All was silent in the castle as Lina marched determinedly through the hallways, searching for Wyna's and Tannec's rooms. Zelgadis, thankfully, had given her specific directions to follow, so she didn't have to search too hard for them. Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the door she thought was Wyna's room and pounded loudly.
Moments a later, a groggy tone asked in mild annoyance, "Y-yes?"
"It's Lina!" she shouted through the wood. "Let me in!"
A pause, then, "Just a second..." There were the sounds of hurried scuffling and shuffling as Wyna got out of bed and threw on a robe. Lina waited impatiently, and briefly considered entering without permission. Luckily, Wyna was quick, and soon enough the door was being slowly, tentatively opened. Lina didn't wait for the long process to finish, and just shoved her way inside.
"Get Tannec," Lina commanded in a voice daring Wyna to disagree. She sat down on the nearest chair and crossed her arms warningly in front of her, eyes flashing.
Wyna stayed where she was and opened her mouth...but ended up simply closing it again when another knock came on her door.
"Wyna?! I thought I heard Lina's voice in the hallway..." Tannec called worriedly through the door.
Wyna sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "Come in!" she called back. The door opened up, and Tannec gaped when he saw that Lina was sitting there.
He blinked and backed up a step. "Er...wh-what're you doing here?" he asked, clearly startled.
Lina closed her eyes as she said simply, "Zel's been kidnapped." Opening her eyes again, she stated, "I need help to find him."
Zelgadis's sister and brother gasped simultaneously in shock, and Wyna clutched at her throat. "How...? Why?!"
Ignoring their questions, she asked a question of her own. "I need to know where the 'Rat and Parrot' is located."
"Is that where he's being held?" Tannec asked shrewdly.
"No; somewhere near there," Lina answered in a clipped tone.
Tannec and Wyna glanced at each other, and nodded in unison. Under different circumstances, Lina would have found their actions funny, but she didn't dare laugh, not when Zelgadis was in trouble, probably being tortured... She cut off that line of thought, and forced the slight trembling in her hands to stop along with it.
Tannec recalled her attention back to the present by announcing grandly, "We're coming along."
"No matter what," Wyna finished, smiling.
Lina sighed and clutched her head. "Fine, fine. I'm in no mood to argue..." ...and I don't have the time...
"Good!" Tannec smirked as he swept forward to take Lina's hand and kiss it's knuckles. "Fear not, Lina; we shall find Zel!"
Wyna rolled her eyes at her brother's antics, while Lina's eyebrow twitched dangerously. Amazingly, Tannec took the hint and retreated back to Wyna's side.
"Lead the way," Lina said, sweeping her arm towards the door...
Several minutes later, the three of them were hurrying through the streets of Yume. Tannec ran first, with Wyna closely following him, and Lina taking up the tail end, who glanced around her sharply, eyes piercing the shadows, looking for anything out of the ordinary. More eyes watched her from those shadows, staring at her with relentless intensity.
Not that it mattered. Those eyes weren't stupid enough to reveal themselves; she wasn't a possible target, especially when two of the powerful royal family stood before her.
Lina almost wished someone would attack her for her food, for her money, for her clothes... She was so tense, she could feel sweat trickling down her forehead, and her knuckles were white from the clenching of her fists. It was times like these that she would normally beat up a few bandit gangs, take their treasure, and eat at the nearest restaurant. But she couldn't, not when Zelgadis's time was limited... Every second counted, and it all depended on how much Aristos "played" with Zelgadis before killing him, like a cat with a mouse...
"We're almost there," Wyna whispered softly to Lina, who nodded in understanding.
As predicted, a minute later they arrived at the Rat and Parrot. She saw the sign swinging at the front of the building, it's grimy, greasy state a testimony to the rest of the neighborhood. Dirt, rotting food, sewage, and sweat made for an interesting, nose-pinching aroma. The only sounds were the scurrying of little, clawed feet and the low, broken wails of cats. A muffled, tearful scream briefly filled the air before a pointed "Thwack!" silenced it.
The roads were lined with unknown, brown and black objects that might be fruit, sewage, or dead bodies for all she could tell. The buildings were almost as brown as the streets, with little hints of chipped, broken yellows, blues, and reds peaking through the grime. Of people, there was no sign. It was as if they didn't exist in this pit, but small hints, like the very human scream of earlier, told a different story...
Across from the Rat and Parrot was a dilapidated, run-down inn. Light filled the parlor room's window, a stark contrast from all the buildings surrounding it. The window itself was one of the few clean ones, a stroke of luck Lina thanked heartily for. If that window had been dirty, Zel wouldn't have been able to see the sign across the street...
Lina cleared her throat to call Tannec and Wyna's attention. They were staring around them with something like horror in their eyes, as if they'd never seen the dark side of humanity. They probably haven't, Lina realized abruptly. When their attention stayed on their surroundings, she growled and bopped each one on the head. They turned and glared at her, until they noticed the vein throbbing dangerously on her forehead...
"This is how we're going to do it," Lina began...
Zelgadis stared up in disbelief at his deranged captor. Aristos hadn't even begun to wrap up his speech, which had gone from Aristos's childhood...to other people he'd tormented...to what kind of toothbrush he liked...to the cat who'd been shredding his cape just recently...to the strange cloaked figure who Aristos couldn't quite seem to recall with any detail, not even his name...to his favorite toilet...
Head spinning, Zelgadis reflected, This is worse than any kind of bodily torture he could device... If Lina doesn't get here soon, I'll go insane...
"...And the toilet's really just a round hole over the river, but the breeze plays so delightfully over my buttocks as I sit, and there's always plenty of clean straw to use so I can wipe myself off afterwards. The servants always seem to keep that toilet the cleanest, too..."
What did I do to deserve this...? Zelgadis mentally groaned.
Aristos's men weren't in much better shape. Several had left the room for long periods of time, and would come back looking just as sick and green as when they'd left, but now they'd stink of bile. It was easy to guess why they'd left, and what they'd done in the interim. Zelgadis himself was restraining an uncomfortable lump in his throat, but he refused to give Aristos the pleasure. What pleasure? He'd just get mad and kill you, one voice inside of him pointed out dryly. Another voice answered just as dryly, That's an even better reason not to throw up on him...
"...and the toilet's made out of black marble -- we are rich, after all -- but we have padding around the edge to make it more comfortable..."
To Zelgadis's eternal relief, Aristos was interrupted by the door slamming open...
"Mega Brando!" a familiar female voice shouted as all heads turned towards the unexpected noise. A second later, the ground exploded underneath the minions' feet, sending them exploding up into the air and through the roof of the inn.
Aristos stared in shock, blinked, and stared some more. Lina smirked and readied another spell. "Fireball!" Fire flickered to life in the palm of one hand and grew till it was roughly the size of her own head. She threw it forward at Aristos, who barely dodged out of the way in time.
"L-Lina!" Aristos stuttered, pointing with a shaking finger at the girl in question. "How dare you not give me time to retaliate!" he protested huffily, not managing to mask his fear. A ring glowed urgently on his hand, sending a pulsing, blue signal...
What's that for? Zelgadis wondered, eyes narrowing as he struggled with his bonds again. Unfortunately, they were as strong as ever...
Seconds later, something crashed against the side of the building. A bulbous eye looked in from the broken window...
Uh oh... Zelgadis groaned into his gag. Not that...
"S-s-s-s..." A deep, panicked breath from Lina. She barely managed to spit out, "Slug!"
"Help me, Schnookums!" Aristos screamed.
Schnookums backed up a little, and then rammed full tilt into the side of the building. It moaned, then a sickening crack was heard in the roof supports, followed by the inn caving in around them...