The fires burned low on the hearth, the smouldering coals hissing as a figure took another drag off her cigarette. Pushing her chair back and forth with one nervous foot, she exhaled a plume of grayish smoke, watching the patterns it formed as it swirled in the air, then turned back to watching the small golden haired figure framed in the crystal before her.
"Ummmm..???" her minion ventured from behind. Crouched low in a formal suit, he kept his head angled respectfully towards the floor, mindful of the arsenal's worth of weapons strewn a bout on the walls.
"Shut up," the woman said casually. "Nobody said you could talk."
"But...but.."
"Oh do be quiet!!!!" she exploded finally. "I've got more on my mind then listening to your worthless prattle. If you can't say anything useful, then don't say anything at all."
".....mmmmm."
"What was that?"
Reluctantly the words came forth. "You're such a small-minded...."
KLONK!!!!!! A shovel conveniently fell from its hooks on the wall and bashed the hapless minion on the head, leaving him sprawled out on the carpet.
The woman turned to glance at him, then turned away again. "Sometimes I wish your tongue had been frozen with the rest of you," she sniffed. "No manners. No manners at ALL."
"Ne, Lina-san," Xelloss panted from several steps behind the rapidly moving girl. "Why don't we take a breather?"
"Shut up and keep walking," she snapped over her shoulder. "If there's a way out of this freakshow, I want to find it and get the hell OUT."
"As you wish," Xelloss replied, wondering exactly what had happened last night to set Lina off like this.
Lina had woken in the small hours of the morning feverish and sweating, moaning in fright, with nonsense of ghosts and pain spilling over her babbling tongue. Xelloss was ready to pass it off as a mere nightmare and prepared to administer the necessary remedy (Beastmaster's stonecrop cordial) until, most troubling of all, she had latched onto his arm and refused to let go. Finally, as the first fingers of sunlight appeared, she had fallen back into an exhausted slumber, and slept like the dead for the next few hours. Upon awakening she had hastily choked down some food, ran trembling fingers through her hair and dashed off to find a way out, dragging him along behind.
Of course, had she bothered to listen to what he had been trying to tell her, she would have known that there simply was no way out. By normal means, anyhow.
"Lina-channnnnnn!!!!" he whined. "Please slow down!!!!"
But Lina's eyes were focused on some distant scene visible only to her eyes and her steps did not falter. If she had heard the Trickster Priest, she gave no sign of it at all.
sleep for the dying.
dreams for the mad.
heartsease for the lovesick.
What the hell...?? Who are you? What are you doing in my head? Lina asked. When no answer was received, she grew angry. Damn you!!!! Answer me!!!!
please, watch beyond your uneasy dreams....
What??
A dark haired girl smiled at her as a small blonde girl crouched at her feet.
Who the hell are you??? Are you the ones hanging around in my dreams?? DAMNIT!!! Answer me!!!
A golden light filled her eyes and a scene slowly unfolded into being before her.
what you seek.
That?? What is it??
lina-chan. as him we are not.
What??
goodbye.
Wait!!!!!! Come back!!!
"Come back!!!" Lina suddenly began to scream as she paused for a moment. "Come back!!" Unfortunately she stopped just a little too quickly for Xelloss to notice or for him to stop in time. He plowed into her and they both fell to the ground.
Xelloss lay on top of Lina for a full minute before he realised what had happened. Well, he mused, this is....interesting. She felt nice, very nice.
"Ummm..ugh..UGH!!!!!! YOU FREAKING PERVERT, GET OFF OF ME!!!!! UGHHH!!" Lina wailed from underneath him.
"Now, do I really want to??" he murmured to himself, shifting some of his weight off her body. Lina was too busy being disgusted to notice, as she squirmed and wriggled, trying to work her way out from underneath him. Xelloss' smile grew wider.
"Eeyyaaa!!!!! FIREBALL!!! FIREBALL!!!!! Fire...ball," she finished lamely.
Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "It doesn't quite work as a threat anymore, Lina-chan."
"Nevermind!" she said, scrambling to her feet, her face flushed. Her legs were unsteady; perhaps they had fallen asleep.
"Pig, taking advantage of a pure maiden!!" Lina muttered to herself, falling back on her old standby. Xelloss just smiled and wagged a finger at her.
"Sweet seventeen and twice been kissed!!" he reminded her cheerfully.
"NEVER.....ah, forget it," she snapped. She felt almost feverish.
"Now Lina-chan," he said, all business again. "Why were you screaming?"<
"Stop calling me Lina-chan!"
"Why ever not? It suits you," he said calmly. "You don't have to be embarassed. It's just us here."
"STOP ACTING LIKE THAT!!!!" she howled.
"Like what??"
"Like we.......No!!! I'm not gonna say it!!! You can't make me!!"
Xelloss grinned. "I doubt very much that you ever do anything you don't want to."
"Oh hell," Lina mumbled, her face rose red.
