Fourteen || Divisions

The next morning, Rue stepped out his room feeling defeated and miserable. He hadn't had a chance to tell Klaus about what had happened to the cube – either Mel's originally taking it, or her obvious adamance about not giving it back – and he was not much enamored by the prospect. Klaus had probably already worked out that something had gone awry, as neither Rue nor Mint had visited him after leaving to speak to Mel, but that hardly made the task any easier.

Never mind that his conversation with Mel hung over him like a pall. What if she was right, if this pursuit could actually end in catastrophe? Was he willing to put the whole world at risk on the chance that he could bring her back? But on the other hand, what choice did he have? He could give up and look for another Relic, but it had taken him three years of combing a continent to finally find this one, and the idea of turning away when he was so close was almost physically sickening. He couldn't leave it like this.

He walked downstairs, thoughts whirling, and was almost out the door when he heard a voice call him; "Hey, Artema!"

He looked up to see Mint at the breakfast table, nibbling at her last piece of toast. She waved him over, but he only stepped away from the door to face her.

"Where'd you disappear to last night?" she asked. "Mrs. Cartha said you didn't come back until kind of late."

"I was trying to negotiate with Mel," he said.

"No dice?"

"Afraid not."

"Hmm." She set down the last bit of crust and stood up from the table. Midway through shoving the chair back, she stopped. "Wait, you went back? Seriously?"

"It... just kind of happened."

"I salute the sacrifice of your corneas," she said. "You didn't happen to mention any of this to Klaus?"

"Didn't get a chance."

"Damn. I was trying to avoid being there when he heard."

"Well... maybe he can help," Rue said. "He might have some idea of how to get it back or convince Mel, or maybe... maybe there was something else in Cadomon's notes? Elroy couldn't possibly be the only magician who found that Relic."

She grunted faintly. "Maybe."

"Are you done?"

"Yeah. You're not eating?"

"Not particularly hungry."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Rue led the way out the door, and he and Mint were almost to the Adler house when Mint tapped on his shoulder. Rue stopped and looked over to her, and she pointed to the forest gate.

"What's he doing here?" she asked.

Rue followed where she was pointing, and his gaze settled on a Poppul Purrel standing just inside the gate, towing behind him a small cart and looking slightly lost.

"Mel sends them out to shop," he explained. "But Elena said he usually comes in the evening." Must be making up for last night, then. He wondered if it was a different one, but as he watched he saw that the Poppul Purrel still looked a little disheveled, a patch of his hair all frayed over, the pallor of a makeshift bandage hiding beneath the dusty red.

Then the Poppul Purrel looked over in their direction, and immediately lit up. He gripped the little cart and charged toward them, surprisingly fast for such short legs, and came to a stop just a couple of feet shy of crashing. He looked briefly at Mint, but his focus settled on Rue.

"Are you Rue?" he asked.

Mint folded her arms and watched the creature curiously. "Who're you?"

"Terence?" Rue asked.

"Yes," the Poppul Purrel said. "Mel told me. You saved me?"

Now Mint's curiosity gave way to confusion, and she directed it straight to Rue. "What did you say you were doing last night?"

"Things just kind of happened," he repeated. He knelt down in front of Terence. "Are you okay to be out here?"

"Yes," he said. "Had to finish trip. Also wanted to see Rue." He gave a little bow. "Thank you."

"Oh. I-it was no problem."

"Mel wanted to thank you, too." He nodded to the cart. "She sent me with a present. For you. And for your friend."

"She..."

He stood up again and walked over to the cart. Sitting neatly in the back was a small package, wrapped in understated brown paper and a neat little twine cord. On top of it was a tightly rolled piece of parchment. He leaned in to pick up the package and almost dropped it the instant it touched his hand.

"She didn't," he said. He grasped it more tightly. "No way."

"What've you got?" Mint asked.

Rue held it up for her to see. She looked at it for a few seconds, not quite comprehending. "Yeah, thanks for clearing that right up." But before Rue needed to explain, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped slightly open. "Wait– that's the cube!"

Rue nodded.

"I thought you said you didn't convince her!"

"I-I didn't," Rue said. "She must've changed her mind. I– thank you, Terence."

Terence smiled broadly. "No trouble," he said. "Mel sent a good thank-you?"

