"A bit messy" didn't BEGIN to cover the state of Apple Man's house.
Kyla looked around the house's single room, eyes wide in astonishment. She
had never seen her father's house before. From what Apple Man had told her,
he and Kyla's mother, Nana Quinn, had moved into an apartment together in
Fourside, the large city to the east of Twoson. After Kyla's mother passed
away, Apple Man took Kyla and moved to Jeff's laboratory in Winters instead
of returning to his old home.
The room was so tiny that it felt crowded with everyone in it. The floor
was covered with various, random bits of machinery and other junk.
Discarded blueprints littered the table in one corner, and the chair nearby
was covered with scattered notes. In another corner, a stack of science
books had been thrown into a pile, while the bookshelf that was supposed to
hold them stood empty. In the third corner, there was an old garbage can
with nothing in it. Everything in the house was covered with a layer of
dust.
Kyla looked for a bed, but there was no bed in sight. Instead, her mouth
opened in surprise as her eyes locked on a park bench that sat against the
wall. Most of the dust had been brushed off of it, and Zain now lay on it,
still unconscious. Sasha sat on the floor next to the bench.
As the others walked off and found places to sit in the room, Kyla turned to
her father, her green eyes staring at him, not knowing what to think. Apple
Man noticed, and he looked away shamefully. "Yeah... This is how I used to
live, Kyla," he said. "I used to be really poor. It was through sheer luck
that I had a house to live in." He looked around the room. "After your
mother died, I couldn't bear to try and raise you in a place like this, but
the only place I could go was Jeff's lab... And then I couldn't raise you
anyway." He sighed and turned away from her, hanging his head. "I must be
the world's worst father..."
Kyla shook her head. "No, you're not, Dad," she told him. "You always did
what you thought was best for me; there are a lot of fathers who can't say
that about their children." She walked around Apple Man and faced him. "I
don't care how much money you have, or how you lived." She smiled at him.
"The only thing that matters is that you loved me enough to do what you
thought was right." Kyla hugged him. "I love you, Dad."
Apple Man hugged her back, and Kyla could tell that he was doing his hardest
to keep from crying. "Oh, Kyla..." he said. "Those words make me richer
than any amount of money ever would."
"So here's the deal," said Jeff. Everyone was facing him, listening to
what he had to say. "Before we had to escape the lab, we managed to find
seven of the Sanctuaries with the scanning equipment. The problem is, three
of those seven were the ones that we've already found: Lumina Pillar, the
Tranquil Zone, and Lode Spire. This means that there's still one more out
there, and we have no idea where it is."
Kato, who sat cross-legged in front of Jeff, spoke up. "That is fine," he
said. "We can worry about the final Sanctuary when the time comes. In the
meantime, we should focus our efforts on finding the four whose location we
DO know."
>From where she sat next to Zain's body, Sasha interrupted. "The Sanctuaries
can wait," she declared. "First, we have to find a way to help Zain."
"I concur," Guy agreed. "Not only is he our friend, he is also our leader.
He requires our help."
Karen looked at Jeff. "Jeff, before we had to leave your lab, you said you
knew someone who might be able to help Zain," she recalled. "Who were you
talking about?"
Jeff sat back and adjusted his glasses. "Oh, that's right," he remembered.
"In all the commotion, I'd completely forgotten."
He looked at all of them. "30 years ago, during our journey, we ended up in
Fourside after crossing the Dusty Dunes Desert. It was before we met Poo.
While we were in Fourside, Paula was abducted by the servants of Giygas,
leaving only Ness and myself."
Jeff sighed. "I'm not going to go into everything that happened during that
time, but eventually, during our search for Paula, we met a man named Talah
Rama. He was extraordinarily wise, and he knew all kinds of things. It was
because of his help that we were finally able to find Paula again and
continue our journey."
Sasha leaned forward excitedly. "So he might be able to help Zain?" she
asked.
