of Stone Spears and Mana Light, the false wall finally fell away to reveal a room behind it. "That's it!" Wren raced for the room as the mana beasts peered into it.
"No way." Caleb murmured and followed him.
Within the great room was a single pedestal that held a large silver gem that floated, suspended, in the light of a strange device. Wren and Caleb walked up to the pedestal and gazed at the gem in awe.
"It's beautiful." Wren whispered.
"What the hell is it?" Caleb murmured and checked the pedestal's markings, "Oh, no way. It says here that this is the Moria Gallery!"
"This thing?" Wren asked incredulously, pointing at the gem.
"Yup. This thing." Caleb sighed, "The lost knowledge of the dwarves is in here. How in the world did they store an entire race's library of information in a crystal?"
"Don't know. Maybe we can take it back to Orator and ask him." Wren suggested. Caleb reached out and carefully picked up the shining gem, then tucked it into his travel pack.
"It's our only lead. Let's hope that we can get something useful out of it." the doll remarked and walked with the chef out of the room. "With a gem this size, there's bound to be more information in it than we can even imagine! And there has to be some dwarven recipes in it, too!"
"I hope so. I have to keep my position of Wonder Chef, for the sake of the Organization, my family, and my own life!" Wren sighed.
The group emerged from Moria and shielded their eyes from the sunlight, crying out painfully until they readjusted to the bright golden light. Pepper spread her wings and screamed out in joy, her body becoming fully restored by the light of the sun. Caleb blinked and looked over at Wren, staring at the drastic change in looks.
Dirty, torn, somewhat bloodied clothes, hair that looked like it was more brunet than blonde, and skin that seemed almost colorless, the Wonder Chef looked like the walking dead. Wren was studying his hands in surprise, marveling at the paleness and how the grime seemed to cake on his fingers. The Wonder Fork that Caleb had returned once they were all sane again remained as shiny as ever, the finished wood handle as spotless as the day it had been crafted. It rested against Wren's back.
"You look like Death threw you out of purgatory for spiking his dinner." Caleb joked with a wry smile. Wren looked at him, the single blue eye that could be seen under his hair a paler color blue than he was used to seeing. "Yup, Death warmed over. Wren, you need a major bath." The chef cracked a smile.
"So do you. What would Zelos say if he saw you now?" he retorted and watched Caleb walk up to a nearby stream to look into it.
"Heh, he'd probably freak out." Caleb answered, taking in the sight of his own bedraggled hair covered in grit, torn clothes in the same shape as Wren's, and several pieces of his outer skin peeled away from his shell. He looked back at the Wonder Chef with a grin. "Want to scare Martel?" he asked with a mischievous wink. Wren's pale blue eye blinked in confusion, then the expression was mirrored on his face.
"Ha ha. Why not?" he agreed and pulled out his chef's hat, "Just need to complete the image." He took the white hat into the cave for one last roll in the earth.