"Yes," Rue said. "Yes she did."

"Then I'm happy you're happy," he said. "I'm going to market again. I hope to see you again. Maybe we can play, next time."

"Take care, Terence."

The Poppul Purrel bowed one last time, then hitched his cart and turned, heading toward the market square. Rue continued to stare at the packaged cube, baffled. Mint leaned over to get a better look.

"You're sure that's it?" she asked. "It's not just a box that she wrapped up. We're not going to open it and it's going to wind up being something stupid."

He handed it over to her. "The magic's there," he said. "No mistaking it."

Mint seized the cube and concentrated, and a grin spread across her face. "Oh, wow. This is it." She looked over the package and back to Rue. "What on earth did you tell her last night?"

"I don't know. She... she made it abundantly clear that she wasn't going to give this back."

Mint laughed. "Guess it doesn't matter," she said. "I'm glad I keep you around."

"Thanks," he said flatly.

Mint wheeled and marched up to Klaus' door. "C'mon," she said, already knocking as she called to him. "We gotta show this to him." She pulled her hand back and looked down at the package, contemplating the box. Then, carefully, she slipped the note out of the cord and handed it to Rue. "These are instructions, right? Please tell me they're instructions."

He took the note and unrolled it. There was a lot of text on the paper, written in neat but cramped handwriting, although he only needed to scan the first couple of paragraphs before he could be certain. "This is it," he said. He quickly twisted the paper back into a cylinder. "I can't believe..."

The door creaked open. Klaus stood behind it.

"Welcome back!" he said brightly. "I was a bit worried when you two didn't come back last night... did something happen?"

"Yes," Mint said. "And then something happened this morning."

Klaus looked at her carefully. "I'm not sure what that means." He opened the door fully and stepped aside. "But come in, tell me what you can. What did Mel say?"

"That's what I mean," Mint said, bustling past Klaus. "We went to talk to her and she refused to listen to reason. She actually took the cube from us!"

Klaus blinked. "She did what?"

Rue stepped inside and shut the door behind him. "She wasn't that unreasonable," he said. "In fairness, it sounds like we're sitting on top of something very powerful. Possibly dangerous. She was just worried."

"But that doesn't matter," Mint said. She looked over to Rue. "Because somebody convinced her to hand it back."

At which point she plunked the cube down on the table and undid the twine. The cord fell away, and then the paper, and sitting there, just the way they had left it, was the golden cube, etched with Elroy's intricate designs. Klaus stared at it for a moment, then slowly approached and plucked it from its resting place.

"Here," Rue said, handing him the paper. "She gave us instructions, too."

Klaus looked between the two objects – the parchment, the box, back and forth – his expression slowly evolving from uncertainty to a broad grin. "Marvelous," he breathed. "Absolutely... down to the cellar. We'll have a proper look at this."

He led the way, Mint and Rue just behind him, and a few minutes later he was back at his desk in his workroom, the cube sitting off to his right, the parchment held open in front of him. He was scanning the document's upper section, his finger roving across the words, and after a few minutes he turned his attention back to the cube, flipping it over a few times before settling on a particular side.

"You finished reading all that?" Mint asked.

"Just the part about opening the cube," Klaus said. "She laid out the instructions quite clearly. Then she said 'if you want to know what's inside, open it and see. Then she drew a little smiley face." He clicked something. "Give me a moment, this is somewhat deli–"

His thumb ran over the edge of one of the patterns, and suddenly the cube ignited. Klaus threw himself back into his chair; Mint and Rue could just barely shield their eyes. The cube erupted into golden light, washing the room both in its radiance and in a burst of intense magic. And then, a few seconds later, it stopped just as abruptly as it had begun. There was silence from the three as they waited for their to adjust to the light, and then the first voice pierced the veil.

"What the hell am I looking at!"

It was Mint.

Rue was not far behind. He blinked a few times, trying to clear the afterimages out of his vision, and looked first to the desk, a blank spot where the cube had stood a few seconds ago. His attention trailed away, roving downward until he was staring at the floor, and he couldn't help but echo Mint's question.

There was a boy.

A younger boy– seven, eight? He was blond, and swathed in intricately patterned gold robes, although in spite of the attention to his dress he was barefoot and otherwise unadorned. He was splayed out rather unnaturally on the floor, face down. He was not breathing.