Jeff shrugged. "I can't say for certain," he replied. "In fact, I don't
even know if Talah Rama is still alive; he was an old man 30 years ago. But
he's the only one I can think of who might be able to help us now." His
gaze shifted to Kato. "The only other person I can think of is the Star
Master, whom Poo studied under, but I wouldn't know where to even BEGIN
looking for him, even if HE'S still alive."
Kato nodded. "The old man who raised me sometimes spoke of the Star
Master," he said. "It is said that he was the first to master the power of
the Starstorm, which he taught to my father. But I know nothing of how to
find him either; from what I was told, the Star Master appears when he
chooses to."
Jeff smiled slightly, remembering. "He certainly did."
Sasha stood up. "If Talah Rama might be able to help Zain, then we have to
talk to him," she stated. "Where can we find him, Jeff?"
Jeff looked at her. "30 years ago, he lived in an underground cave in the
Dusty Dunes Desert, to the east of here," he answered. "If he's still
alive, and if he hasn't moved since then, that's where you'll find him."
"Then that's where I'm going," said Sasha decisively.
Guy stood up with her. "I shall accompany you, Sasha," he said.
"Me too," Kyla said, standing up as well.
Everyone else started to stand up, but then Kato spoke. "It is true that we
must help Zain, but it is also true that we must continue to acquire the
Sanctuaries," he explained. "I suggest that we split into two groups. One
group will take Zain to find Talah Rama, while the other group will seek out
the next Sanctuary."
Everybody looked at him. "...That's actually not a bad idea," said Apple
Man.
Karen, however, was not thrilled by the prospect. "What are you talking
about?" she asked Kato. "Every Sanctuary we've been to has been guarded by
a powerful monster! If we split up, we won't have our full strength to
fight those monsters!"
Deckard answered her. "I think we can beat those monsters," he said.
"We've been growing stronger with every battle. We're already stronger than
we were at the last Sanctuary we visited." He turned to Jeff. "My only
question is, who would form each group?"
"That's simple enough," Jeff replied. "Those of you who have already found
their Sanctuaries would take Zain to Talah Rama, and the others, who still
have yet to find their Sanctuaries, would go to the next Sanctuary. That
would split us in half."
Karen still wasn't convinced. "That doesn't guarantee that the next
Sanctuary is for one of that group, though," she reminded them. "There's
only seven of us; the next Sanctuary could be for the eighth member whom we
haven't found yet." She looked at Zain's body. "Or it could be for Zain,
even. Without them, going to the next Sanctuary might all be for
nothing."
Kato was getting tired of this argument, which someone seemed to bring up
every time. "Karen, it was you yourself who told everyone before that we
cannot afford to hesitate," he snapped sharply. "As we sit in this house
arguing, Giaguo comes closer and closer to achieving his goals. I, for one,
do not intend to allow that." He looked at everyone. "Now, our topmost
priorities are to find some way to help Zain, and to acquire the remaining
Sanctuaries. It will be fastest and most efficient to do both at once."
Karen averted her eyes, stung by the truth of Kato's words. Back in
Troisemburg, she had scolded everyone for being uncertain, and now she was
being a hypocrite. "...You're right, Kato," she finally answered. "We're
going to have to split up."
"Very well," said Kato. "I am going to mostly follow Jeff's recommendations
on who should be in each group. However, the group that continues to search
for the Sanctuaries will be in greater danger, so that group should be
larger." He looked around at everyone. "Therefore, the group that
continues to search for the Sanctuaries will consist of: Karen, Deckard,
Kyla, and Guy."
Nobody seemed to have a problem with this, so Kato turned to Sasha. "Sasha,
you and I will take Zain and seek out Talah Rama," he stated.
Sasha nodded slowly. "Okay."
Jeff looked at Kato in a new light. The boy was only 12 years old, but he
had confidently stepped forward to fill the position of leadership that had
been left vacant by Zain. He will make a good emperor someday, Jeff
thought, just like his father before him.
