Lupin The Third: The Beast of Lykanisches

Chapter 17

Author's Note: Enjoy these relevant tunes while reading the chapter, respectively:

The Girl From Ipanema
Edge of Seventeen
Poison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg0FPP_K5IY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn8-4tjPxD8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq4j1LtCdww
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Lupin led the way to the chamber which housed the sleek, tubular elevator shaft which Jigen had earlier discovered during his search for Ruby. The gunslinger supposed he ought not to be surprised that Lupin had, at some point, become aware of its presence. As far as Ruby could tell, Lupin seemed convinced that this elevator would grant them access to the vault which housed the Stardust files. And indeed, it was difficult to doubt his theory, for a control panel on the outside possessed buttons shaped like Ogham.

"What do you think, RuRu-chan?" Lupin asked her with a smile. "Do you think you know what buttons we have to press?"

Nodding solemnly, Ruby pressed the first Ogham button.

L.

Carefully, her finger moved to each letter, hovering for an uncertain moment, as she attempted to spell out 'Little Dove.' Any time her finger moved towards a letter in error, Lupin was quick to grab her hand and move it towards the correct button. He did this twice. But Ruby's memory served her well, and the rest of the letters were in her memory. Soon, the door opened and the lift was at their disposal.

Wordlessly, the three thieves and their young trainee stood in the narrow lift as it made its agonizingly slow ascent. The bright lighting and modern aesthetic of the lift was a stark contrast to the dark gothic surroundings of the castle which housed it. For a moment, one could almost pretend they were in a mall or somewhere far less threatening.

As they ascended, Lupin whistled 'The Girl from Ipanema.' Even if it seemed somehow inappropriate given the mission they were about to undertake and the high stakes therein, his whistling further enhanced the welcome illusion. Ruby didn't know the title of the tune, but as it was one of those compositions that everyone has heard – and which someone might, in fact, expect to hear in an elevator – Ruby knew it well enough to join him.

Eager for a distraction, as she was most nervous, Ruby picked up the tune along with Lupin. Just like that, the two stood in the center of the lift, whistling the tune while the men on either side just stood quietly; Jigen forever mangling his cigarette and Goemon deep in meditation. The structural integrity of Jigen's cigarette was completely compromised by this point. And just as Lupin and Ruby came full circle on the tune and were about to loop again, Jigen interrupted.

"How long is this goddamn elevator?"

The whistling stopped.

Ruby stole a furtive glance at each of them.

Jigen, whose question had been rhetorical, was glaring up at the ceiling as though he could make the lift go faster just by staring threateningly at it. Lupin had stopped whistling, but he appeared composed, hands shoved into his pockets, wearing an expression which was at once both content and unreadable.

Goemon, of course, was as stoic as ever.

As her eyes swept over the samurai, Ruby recalled the inquiry she'd wished to make of him. "Hey, Goe," she said. "Is that Bernhard's cane?"

Goemon looked at her as though coming out of a dream. "It is," he answered simply. "I feel as if it may prove useful." When Ruby gave him a confused look, Goemon unsheathed the blade from its cleverly disguised scabbard.