"A child," Klaus said quietly.

"He's not moving," Mint said. She walked forward slowly, her eyes raking across the boy's body as she went. "Elroy shoved a dead kid into a box. That's all kinds of wrong."

Rue rested his chin in his hand and regarded the boy carefully. That wasn't the case, he knew that much, there was something...

"He's a doll," he said.

Mint looked over her shoulder, and Klaus looked up at him curiously. "What's that?" Klaus asked.

Rue stepped forward and took the boy by the arm, gently pulling at his wrist. "The joints don't move right," he said. "Listen, you can hear them." He demonstrated again. It was a quiet sound, a click and a whirr, audible but just barely. He looked up at Mint. "It's like the others from the atelier– a mechanical doll."

"And that," Mint said, "raises all kinds of other questions."

Klaus slid out of his seat and stepped forward, looking the boy over. Then he realized something. "Give me a moment." He shuffled off elsewhere in the cellar, and returned a few moments later with a thin mattress. He laid it out in the corner of the room and turned to Rue and Mint. "Bring him over here. We can have a better look."

Mint grimaced, but she took one arm and Rue took the other, and together they hefted the doll and moved it across the cellar, laying it flat on its back on the mattress. Klaus leaned forward and adjusted his glasses, starting to examine it more closely.

"Remarkable," he breathed. "This kind of craftsmanship would be unimaginable today. He's seamless."

"That's great," Mint said, "but why would Elroy bother making this thing?"

"Check Mel's letter."

Rue had already returned to the desk and was retrieving the letter as they spoke. He returned and handed it to Klaus, and Klaus immediately set to skimming through the rest of the text.

"It's called the Prima Doll," he said. "It's supposed to break the seal on the altar."

Mint cocked an eyebrow. "Seems like an awful lot of trouble to go to, just to design a key. So what, we take it to the altar and toss it in?"

"It's not that simple," Klaus said.

"Of course not."

"The Prima Doll isn't complete," Klaus said, scanning down the line. "She says Elroy could create the doll and the fundamental programming for it, but he had to enlist the help of his apprentices to weave the rest of the spell. When all the components are brought together, the Prima Doll should be able to break the seal."

"Does she know what we need?" Rue asked.

"She does." Klaus headed to another part of the cellar and rummaged through a stack of large papers for a moment before he returned with one of them. He laid it out on the table and weighted down the corners. "Elroy's contemporaries were the sorcerers Ginema and Yordaf. They each bound their aspect of the Prima Doll's magic to different items, and kept them hidden in their ateliers until Elroy was ready to actually use them. Elroy himself installed the Prima Doll's programming into a tiara."

"Tiara," Mint repeated. She folded her arms and looked wearily to Rue. "That's what Belle and Duke took."

"We'll have to get that back from them," Rue said. "Although we'd need to find them first."

"You can go about that," Klaus said, "or you can look into Ginema and Yordaf." He tapped the map. "I know where their ateliers are." He looked back at the letter. "And one more thing. We'll need... phantomite?" He frowned at the paper. "I've never heard of that."

"I have," Mint said. "It's mage ore. Magicians used to use it like crazy when they were making personal weapons and jewelry. It catalyzes magic." She flipped one of her rings into her hand. "My Dual Haloes, for instance, have a phantomite core."

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to melt those down for us?"

"You're hysterical," she said darkly.

"I'll have to look into that, then," Klaus said. "In the meantime, as I said, I can point you to the ateliers." Which he did, tracing along the map before coming to a stop at one of the larger islands on the southern curve of the archipelago. "Ginema worked here, in the Gamul Forest. You'll need a boat to get there, of course. A few Caronans have private vessels, if you ask around–"

"Don't worry about," Mint said. "I know where to get a boat."

"Well that simplifies things a great deal." He then moved back to the map, up to Carona. "Now, Yordaf." He paused for thought. "Sorcerer Yordaf actually kept his atelier right in Old Carona, buried under the cathedral."

"Also simple," Mint said. She nodded to Rue. "Let's split up."

He looked at her curiously. "What? Why?"

"S'obvious, isn't it?" She walked up to the map and looked it over. "We both look for whatever we need and we'll cut our time in half." She grinned. "You realize how close we are to getting this Relic, right? All that stands between us and unimaginable power is one stupid doll."

