Forty || Unrest

By the time Mint arrived, Belle and Duke were already inside the house, sitting at the central table, each armed with a cup of tea and a small tray of sweets between them. Mint released Prima and encouraged him to start bothering the two of them immediately.

"Thanks," Belle grunted. "I love babysitting."

"Fancy Mel is with your sister, in her room," Duke said, nodding toward the back of the house. "If you wanted to check on her."

"Why the hell would I want to do that?" Mint asked.

"Basic human connection?" Belle asked.

"Naw."

Still, she didn't bother hanging out in the guest room. Nonchalantly – perhaps a little too nonchalantly – she made her way to where Duke had indicated and stepped into Mel's room.

Maya, for her part, was awake again, but clearly drowsy– a very distinct kind of drowsy that Mint suspected had little to do with whatever had happened to her in the tower. As confirmation, she saw a little tray holding a tea set on the table, and when Mint reached for one of the cups Mel spoke without looking up: "Anything but the green one."

"Drugged?" Mint inquired.

"It's a painkiller," Mel said, "and a mild sedative. She was hurting when she woke up. I gave her one of my unguents, but it'll be a bit before she's healed completely. The damage she took is of a particularly impressive magic stock."

"How impressive?" Mint asked. Then: "How bad is it?"

"It's not," Mel said. "It would just take a while to heal." She looked over her shoulder. "Concerned?"

"Of course not."

Mel smiled. "No, of course not." She turned her attention back to Maya. "This particular type of magic is something I haven't seen in quite some time. Quite some time," she added, pressing the emphasis. "It reminds me very strongly of, say..."

"An old encounter you had?" Mint asked.

"Well, yes," Mel said. "Although I was going to say it reminded me of the significant magical explosion that just occurred about an hour ago."

"Oh. Right. Yeah." She blinked. "You felt that all the way out here?"

"A Relic exploded," Mel said. "I'd be surprised if Wylaf couldn't feel it."

Mint tilted her head. "You know what it was?"

"I think it's a safe guess," Mel said. "That level of magical potential being released all at once... not many things can cause that. Am I wrong?"

"Nope."

"So the Book has been destroyed."

Mint cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah," she said, frowning slightly. "How'd you know it was the Book?"

Mel stood up and turned fully to face Mint. "Weren't you the one railing against your sister for stealing your birthright and chasing you out of the kingdom via magically conjured pumpkins?"

"Oh. Right."

Mel looked briefly over her shoulder, nodded to herself, and then moved past Mint. "Come," she said. "Maya will be fine. Tell me what you know about what happened."

"Sounds like you already know," Mint said. "Most of it, I mean."

"Where's your friend?"

"Rue?"

"That's the one."

"He went back to town."

Mel made a low hum in the back of her throat and pressed on. They passed out of the room and back to the meeting table. Belle and Duke were still there, although Belle was doing her best not to look up and Duke had turned in his seat. It didn't take long to see why; Prima was sitting in the corner of the room, a broad smile plastered on his face, as Mel's fuzzy little bat-like helpers flitted and danced around his head. One of them had taken position on his shoulder and promptly fallen asleep; even from where she was standing, Mint could swear she heard the thing purring.

Mel tilted her head. "This is the Prima Doll?"

"Hm?" Mint came back to her senses and looked up. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I was going to ask–"

"Yes," Mel said.

Mint faltered, a bit taken aback. "Oh. Okay, that was easy."

"They already informed me of the idea," Mel said. "And I approve of it. I'll attend to your sister and keep Prima safe." She stepped forward, smiling. "Seems the kids have already taken a shine to him."

Prima's eyes flicked over to them, and he almost made to move before stopping. His gaze went to the creature draped over his shoulder, and he relaxed immediately and looked back to Mel.

"Hello!" he said brightly. "You're Fancy Mel? I'd, um, come to say hi, but..."

"That's quite all right," Mel said. She moved around the table and toward Prima. "And you're Prima, yes? We've met. Kind of."

