Aristos glared into the distance, thoroughly annoyed with life and his pet slug. They'd been looking for Zelgadis and Lina for what seemed like forever, but despite Schnookums' speed, they still hadn't found his two enemies. In his mind, this was all Schnookums' fault. If the slug was faster, they mind have found the two by now!
He sighed, and turned to Schnookums, who was peacefully sleeping by their campfire for the night. They hadn't managed to find a town before the light failed, and even slugs had to rest, so they were camping out. Aristos wasn't happy. Again, he blamed Schnookums for this. If the dang slug hadn't needed rest, they could still be moving, looking for his enemies!
Furious, he stomped over to the slug and kicked it hard on the side. The slug didn't even wake up; even one of Aristos's hardest kicks felt akin to a mosquito biting a human.
"Stupid slug! This is all your fault!" he shouted angrily.
Schnookums finally woke up, and glanced blearily at his master. What's he in a huff over now? the slug wondered sleepily.
Aristos's anger petered out as he considered what to do. "If only I had some minions... Unfortunately, all the minions I had at Seyruun have either been killed or run away."
Far off in the distance, a dull sound started. But it was so quiet that Aristos doubted what he was hearing and tried clearing his ears. Still the sound persisted... In fact, was it coming closer...? Yes, it was...and now it sounded a lot like...screaming...
Aristos frowned and looked up into the starry sky for anything out of the ordinary. "What the...?" he muttered under his breath.
Schnookums was looking around as well. But he'd seen what his master hadn't... Ten blobs that looked suspiciously like terrified, shrieking humans. Aristos saw them after a moment or two, and stood gaping at the bundle of humans as they landed comically right on top of Schnookums' back and slid off with various grunts and groans. Schnookums tried to grimace in pain and roll his eyes, but settled for a displeased gurgle.
Aristos blinked once in surprise before grinning from ear to ear in a decidedly evil manner. "The gods must like me, to send such a gift..."
The ten men who had fallen from the sky were all tall and brawny. None of them looked very intelligent. Perfect minion material. They wore singed, burnt blue uniforms and silver armor, with a distinctive crest stitched onto their left arms. One got up, shaking his head in confusion, and glanced around him for the first time. First he saw Aristos, with his evil grin. Next he saw Schnookums.
"Oh...my...god..." he breathed in shock, backing away slowly.
The others glanced where he did, puzzled why he looked so scared, and let out individual yelps of terror as they hastily scrambled away from the warm, gooey body they'd been unknowingly leaning against.
"It's a...It's a...It's a..."
"...A two-story slug," finished Aristos with a satisfied smirk.
As one, the bullies turned their attention to Aristos. "Who...are you?" the leader asked hesitantly.
"Your new master."
This dramatic, dread-inspiring statement, filled with ominous, shadowing lighting from the campfire, was completely and utterly ruined when his billowing cape billowed straight into the fire. He hopped around madly, shrieking in a high-pitched voice for help as the bullies and the slug all sweatdropped in unison, and shook their heads.
It didn't occur to him to simply take off the cape.
Lina ate her food in record time the next morning. Of course, this was a common occurrence. Zelgadis sipped at his habitual coffee, and studied her out of the corner of his eye. She was her normal self again, from all appearances. She'd come down to breakfast looking much more cheerful, rested, and confident. It was a relief.
With a final pat of her stomach, Lina finished off her food and sat back in her seat. "Ahh..." she sighed, contented. The raging beast of her hunger assuaged for the moment, she turned her mind to other matters. "So, did everything go okay last night with the bullies?"
"Just fine. I thought they would be tougher than they really were," he admitted wryly.
This caught her attention. "Oh? How so?"
"...I thought they knew magic," he answered half-honestly. Yes, he'd thought they'd known magic, but only because he knew they were from Yume. "But they didn't. It was easy to defeat them."
"Why would you think they knew magic, if they really didn't?" she asked, puzzled and a little suspicious.
Damn; she was as sharp as usual. "They were guards from Yume," he supplied.
That caught her attention. "What?!" she demanded.
He shrugged. "I think the King and Queen kicked them out, so they thought they could have their old jobs back if they defeated you and brought you back."
"Yikes..."
She visibly paused before saying next, "We're going to have a problem for the next day or so..."
Zelgadis frowned, confused, till he remembered one of her grumbling remarks from the day before. "And these cramps are getting bad..." He involuntarily blushed at the memory, and quickly took a sip of coffee to hide it while he mentally hit himself over his head.
"It's..." she began uncomfortably.
"...that time of the month," he finished. Gods, he should have figured it out when she said she had cramps!
She winced. "Yeah. You know what that means."
"Uh huh," he said gloomily. That meant they were going to Yume, and she wasn't going to have her magic for another day or two. If they got into battles, she'd be a little help, but not as much as she would have been if she had most of her magic. Perhaps it was best I took care of the bullies last night. She would have been able to handle herself, but...
Lina cleared her throat and called his attention back to the present. He glanced up at her in surprise, and saw she was smiling. He also saw that, despite her slight handicap, she was excited. He wasn't sure whether being excited was good or bad...
With a sense of dread, he paid for the meal and walked outside of the inn. Lina started briskly forward, studying her map, and started off down the road again. Zelgadis trailed after her, noting that Yume was getting ever closer... His footsteps lagged as he considered this dreary prospect.
"Come on, Zel! We'll be in Yume in a few hours!" she encouraged, eyes twinkling.
Under his breath, he whispered, "And that's what worries me..."