Klaus shrugged. "Sound logic."

Rue considered, then nodded. "All right," he said finally. "You already know where to get the boat. I'll stay here and head to Old Carona."

"My thoughts exactly." She tugged at one side of the map. "Can I have this? You know, to show him where we're going."

"Of course," Klaus said.

"Fantastic." Mint yanked on the edge of the map, rolled it back up, and tucked it under her arm. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Klaus thought for a moment. "Yes," he said finally. "The Gamul Forest is inhabited by the Gamulian tribe. Ginema's atelier was built near the coast, and their society is purely arboreal, so you shouldn't see them, but if you happen to run across them... just don't."

"Don't what?"

"Don't run across them."

"O-okay..." she said slowly. "I'll, uh, bear that in mind." She nodded to Klaus and Rue. "If that's everything?" Neither of them spoke up. "Then I'm off. I'll see you later."

"Best of luck," Klaus said.

"Be careful," Rue added.

Mint waved and headed back upstairs. Klaus turned his attention to Rue.

"I should probably mention this to you now," he said. "When I was doing my excavation work in Old Carona, the cathedral was always considered off-limits and highly dangerous."

"Did it collapse?"

"On the contrary," Klaus said. "The few people with permission to go inside said it was pristine. I never went in myself, of course. Even the few who were authorized entry only did so once or twice. They said it felt... wrong."

Rue tilted his head. "How so?"

"They could never explain more than that." Klaus pushed himself out of the chair, balancing with the table. "What I would suggest is, before you go, to go to the town church – the building on top of the harbor gate. Speak with Pastor Doyle. He knows more about the cathedral than I do."

Rue felt a curious crawling sensation under his skin. "I see," he said. "Thank you, Doctor."

"And please be careful," Klaus added. "I know you– both of you– can handle yourselves, but–"

"We'll be fine," Rue said, and gave Klaus a faint smile. "Don't worry about us, sir."

"I will anyway."

Rue headed back to the stairs, stopping just before he ascended. He looked over his shoulder, to Klaus poring over Mel's letter, then, slowly, to the Prima Doll, laid out lifelessly on the mattress. Then he headed upstairs.

Elena was there.

"Morning, Rue!" she said brightly.

"Hey, Elena," he said.

"Did you see Terence this morning? He came into town to finish his shopping. He must be doing good for Mel to let him come on his own!"

"He is," Rue said. "He came by to see me."

"Oh, that's so nice." She looked at him curiously. "Are you two doing something? I just Mint rush out of here."

"Your dad's got us on some important work," he said.

"Oh." She looked a bit crestfallen.

"What's wrong?"

"I was kinda hoping I could maybe kind of hang out with you two." She spoke quickly, somewhat blurring the words into each other. "I haven't really gotten to thank Mint for helping me a few days ago and now you helped Terence and I want to do something special and it's such a nice day out..."

"I'm sorry," he said. "We've both got something to– it's okay," he said quickly. "We shouldn't be gone too long. We can do something this evening. All right?"

She nodded, but didn't look entirely convinced.

"I promise," Rue said. "Now I've got to get going so I can be back in time, okay?"

"M'kay."

"Okay," he said, trying to sound authoritative and confident. "I'll see you tonight, Elena."

She nodded without speaking, and he moved past her. He felt a little niggling guilt about it, but it couldn't be helped; Mint was right. They were too close to stop or be distracted. And with any luck he was right, too, and they would be back in time for him to keep his promise.

In the meantime, he had liturgical matters to attend to.

. .

In the meantime, Mint was making her way through Carona Forest at a double-quick pace. She came upon the little side path and turned off; she had to slow down as she made her way through the less traveled route, but she remembered coming through here before and heading back was easy enough.

After a few minutes she emerged into sunlight. The path ahead of her wound downward, merging into the grassy field which itself eventually merged into the water of the ocean. It was early yet, and the water cast off a powerful, dancing light as the sun reflected off its surface. Mint actually had to stop for a moment to allow her eyes to adjust.

From somewhere at the end of the path, she heard a high-pitched barking sound, and looked down.

"Hey, Johnny Wolf!" she called. She proceeded down the pathway and stopped right at the end, where she leaned down and scratched the little dog behind his ears. Johnny Wolf responded by licking her hand.