"Oh?" Then he perked up. "Oh, yeah! Mint said you figured out the cube? Thank you!"

Mel's smile broadened.

"Well, you turned out all right, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mint said. "He's pretty okay."

"Such high praise," Mel said. She pressed her hand against Prima's other shoulder. "We'll talk properly in a few minutes, okay? I just need to verify a few things with Mint."

Prima nodded. "Yeah, 'course."

She nodded back, rose, and returned to the table.

"So," Mel said, "maybe you can enlighten me a little more? About why Princess Maya was here, with the Book, in the first place?"

Mint did so, quickly relaying to Mel the sequence of events from the announcement in town to the raising of the tower. Mel did not interrupt, allowing Mint – with the occasional comment from Belle or Duke – to finish off the recitation. When she was done, Mel was quiet for a few seconds, processing everything Mint had said.

"This... Doll Master," she said finally. "He already knew about the Relic?"

"Yeah." Mint thought back. "All about it, apparently. Sounds like he told Rue its name. The..." She frowned. "Began with a 'D'."

"Dewprism," Mel said.

"Yeah." Mint frowned. "How did–"

"Tell me about him," Mel interjected.

Mint faltered, and had to back up her thoughts slightly. "He's– he was the archmage of the kingdom. Very powerful sorcerer. Never knew where he came from. He had Dad's confidence, though, and the confidence of a lot of the Council."

Mel sat down at the table and started pouring herself a cup of tea. "I'd gathered that," she said. "White hair?"

Mint blinked. "What? Er... yeah."

Belle spoke up. "We figured he and Rue are related."

"I see." Mel took a sip from the teacup, her eyes closed in thought. She set the saucer and cup back down and opened her eyes, looking quickly across the gathering. "And he still insisted on stealing the Prima Doll..."

"And then giving him back," Mint added. "Don't know what was up with that."

"I don't have the amulet," Prima piped up. "He couldn't do anything with me, so..."

"So he just gave you back?" Mint asked. "That doesn't make much sense."

"No need to dwell on it," Mel said. "I think your first concern should be making certain he doesn't get near the Dewprism. To that end..." She nodded to Prima. "I'll keep him safe here. Don't worry about that. You all concentrate on getting this 'Doll Master' off the island."

She stood up and headed into room. There was a sound of her rummaging around a bit, and a few moments later she returned, holding a couple of little bottles. She handed them over to Mint.

"Um..."

"They're healing elixir," Mel said. "It sounds like you used up what I already gave to Elena, so you're now responsible for restocking her supply."

Mint accepted the little bottles and tucked them into her change-purse. "You think she'll need them?"

"I think it would be foolish not to have them," she said. "I also think it's time you headed back to town."

There was an odd edge to Mel's voice, and Mint couldn't help but pick up on it. "What, so soon?" she asked. "You didn't even offer me tea."

"Then you should have been here earlier," Mel said.

Mint frowned. "No, seriously. What's up?"

"All of you are here," Mel said. "How many does that leave watching over the town?"

Mint sighed. "Right, of course. Belle, Duke. Hexagon. Now."

"Yeah, yeah," Belle muttered. She finished her drink, slipped away from the table, and was halfway to the door when she came to a stop and glared at Mint. "Wait. Since when were you in charge?"

. . .

The gates into town were still closed when Rue and Mira arrived, and she had to let them in via the service door. Entering the town proper through the little alley was probably for the best; the instant Rue walked inside he was overwhelmed by the low roar of conversation.

It seemed most of the town was out, gathering in town square or down the central road, their collective gaze turned upward and over the forest gate. Rue hazarded a glance, and sure enough he could see it even from here; the twisted form of the ersatz tower gleamed in the sun.

"Quite a ruckus when that went up," Mira said. "We could feel the power all the way here."

"I guess that's not surprising," he said.

"Do you feel better?"

He considered. "A bit," he said finally.

"Do you want me to see you to the inn?"