Standing up, Jeff looked at Apple Man, then at everyone else. "Apple Man
and I are going to stay here," he said. "Since we lost our lab in Winters,
this house will be our temporary base of operations."
"That is a wise choice," Kato agreed. "It will be good for us to have a
place to come back to, should we encounter any trouble."
"Exactly," said Jeff. He turned to Kyla. "Kyla, where is the Sanctuary
that's closest to here?"
"I'll find out," replied Kyla. She took out the device with the Sanctuary
locations on it and looked for a moment, browsing the map. "...It's...
It's near Fourside," she announced. "There's a small island just off the
southeastern coast of Fourside. The Sanctuary is there."
Apple Man blinked, surprised. "Near Fourside?" he repeated. "One of the
old Sanctuaries was in Fourside... Magnet Hill, I believe."
Jeff nodded. "That was the one," he confirmed. "We had to go through an
old sewer to find it." He scratched his chin, musing. "It's strange that
two Sanctuaries would be so close to one another, but then again, I guess
there's no rule stating that they HAVE to be far apart from each other."
Karen closed her eyes, trying to remember if she had ever been in Fourside.
After searching her memory, she discovered that she hadn't. "I can't
teleport to Fourside," she told them. "I've never been there."
"That's no problem," said Apple Man. "It should be a cinch to drive
there."
"With what?" asked Deckard. "We don't exactly have any vehicles, other than
the Phase Distorter III. And we probably don't want to use THAT, if it's
going to break down soon."
Jeff shook his head. "Transportation's no problem. The Greyhand bus line
runs from this town to Fourside."
"Well, that may be fine for us, but what about Kato and Sasha?" said
Deckard, presenting another problem. "If they get on the bus with Zain's
body, there's bound to be a few questions."
"Look, no one has to take the bus," Apple Man cut in. "I have a vehicle we
can use."
Everyone turned to look at him.
"I didn't know you had a van, Dad," said Kyla from where she was sitting
in the front passenger seat.
Apple Man, from behind the wheel, grinned sheepishly. "I bought it when
your mother and I got married," he said. He decided to leave out the fact
that he was only able to buy it thanks to an ample wedding gift from Jeff.
"We thought we'd need it for all of the kids--" He cut off and looked at
Kyla. "Well... You know what happened after that."
Kyla nodded, and her father continued. "Anyway, I couldn't take it with me
to Jeff's lab, because there aren't any roads to drive it on out there. So
I left it back at my house in Twoson."
Kyla looked at the old-fashioned instrument cluster and dashboard; a layer
of dust covered most of the interior. "It looks kind of old," she
commented.
"It is," her father confirmed. "This van was manufactured back in 199X; I
bought it used. I think it's considered a classic now."
Guy, who was sitting directly behind Apple Man and had been listening, spoke
up. "It is a marvel that this vehicle still operates," he remarked.
"Especially if you have allowed it to remain in one place, unused, for
sixteen years."
"Well, it's not that much of a marvel, Guy," Apple Man replied. "About once
every few months, I would take the Phase Distorter III and go back to
Twoson, and I'd work on it. You know, give it a tune-up, drive it around a
bit, change the oil..."
Deckard grinned. "Well, at least it solved most of our problems," he said,
feeling in high spirits.
"I'll say," Karen agreed; she was sharing the seat with Deckard and Guy.
Looking at Karen, Deckard said, "Actually, this is the first time in a while
that we've been able to go somewhere without being flung around in a
tornado."
Karen elbowed him. "Don't get used to it, Deckard," she warned, trying hard
not to smile. "Once we find the Sanctuary, we'll be teleporting back to
Jeff in Twoson."
Deckard groaned jokingly. "Aw, crap..."
In the back of the van, Kato and Sasha sat with Zain propped up between
them. Even though the others were in a good mood, Sasha was unable to share
it. She could not be happy... Not as long as Zain was trapped in
unconsciousness.