"Johnny Wolf!" another voice called. "You guarding the camp?"

Johnny Wolf's ears perked up and he turned around, barking in the direction of the second voice. He took off running back down the path, and Mint followed his trajectory until the little dog came to a stop, sitting down heavily and proudly at Rod's side. Rod reached down to pet him, then looked up to Mint.

"Well," he said. "Hello again."

"Hey," Mint said. "I got a favor to ask."

"Not much for conversation today, are you?" he asked, but he had a good-humored smile on his lips. "Go on."

She crossed the field to approach him and held up the map. "I need a lift," she said, indicating the island that Klaus had shown her. "Can I borrow your boat?"

Rod stiffened.

"Excuse me?" he asked quietly. "May you borrow my what?"

Mint lowered the map. "Boat," she repeated. "Seafaring vessel. Thing that goes on water. The thing you used to drive us over here."

"She," Rod said, "is not a boat. Don't ever refer to my baby as a boat."

"Whatever," Mint said. "Point is, I need a ride over water and your not-boat is probably the best way to go about it."

Rod crossed his arms. "She is certainly the best way to go about it," he said. "But of course you don't imagine I'll let you go for free?"

"Eh, I tried," she said. But, she reasoned, she was going to be filthy rich in a matter of days, when they broke the seal and dug up the Relic; parting with a few coins now would be more than worth the inevitable reward. She reached for her coin-purse. "What do you want?"

"Put that away," Rod said. "I don't want money."

Mint stopped and looked at him, slowly, carefully. "Really," she said.

"Really," he responded. He gave Johnny Wolf one last pat on the head, swiped the map from Mint's hands, then turned around and headed toward the opposite side of the fields, raising his hand and indicating that Mint should follow. She did so warily, keeping her distance, as he continued to speak. "Your story last night... I didn't realize you had that in you. Got my heart pumping, you know?"

He approached the edge of the field, where the rocky walls formed a shallow cliff leading up the forest. As Mint continued to walk, she realized that there was something there. The rock's jutted at an odd angle, and when she moved fully past it she saw that they opened into a broad, low-ceilinged cave. When Rod walked in, he had to duck slightly to keep from scraping his head against the rocks.

"It's rare to find somebody so hotly passionate about what they're doing," Rod said. He only needed to step a few feet into the cave before he reached a standing rack. He folded up the map and slipped it onto one of the shelves, and in exchange pulled two objects off of it. When he returned to sunlight, Mint realized that they were short swords– fine but somewhat broad blades, ideal for sliding between ribs.

"I'm not sure I approve of this," Mint said.

Rod laughed. "Relax!" he said. "I want to fight you."

"You want to what."

He laughed again, more heartily. "I don't think I properly introduced myself," he said. He pointed one of the swords toward Mint, resting the other blade flat on his shoulder. "I am Rod the Blade Star, swordsman and master weapon smith! And I challenge you, Mint, to a duel of heart!"

She stared at him for a few seconds. "I... don't know what that means."

"It's simple," he said. "A warrior's heart burns brightest when they fight for what they believe you. I believe in my weapons, in my art. You believe in your pursuits. I assume this little trip is to find what you've come here looking for?"

"You assume right."

"Then you will fight with your all. You will refuse to let me standing your way. Your heart sparked in your words last night. I want to see what it can do."

Mint looked at him.

He was serious.

She smiled.

Fine.

She reached behind her and removed one of the rings. They gleamed brilliant gold, their power ignited, and the magic surged through her veins. She had to bite back a manic laugh as it wrapped around and through her. "This is a weird way to make friends," she said, "but yeah, all right. Let's fight."

Rod waited a few seconds, watching Mint carefully, and then suddenly snapped into action. He shot forward, faster than Mint had expect him to, and the silver blade was singing through the air. She barely ducked before it struck against her head, and had to throw herself back when the second blade came whipping through the air just behind it.

She skidded against the grass, tried to gather herself, but Rod gave her no quarter. He lashed out again, and Mint just managed to raise one of her rings and catch the blade with it before it made contact. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other blade driving toward her chest and wrenched the ring, taking the sword – and Rod's arm – and Rod – with it. He twisted his way out easily, but it was enough to throw off his aim, and sword went wide, missing her by appreciable inches.