"Now, back to my original question: Why were you screaming?"
Lina swallowed the urge to beat him senseless. "Somebody came into my head and showed me a place that it said was what I was seeking. Then it disappeared without answering any of my questions," Lina summmerized.
Xelloss' eyes shot open and he looked plainly startled. "Someone was talking to you through your mind?"
"Uh huh. It showed me a place all blue and gold and said that was what I was seeking," she replied. "It..startled me."
"Blue and gold? Here?" Xelloss pondered. "Why that could only be.....Well, I'll be a human's uncle."
Lina stared at him. "You know what it was talking about?"
"Mmmm......it sounds very much like the Oracle."
"Oracle?? What's that??? I've never heard of anything like that!!!!" Lina demanded. "Where is it?? How do we get there?? Can it send us home??? Why.."
"Hush Lina-chan," Xelloss said, pressing a finger to her lips, stifling her protest. "To answer some of your many questions; It's in the very heart of the Astral Plane, a place where very few, if any have ever trod. Because the Oracle can be used as a gateway to the Lake of Chaos."
Lina's eyes widened so the whites were visible all around the ruby irises. "Where the Lord of Nightmares lives?" she squeaked.
Xelloss nodded solemnly. "The Oracle Keeper watches over the shrine, and it's very possible that she might have been the one speaking to you, trying to bring you to the shrine. It seems that the Lord of Nightmares may have more then a..passing interest in this matter."
Lina sat down heavily, her arms sagging limply at her sides as the rest of her body slumped in unison. "I didn't want this......I've had enough of directly dealing with the Lord of Nightmares!!! Once was enough!! I don't.....I don't," she finished helplessly. "I don't want to," she whispered.
Xelloss knelt at her side, lifting her chin so her clouded eyes looked into his open ones. Lina gave an angry murmur, but he hushed her with a look. "Lina....whether you like it or not, you owe the Lord of Nightmares for all the power you've drawn from Her over the years, for all the victories She's helped you achieve. She will not take no for an answer."
Lina didn't look at him for a long while. "I've...I've really made a mess of things this time, haven't I?" she asked weakly.
"Lina-chan, sometimes you have to leave things to Fate."
"But what if She wants to keep me here?" she whispered. "Like..like She tried to after She took over my body..."
Xelloss was quiet. "It's a chance that will have to be taken, I'm afraid. We can't stay here forever. And no matter how fast or how far you run, She will eventually catch up." He eyed Lina carefully. "Do you understand?"
Lina closed her eyes and gave a small quiet whimper, as Xelloss watched her lashes tremble and waited for the tears to fall.
"We'll go," Lina finally said, her eyes still closed. "I musn't run away. I won't be taken a coward. Lina Inverse is NOT a coward."
Her eyes opened, rubies set like jewels in her pale face. She managed to rise unassisted and stepped forward without betraying her trembling knees. "Let's go," she said, her voice hard and sure as steel. "I'm sure we have a long journey ahead of us."
Dream Lina sat alone in a field of white.
if they took your power from you....you would sleep and dream as normal women do, but you would lose the power to move between the earthly world and the next.
You again? How do you know this?
i just do.
My dreams are not special
you ignore what is in front of your face
Hey!! Have some manners!!
i wouldn't talk
Oh geez. You have an attitude problem now too??
^_^
Ah, cut it out.
lina-chan, you are...
A voice singing silver cut through their conversation as neatly as a sword.
Why don't you cut out talking to the old biddy and pay attention to me now, Lina-chan?
Dream Lina turned as the voice bounced off the air around her like a note struck on crystal.
What?? You again?? Who the hell are you?
I'm hurt. Is your memory so short that you can't even remember an old familiar face??
Dream Lina turned and began to walk away.
I'm leaving. You won't even show your damn face, and you expect me to know?
You can't, dearest. As I control the Astral Side freely, as you have no power here.
She stopped.
YOU!!!!! You're the one who took my powers!!!
I'm afraid not, though remind me to kill the fool who did for making my job harder. Welcome to the side of the Astral Plane most never see. Pity, for without your powers, you're simply no use to me. I was going to kill you, but I decided to keep you around for a bit. Fun isn't this??
WHO ARE YOU??!!!!
A concerned third party, it snickered.
Not funny.
I see you have less of a sense of humor then I gave you credit for, not to mention intelligence. To borrow from that dragon of Garv-kun's....how could this prankster of a girl have defeated me?? The voice grew thoughtful. Of course it wasn't really you...it was more your body then anything else.
Dream Lina froze. Her limbs tumbled out from underneath her as if they'd been knocked away like pins.
Masaka.. She fell to her knees slowly, crumpling to the ground like a ruined sheet of paper.
Glittering gold green eyes watched, triumphant.
Here I am, dearest chickling, Hellmaster Phibrizo said sweetly from his perch up above. Are you happy now?