Kato noticed the somber look on her face. "Do not worry, Sasha," he said.
"We will help him, one way or another."
Sasha nodded slowly. She turned to check on Zain... And then she suddenly
realized something. "Kato... Why did you want to come with me to help
Zain?" she asked. "You have another reason besides wanting to help him,
don't you?."
Surprised, Kato turned and met her sky-blue gaze. "...Your intuition is
uncanny, Sasha," he said, folding his arms. "You are correct; though I want
to help Zain as much as you do, I do have... ulterior motives, if you
will."
Seeing her unspoken request to elaborate, Kato went on. "Recently, I
have... seen things," he said. "Things that continue to trouble me greatly.
If the sage Talah Rama still exists, I wish to speak with him about these
things."
"What sort of things, Kato?" asked Sasha.
Kato shook his head, remembering the vision he had seen at the Tranquil
Zone. "They are of a personal nature. I would rather not speak of
them."
Sasha nodded. "I understand." She sighed. "You know, it's strange...
You're only 12 years old, but sometimes you sound older than my dad."
Kato shrugged. "Dalaam is not a place for children," he said. "In my
country, the young mature early, that they may take their place in
life."
Sasha tried to envision what it must have been like for him. "It must be
hard," she said. "Having to grow up so fast. Don't you wish sometimes that
you could just be a normal kid?"
At this, Kato turned to her and raised an eyebrow; his stare radiated more
ice than Sasha's PSI could ever produce. "Sasha, my culture's definition of
'normal' is far different from yours," he said coldly. "My people do things
differently, and we are stronger for it. Even at your current age, there is
no way that you would have passed the test of pain, as I have--"
He cut off, realizing that he had said too much; the training of Mu was not
a thing to be discussed with people who were not of Dalaam. But not only
that; he had also allowed his pride to get the better of him. It was for
but a moment, but I forgot the teachings of Mu, he thought in
self-reproach. To forget such a lesson is inexcusable.
But even before Kato's rebuttal, Sasha had realized what she had said. "I'm
sorry, Kato," she said. "That didn't come out right at all. I'm sorry if I
offended you."
"I accept your apology," said Kato. "I am at fault as well. For a moment,
I allowed my pride to control me, and I apologize for that."
Back in the middle seat, Deckard looked out the window of the van as it
entered a tunnel, and everything went dark. When the van finally emerged
from a tunnel, they were in a town. "What town is this?" asked Deckard.
"Is this Fourside?"
"No, it is not," Guy replied. "We have just arrived in Threed, which lies
between Twoson and Fourside."
"So how much longer will it be until we get to Fourside?" asked Karen.
Apple Man answered her. "Quite a while, I'm afraid," he said. "After we
pass through Threed, we have to drive through the mountains, and then we
have to pass through the Dusty Dunes Desert." He glanced at the back of the
van. "That's where Kato and Sasha will get off with Zain. After we get
through the desert, there's a long bridge, and then we'll finally be in
Fourside."
Karen sighed. "Ugh, that's going to take forever," she lamented.
"Yeah, you have it so rough," Deckard mocked. "Just because you can't
teleport somewhere for once."
Guy looked at Deckard. "We cannot insult Karen's teleportation ability," he
reprimanded. "It is the only reason why we are still here, rather than
being dead or prisoners of Giaguo."
Deckard sighed. "Yeah, you're right," he conceded.
As they talked and joked, Apple Man looked at the town around him as he
drove through it. Twoson had changed a lot over the years because of the
rise of Orange Enterprises, but Threed remained mostly unaltered since the
events of 199X. It was simply a quiet town in the mountains, and the people
were content with it the way it was.
Kyla asked him a question. "Dad, during the war against Giygas, wasn't this
town overrun with zombies and ghosts?"
Apple Man nodded. "It was, Kyla. One of Giygas' servants caused the undead
to rise from their graves and attack the town. It caused a lot of fear and
suffering here. Luckily, they were stopped before the damage became
irreparable."