She yanked herself away and danced back, quickly assessing the field. She didn't have time to do any proper spellcasting, Rod was simply too fast for her, but–

She slammed the Dual Halos against each other. The gold spark ignited and flared, unleashing a blinding light immediately around Mint. It was hers to command, though; she twisted the light itself away from her, bright but not debilitating, and threw herself forward while Rod had to take a step back, shielding his eyes from the nova.

She whipped one of the rings forward. He snapped his arm over and tilted his blade, sliding the sword into the ring and yanking it toward himself. Mint was thrown off her feet, and before she could fully react – to counter, or even to let go of the halo – Rod brought his other arm around and slammed the flat of the blade against the side of her head.

She let go of the ring and hit the ground, dazed.

"How the– hell– did you–"

"You put your all into an attack," Rod said, "but you telegraph too much. Even the blind know you're coming."

He flipped the ring down, looping it around his arm, and swung the other blade down toward Mint. She shoved off and rolled to the side, and the blade sank into the earth where she had been lying. Rod yanked it back and turned to face her as Mint scrambled back to her feet.

"Is that all?" Rod asked.

Mint wanted to say yes. He had stolen one of the Dual Halos, and she needed both of them to take full advantage of their magic; the two of them together were worth far more than both of them separated.

But her passage to the Relic was on the line here. She wasn't giving that up.

And Rod was giving her an opportunity.

She felt into the earth beneath his feet and threw out her arms, the remaining halo leaving a trail of light in its wake. The earth shifted and groaned and buckled. It wasn't much, but it didn't need to be; Rod's stance was immediately compromised, he was taken by surprise, and Mint tied some of her own magic energy to the ring and hurled it at Rod.

He brought the sword back up and hooked it inside the ring before it could hit him, but Mint had been counting on that. She gripped the other end of the thread of magic and yanked back, hooking the end of the ring under the hilt of the sword. Rod cried out in surprise, his grip loosened, and the sword was yanked out of his hand. Mint caught the halo as it returned to her, and the sword fell uselessly to the ground with a dull thud. She flipped the ring over her hand.

"No," she said. She caught the ring in her hand and threw herself at Rod again. One ring wasn't nearly as good as two, but she could still make use of it.

She was channeling energy again, drawing out the air and twisting threads to generate heat. She held the ring in front of her and forced the magic through its metal, and the ring exploded into a halo of flame. She slashed with it, striking down, sideways, forward, but Rod was too fast for her, easily dancing out of range of her wild blows. She stopped, held the ring out in front of her, and with another burst of force she severed her connection with the flame and shoved it away from her, sending a broad scythe of fire lancing through the air.

She looked up to see if it had hit Rod only to watch it strike the far end of the field, dissipating against the stone wall. She almost wheeled, searching for where Rod had gone, when something slammed into her back and sent her crashing into the ground. Something yanked the second halo out of her hand, and she forced herself to flip onto her back.

Rod stood there, both of the Dual Halos in the crook of his elbow. He smiled. "As I said, you telegraph."

He sheathed his remaining blade and reached down. Mint glowered at him, but still took his hand. He helped her to her feet, and once she was standing he removed the rings and handed them back to her.

"A bit clumsy," he said, "but you're still young. You have good instincts."

"So what now?" she grumbled, dusting herself off. "You're not gonna give me a ride on your thing that isn't a boat?"

He laughed. "No," he said, "I'll take you. I didn't expect you to win, but I needed to feel the fire of your heart. You want this badly enough? Let's go."

She stared at him. "What, seriously?"

"Seriously."

She shouted in triumph.

"Ah," Rod added. "On condition."

Mint stopped and settled, suddenly sober. "Wh-what's that?"

"My baby," he said. "I'm going to take you to that island, and by the time I bring you back I expect you to have learned her right and proper name."

Mint exhaled, flooded with relief. "I can do that."

"We'll see." He turned and headed back to the cave, picking up the discarded sword in the process. "I'll need a bit to get her warmed up. Come back in ten, fifteen minutes, we'll be ready to go."

Mint nodded. She checked herself quickly for any lasting damage – nothing serious, she was just sore – and decided to head back up the pathway and make a pit stop back in Carona. She would probably be gone most of the day, she realized. She should probably pack a lunch.