Rue shook his head. "No, I wasn't... I wanted to talk to Klaus, actually."

"I can relay what happened," Mira said. "You look like you need rest."

"Probably, but I– I'm a bit wound up," he said finally. "I don't think sitting in my room is going to help much of anything."

Mira looked him over, then nodded. "All right."

They reached the Adler household, Mira leading the way inside. Rue shut the door immediately behind them, and Mira moved through the messy shop front and into the kitchen, where Klaus had moved to. He still looked rough and exhausted, but he looked up when he heard footsteps and smiled at Mira.

"You're back," he breathed. He moved to get up from the chair, winced, and tried again anyway. Mira reached him and pressed her hand to his shoulder, forcing him back down.

"You don't need to get up."

He didn't protest. He slipped back into the chair, leaned heavily on the table, and Mira stepped aside. Rue came forward to take her place, and Klaus smiled.

"Good to see you," he said.

Rue nodded. "Are you okay, Doctor?"

"Yes, yes, I'm quite fine. Did you..." He looked behind and beyond Rue and trailed off, his expression slowly folding on itself. He hesitated, closed his eyes, forced himself to finish the question. "Where's Prima?"

"He's fine," Rue said. "We got him out."

Klaus looked up.

"Mint took him to Mel. I thought he'd be safer there."

Klaus exhaled. His smile returned. "Good," he said. "And... good thinking. You're right. If there's anywhere on the island he'd be safest, it's with her." His relief, however, quickly disappeared, and his smile faltered. Klaus looked up, making steady eye contact with Rue. "I take it they're going to be after him."

"Very likely."

"Hm."

"I don't know what they're going to do next," Rue said. "If they figure out where Prima is, they may try to take him by force. But they can't do anything with him without the amulet–"

"Which is still in the basement," Klaus said.

"–and they might come here to look for it," Rue finished. "They might come here to look for him, too. The whole situation is still... fragile."

"Of course," Klaus said. "What happened?"

Rue hesitated.

"Quite a bit," he said finally. "The, um, the basics are that Doll Master has separated himself from the Kingdom and betrayed Maya. He's acting on his own now– or, well, without the backing of East Heaven. I think Trap Master and Psycho Master are still with him."

Klaus nodded.

"And the– the Book is gone."

Klaus was quiet for a moment, processing the statement. "You mean the Book of Cosmos."

"Yes."

"That's... the Book? East Heaven's most power–"

"I know what it is," Rue said quickly. "Or... was. I know."

Klaus opened his mouth to speak, reconsidered the question, and pulled back. "I see," he said. "So... I suppose that... eliminates one problem."

"I doubt Doll Master would have used it to begin with," Rue said. "Or that he was even capable of doing so."

"Hm." He leaned back in the chair, briefly lost in thought. "So where does all of this leave us?"

Rue shrugged.

"In a bad place," Mira said. "I can't speak for what you're dealing with" – she nodded to Rue – "but the town's in a state. They don't know what's going on and I don't think it would help much if they did. Mel's the only real exposure most of us have to this level of magic. Seeing all of this happening..."

"I've heard them out there," Klaus said. "They're scared."

"There's some clamoring to evacuate on the next ship," Mira said. "But that won't be in for a couple of days. I... I think they'll be fine in the interim, some of them are trying to hold the town together, but..."

"You've already been attacked," Rue said. "Publicly." He looked over his shoulder, in the direction of the shuttered windows. "I don't them. This is... a lot to handle, all at once."

A door opened deeper in the house, and all three of them looked back to see Elena emerging from the next room. She looked quickly between them all, gave herself a few seconds of silence, and then spoke, keeping her voice neutral; "Is Prima okay?"

"He's fine," Rue said. "He's got to be with Mel by now, he'll be–"

Elena suddenly shot forward; Rue barely jumped out of the way before she barreled into him. He spun, but it was Mira who ran after her. "Elena!" she shouted. "What are you doing?"