Kyla knew that there was more to it than that. "When I was in Snow Wood,
Dad, Professor Tony told me that you invented a way to stop the
zombies."
Her father sighed. "So you know about that." He shook his head. "I did
create something to stop them: a variety of paper that was similar to fly
paper, but it stuck to zombies instead. But I only made it; it was Ness,
Paula, and Jeff who actually used it to trap and stop the zombies. I didn't
do all that much."
"That isn't true, Dad," Kyla argued. "Your invention saved people's lives.
You need to give yourself more credit."
Apple Man shrugged. "Even if what you say is true, Kyla, that's just not
the way I am." He glanced at her. "I invent for the betterment of
humanity, Kyla. I invent to help people, not just to help myself. If I
invented for myself, just to say that I was the one who did it... Well, I'd
be no different from Guy's father."
Guy nodded. "I agree with you, Apple Man," he said. "My father only
invented out of avarice, to become wealthy. He has never invented anything
that actually helps others."
"And what about you, Guy?" asked Deckard, who couldn't help pointing it out.
"You invent weapons. Weapons don't improve humanity."
Guy could not think of a response to this. "I... Well..." Deckard merely
smirked, and folded his arms triumphantly.
Kyla wiped the smirk off of his face. "He invents weapons in the hope that
someday people won't need them," she shot at Deckard. "Besides, you have no
business berating someone for making weapons when you carry a weapon
yourself. Somebody made that sword of yours, after all."
Deckard didn't speak again for a long time.
As the sun began to set, they finally reached the Dusty Dunes Desert. It
was a wasteland of sand that stretched as far as the eye could see, broken
only by the road in front of them and a multitude of uninviting rocks. "So
this is the desert..." Kyla remarked.
After driving for a while longer, Apple Man pulled off the road and parked
in front of a lone ramshackle log building. A large sign attached to the
building's roof had the word "DRUGS" painted on it in very faded letters.
The building was abandoned; the door hung on one hinge, and the glass in the
windows was smashed in.
"This used to be a general store," Apple Man explained. "It went out of
business more than 20 years ago. There's nothing in there now, but the
building still stands."
"I presume this is where we part ways," stated Kato.
Apple Man nodded. "If Talah Rama is still alive, and if he still lives in
the same place, you'll find him to the north of this building." He
indicated the abandoned store. "If you go north from here, you'll find a
hole in the ground with a ladder leading down. Follow it, and you'll be in
Talah Rama's caves."
"Okay," said Sasha.
Kato opened Zain's backpack and brought out the Sound Stone. "Since you are
going to the next Sanctuary, you will need this," he said.
Karen took the Sound Stone. "I hope you and Sasha find a way to help Zain,"
she said. "I miss him."
"As do I," Guy added. "It was he who brought us all together. It is simply
not the same without him."
Sasha nodded. "I know what you mean."
Apple Man looked at them. "You'll have Zain's Receiver Phone with you,
Sasha," he said, "so you can call Jeff at my house if you need to; the
number is saved on the phone. After I take the others to Fourside, I'll
come back here at this same time tomorrow. If you need me to pick you up,
then wait in front of this building then."
"Very well," said Kato.
Apple Man looked at them for a moment. "Okay then," he said. "Be careful,
both of you. There's no telling how many Madness creatures could be in this
desert."
"We will," Sasha promised.
Carrying Zain's body between them, Sasha and Kato got out of the van, and it
drove away into the eastern horizon, leaving just the two of them standing
in the wasteland. The sun had set farther, and night was beginning to
overtake the area.
With the absence of the sun, Sasha felt a slight chill. She looked at Kato.
"...It looks like it's just the two of us now," she said.
"Yes," Kato agreed. "But if luck is on our side, there may be three of us
here in the near future."
Sasha nodded, looking at Zain. "I hope so..."
To be continued...