"Da da dadaaa.." the woman sang as she moved around, cleaning up the mess that had resulted from her little experiment. Full and satisfied, grinning the sly certain grin of a cat, she didn't notice the annoyed beeps coming from the compact to the right of her until it emitted a rude sound. She stopped and glared at the blameless mirror until the presence reflected in the mirror's surface cleared its throat.
"If you would be so kind..." the presence murmured, languid as honey.
"Whhaaaaatttt????" the woman whined.
The presence sighed exaggeratedly and the woman stuck her tongue out at it.
"Now who's the mature one?" the voice from the mirror teased indulgantly. Then it grew serious. "Did you....??"
"Am I finished?? Of course I am!!! You expected anything less from me, ever gorgeous sorceress supreme.."
"Better not let Lina-chan ever hear you saying that," the voice remarked, amused.
"She'll beat you down before you have a chance to breathe funny. She'll break your precious shrine......"
"I like my shrine," the woman pouted, lying down and propping her feet up on a cushion. Her dress crept up to a less then modest height, but she prefered it that way. Watching the frescos on the ceiling shift and ripple like clever fish in the firelight, she raised the mirror over her head and looked at it.
"Stop that," the voice snapped. "You know it makes me dizzy, looking up your great ugly nose like that..."
"My nose is perfectly fine, thank you, and has been for thousands of years now. You're the one that hasn't held up, obaba, skin all dry and wrinkly like elephant hide."
"You suck."
"Thank you."
"May we go back to the matter at hand? What did you do with her?? And you rushed things a tad as well."
The woman shrugged. "I saved her from making the worst mistake of her life and you know it. After 150 years, one would think she'd learn, but no!! Mindset like a cat in heat, trying to cuddle up him like that...."
"As if you are any better, worshipping a hunk of ice.."
"MY love life," the woman said with great and wounded dignity, "is not what we are discussing."
"Fine then, be like that."
"I will, meanie. Lalallalaa, I'm ignoring you, this is my ignoring song...."
"Masaka, you're worse then him sometimes!!"
Silence ensued for a few moments as the two figures studiously ignored each other. Then the woman looked at the mirror, crossing her eyes and wrinkling her nose to make the presence laugh. She was rewarded with laughter as fine and thin as silk, and then the voice continued.
"And him," the voice inquired, a hint of needling in its tone. "When did you send him?" The woman shrugged with great nonchalence and tried to hide the bone-cold shadows that peeped through her eyes, leaving them hidden and dark.
"Well??"
"I sent him a little while ago.." she murmured, fingers unconciously yanking the hem of her maroon dress. "To figure out what's going on and such..."
"Don't look like that," the voice snapped. "This was your brilliant idea, remember? So much could be riding on this.."
"And so little could come of it," she muttered in reply.
"Pull your empty head out of your little ocean of self-pity and answer me straight!! You can retrieve them both, yes?"
"I should be able to, yes."
"Can or should??"
The woman straightened her shoulders and threw her hair back defiantly. "Can. If nothing happens."
"And if IF happens??"
"Then we're all up shit creek."
The voice hissed, a long dry sound, wind rustling in dead grass. "Wonderful."
Meanwhile, If was laughing it up with his favorite general. Both were quite drunk, but since neither of them ever remembered anything in the morning except pounding head and breaking spleen, they felt perfectly justified in knocking back a few now and then. The girl started to cough violently and If pounded her on the back, nearly knocking her out of her chair. She wiped off the wine that had trickled down her chin, staining her paper dry skin a dull red, and giggled, a screech loud enough to wake the dead and send the living running for cover, praying their eardrums wouldn't spontaneously implode on them.
"Boy," she hiccuped, swaying drunkenly in her chair, "she's gonna be so pissed! It's gonna to rock so much. I wanna see the looks on their stupid cow faces when they find out where they've sent their precious kittens to so bad."
"Now, now, Sherra-chan," If said soothingly. "One must be - hic! - reasonable in one's demands."
"I never liked em, either one. Though I wanted to get Lina for you, sir. My life," she giggled, causing nearby servants to duck and run, or hold hands and pray for the end to come SOON, "my life is kinda worthless now."
"Nonsense," If said, patting the girl's blue braid. "As long as unspeakable acts still need to be performed in this world, you my dear, will always have a place in my organization."
While her fate was busily being debated, worried about, and drunkenly cackled at, a small redhead was lying alone somewhere, trying to get her toes to wiggle.
Lina Inverse was lying on her back, in a field of grey, her entire body apparently paralyzed, since she couldn't even lift hand or foot. Trying to move only made her sway back and forth like some great lopsided ship.
The grey was the first thing she had seen when she had woken up, but since she couldn't lift her head, she decided to refrain from making any concrete decisions just yet. Who cared where she was, and what was here? If she could just move, everything would be fine, her magic could take care of her and anything else that came along...
She had just gotten her big toe to wiggle. Now for the second..
She had no idea how'd she'd gotten where she was. The last thing she remembered was leaning towards Gourry to ask a particulary sensitive question, and then she had turned into a million sparkling stars and flown away.
At least that's what she thought had happened. She doubted she had actually turned herself into stars, that was, well, rather doofy, no flash, and definitely not violent enough. No explosions, no nothing.
Which meant that something else had brought her here, into this grey..whatever the hell it was.
Well, while she was flying, it had felt like something was trying to rip her apart and dissolve every fiber of her being, but when she hadn't been stopped by that, she'd decided it was nothing. She was still in one piece wasn't she?? Got the second, now going for the third...
A shadow fell over her, turning the world dark.
Lina, very slowly, very carefully, tried to tilt her head up, and could only raise her chin a little. She then tried to roll her eyes up to look and succeeded. Whatever it was, it was big. She could hear it breathing, whoosh, whoosh, and pictured something large and hairy, with large fangs, bad breath, and slobbering jaws, something that would chew on her bones long after she was dead. She cursed her imagination. It was probably just a very large dog, or at worst, a wolf. Normally wouldn't be a problem, but since she couldn't move her fingers to cast any spells, getting rid of it, if it turned out to be hostile, would be a bit more difficult then usual. Ah, the cosmic jokes of life..
Lina's eyes crept up to the owner of the shadow, looked at the shadow's face and was greeted by a sight that made her want to cry.
"Konban wa, Lina-san!! No hello?? Not happy to see little me? Cat take your tongue?" He opened her mouth and peered inside, smiling, his breath dampening her cheek. "No, still in there.."
Lina bit his finger and he pulled it out with a squeal of surpise. He straightened up, looking rather wounded. "That hurt!" he whined, and sucked on the injured finger.
Lina ran her tongue around her dry lips and opened her mouth, faintly surprised she wasn't hearing hinges squeak as she did so.
"Hello, Xelloss, " she rasped to the Trickster Priest. "Long time no see."
Xelloss smiled.