Elena was already ripping the door open. "I'm gonna go see him!" she shouted. "He must've been so scared, I gotta–" She didn't bother finishing the sentence. She bolted out the door. Mira gave chase as far as the front room before she stopped herself, exhaling.

"She'll be with Mel," Klaus reminded her gently. "She'll be fine."

"They won't be ready to do anything for a bit, I think," Rue said. "Doll Master got a bit battered. He'll need a little time to recover."

Mira turned. "I know," she said. "Just..."

"This has gotten out of hand," Klaus said. "I know. I'm sorry."

"There's no need for you to apologize..."

"It's my research," Klaus said flatly. "If I hadn't started looking into this–"

"Don't say that," Rue said sharply. "Doll Master dedicated his life to finding this Relic. He would have come here eventually, with or without your research."

Klaus closed his eyes and nodded. "Of course," he said. "Of course, I'm sorry, this is all just... this is far than I ever expected..." He sighed and massaged his temples. "So what next?"

Rue shook his head. "I don't know," he said.

The sentiment was universal. For several seconds, nobody spoke.

"Do you mind," Rue said finally, "if I... stay here for a little bit? Maybe, um, look at some of the stuff you gathered?"

"Of course not," Klaus said. "Do you think you might find something useful?"

"It can't hurt."

"Go on, then," Klaus said. "You know where everything is. I left notes on most of the things I've deciphered, but if you need me to help translate anything, I'll be here."

"Thank you."

Rue didn't wait any longer. He went straight for the basement and disappeared down the stairs.

. . .

Rue didn't have a clue if there was anything even remotely relevant in the documents that they had gathered, but it didn't matter. He wasn't looking for anything specific; he just needed to occupy his mind with something. Any time active thought receded he went immediately back to what Doll Master had told him, and from there it was mental paralysis, a constant loop of consideration, implication, contemplation, and base frustration.

He couldn't figure out what to think. He didn't know what to do.

So he did nothing in particular.

He shifted through old papers, tried to make sense of them, failed, shifted them back. He went through the notes Klaus had taken about everything they had done so far; he went over the papers Mel had given them regarding the cube; he dredged up the papers that they had brought back to Carona, which proved beyond useless as Rue couldn't make any more sense of them than he ever had and Klaus hadn't had an opportunity to look at them at all. He went over old journals, he stared at maps, he began yanking books at random off the shelves and reading through things entirely unrelated to what they were doing.

Anything at all. Anything to keep thinking.

Movement helped, but not much. He was exhausted, he needed sleep. At some point in the middle of staring at a gaggle of letters that had long since ceased to actually register as words, he closed his eyes, and the next time he opened them he found himself splayed across the desk, his eyes gummy, his mouth dry, and his joints stiff. He blinked a few times and shoved away from the desk. His neck protested painfully.

"Geez, guy, it's about time."

He twisted in the chair and looked behind him. Mint was standing on the stairs, leaning on the banister, grinning at him. She looked a little blurry. He blinked a few times, squinted, and rubbed at his eyes.

"How long have you... been there?"

"Here? Right here, contiguously? Maybe a couple of minutes."

He stared at her, his brain sluggishly trying to follow what she was implying. "So... I... don't know what that means."

"I got back here, to this house, a couple of hours ago."

"A couple of–" His neck twinged. He winced. "How long was I out?"

"A little before I got in, apparently. But hey, I don't blame you." She stepped down the stairs and headed toward him. "You kind of destroyed a Relic today. Given how you've reacted to that kind of thing before – you know, the whole copious bleeding thing?" She pointed to her forehead. "I'm surprised you made it back to town before fainting."

"We killed him."

Mint cocked an eyebrow. "You... who?" She blinked. "I think you're still out of it."

"No, I– yes, probably." He pressed his palm against his forehead, grinding skin against the crystal. It hurt, and the pain helped to jolt him away. "That's how the Book was destroyed. I– damaged it, badly, but Atenacius was still living in the Book and we had to finish destroying it to leave. And when the Book was destroyed, Atenacius would die. So I killed him. We fought him and I broke the Book and it killed him."

She stared at him for a few seconds, her expression changing from bemusement to concern. "You, uh... you sure that was a thing that happened?"

He toyed with the idea of the answer being 'no', but shook it off. "How do you think Maya was hurt?" he asked. "From that fight. Fighting Atenacius."

Mint remained silent, her face blank. "So... what? Is that what's bothering you? You murdered a guy who was already dead?"

He made a noise that could be vaguely construed as a laugh. "No," he said. "No, it... not at all." Although now that he was thinking about it, should he have? He tried to think on how he should respond and realized that he really had nothing. Was he missing something? Was there supposed to be an emotion there?

Mint was suddenly behind him, leaning on the back of the chair, staring down at him. "Hey, you okay?"

"I'll be fine."

"That's really cute of you to use the future tense when I asked you a present tense question. So I guess that answers that."

"I am fine," he said sharply.

"Oh, yeah, I'm convinced." She moved beside him, leaning on the desk. "What exactly happened up there?"

"I told you," he said, "we had to kill Atenacius. We got caught in the... some kind of spell from the Book of Cosmos and Atenacius refused to stop it, so we had to stop it ourselves."

"We."

"Maya. Doll Master. We were all caught in it."

Mint frowned. "And?"

He looked up. "And what?"

"What else?"

"That's what happened," Rue said, his voice hardening. "Mint, these last few days have not been kind to me. I– you're right. I annihilated a Relic. The pride of East Heaven Kingdom and I tore it apart, and I had to kill an Aeon to do it. Maybe– maybe– everything that's been happening has been kind of stressful."

He collapsed against the desk and buried in face against his arms. Exhaustion struck him again, something far deeper than physical.

"Yeah, all right," Mint said. "I guess I'll give you that one."

They were both quiet for a few seconds, and then Mint started up. "So Mel said–"

"He's my brother."

Mint stopped short and looked at him. The words were muffled, only half-heard, and it took her a few seconds to process them, then another few seconds to make sense of it.

"Woah, wait. Doll Master?"

Rue didn't respond, and he didn't move. Mint waited for some kind of response before realizing that was exactly what he was giving her.

"Oh. Okay." She looked away. "Guess we all lost that bet." She scratched the back of her neck. "So... that must be pretty weird."

He chuckled hollowly. "Maybe a little."

"Is... that what this is about?" she asked.

"Maybe... a little." His words were slow and very deliberate. Mint nodded.

"All right," she said. "I guess I can see how you might be a little conflicted about that. But hey–"

"Excuse me."

Mint turned toward the stairs. Rue found himself momentarily incapable of looking up, but he recognized Klaus' voice straightaway. Mint spoke for both of them.

"What's wrong?"

Klaus made his way a few more steps down the stairs and stopped. His stance was artificially rigid, his expression dangerously neutral. Rue couldn't see him, but he heard as much in the tone of his voice; even, but tensed.

"Rue," Klaus said. "You recall that Elena went out to check on Prima?"

And there was that strained edge.

Rue forced himself to sit upright and looked over his shoulder. "Yeah," he said. A pulse of cold burst through his veins. "Isn't she back yet?"

"Mira went to look for her," he said. "It's been almost an hour."

Neither Rue nor Mint said anything.

"We've got guards along the wall," he continued. "They're reporting... something unusual in the forest."

"Unusual how?"

"They don't hear anything," Klaus said. "Animals and monsters are silent. There's... something moving around out there, they said they can hear the foliage, but it doesn't sound like it should. I'm..."

His voice went thick. He swallowed the words and stopped speaking.

Rue and Mint exchanged a glance. Mint held out her hand.

"C'mon," she said.

Rue took it and pulled himself upright.

"You up for this, pretty-boy?"

It was an unnecessary question. There was only one answer.

"Let's go."