Tao awoke with a start. The wagon had just lurched wildly as it rolled in and out of a largish hole in the road. Slightly disoriented, she rubbed her eyes and looked around. It was late afternoon, judging from the position of the sun in the sky. The sun was too bright for it to be evening just yet, but it was too cool to be any earlier. Ezekiel was riding alongside the wagon, up by the front where Waj was driving the horses. The two were chatting about something or another; she couldn't quite make out the topic of conversation. Treisel and Iryien were both in the back of the wagon with her. Both were awake, but it didn't look like they'd been talking much. Tao couldn't help but notice that both of them were watching her stretch. With a sudden pang of self- consciousness, she blushed. "Enjoy your beauty sleep?" Iryien asked her. She had an odd look on her face, Tao thought. Iryien was probably still embarassed about the... incident that morning. Tao knew that she still was. Tao smiled shyly and nodded in agreement. Yawning loudly, she stretched again. She turned to look at Treisel, who was still silent. "So where are we off to now?" Treisel pointed his thumb back over his shoulder. A town was on the horizon. "We just delivered a couple of letters. Now, all we've got is this last delivery to make. Then, we can go make the next pickup." "Where's it supposed to go to?" Treisel blinked. "I don't know." He chuckled nervously, his hand behind his head. "I guess we forgot to check..." Tao sighed loudly. "I swear you people are hopeless. Just figured you'd just take off, and wander aimlessly?" She glared at him, her hands on her hips. Treisel withered under her gaze. Eager to get out of it, he bent over and picked the package up. "We're supposed to take it to some place called..." Treisel trailed off as he squinted, trying to make out the tiny lettering, "Bengloarafurd Ford? Does that sound right?" "Bengloarafurd?" Ezekiel slowly sounded out the name, careful deliberation on his face. He slowed his horse enough to come even with the back of the wagon. "Let me see that box, would you?" Treisel obediently handed the package to Tao, who in turn passed it on to Ezekiel. Ezekiel ran his finger over the letters, reading it for himself. Iryien watched his face curiously. She hoped he knew where this town was; a swift journey meant more time alone with Tao when they finally got there. "You know where it is?" she asked hopefully. The angel slowly shook his head. "Not a clue. It does sound awfully familiar, though." He rubbed his chin, looking up at the sky. "Oh wait, I think this is supposed to be Bengazlo... That sound right, Waj?" Waj grunted his agreement, which seemed to satisfy Ezekiel. "In that case, we're on the right path. We should be there by tonight." Iryien grinned at the thought of a nice hot bath, especially shared with a certain someone. "That would be great!" "But then what do we do?" Treisel asked. "We need to get to Hasbro, but this is taking *forever*." Ezekiel hummed. "Actually," he began, "I might be able to do something about this. I'll need to pull some strings, but let me take a quick trip and make some inquiries with my superiors. I might be able to get special dispensation to escort a certain misbehaving demon back to the nether realms." Tao narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean?" she asked. Ezekiel chuckled. "You guys go on ahead, I'm going to go see if my superiors will let me make an exception and take you all to Hell." "Sounds good to me," Treisel said. "How about you? Hey Waj, you wanna go to Hell?" Getting a half-committed grunt in response, he turned back to Ezekiel. "That'd be great! We'll go on ahead to Bengafordfurd-whatever, and you catch up with us, okay?" Ezekiel drew his horse to a stop and waved. Once the wagon (and Tao's magic distortion) was far enough out of sight, he began a spell. He had a report to make. - = - Before his true Master, Ezekiel stood. Well, actually he was sort of down on one knee, his head bowed down deferentially, a lil' bit to the side, with both arms crossed atop his upright knee. But both he and his master *were* in the same room, and Zeke *was* in front of him, and that's the entire point of that description, anyway. The room they were in was rather pleasant, actually, not at all what one would expect. It was tastefully appointed in rich tapestries, with small statuary placed around the hall. The furniture was opulent and ever-so-comfortable, and while Ezekiel wasn't permitted to sit in any of the chairs, the mere sight of them were enough to cause his spine to melt. The smell of wet earth from the mud on his boots sort of ruined the whole effect. He sniffed, a frown of distaste growing on his face. He'd stepped in something else, too. From high up in his chair, Lucifer (known as 'Luke' by his friends and 'Lucky' by his enemies) studied his servent. If the tale he had been told were true... well, then things were looking pretty damn good, no pun intended. He idly scratched behind one of his horns. He picked up his megaphone and stood in his chair, rising up to his full awesome height of 110 centimeters. "SO YOU ARE TELLING ME THAT YOU HAVE THE FEYMU GIRL? SHE IS WITHIN YOUR POSSESSSION?" he asked. Ezekiel shook his head. "I wouldn't put it quite like that. 'Within my possession' makes it sound as though I've clipped her wings. Figuratively speaking, of course." "THEN?" "She is safe and secure, being looked after by my unwitting accomplices. She completely ignorant of who she is, and has no chance of discovering that information." "YOU CAN GUARANTEE THIS?" Ezekial shrugged nonchalantly. "What could possibly go wrong?" he asked with a snide smirk. A rolling peal of thunder sounded in the distance -- a remarkable fact, since as far as anyone could remember, it had never rained anywhere within the Nether Realms. "BAAAAAAAAAAAKA." -------------------------------------------- To Hell and Back Chapter 12: Building a Four-sided Triangle Begun by Steven Scougall This chapter by Phoebe and Ravi -------------------------------------------- Iryien lit another candle. She'd eagerly volunteered to be the storeskeeper for this little expedition when she'd realised that no one had actually claimed the position. It gave her an excuse to get close to Tao, and anyway, she quite enjoyed the work. She glanced through the results of her inventory, and then began the laborious task of writing out a single unified list in her elegant script. She'd go shopping tomorrow in Bangladoraturd Furd (or whatever it was called). It was a *long* list. Iryien fervently hoped that the group was well-funded, although she could probably make up any shortcomings out of her own pocket. She smiled softly. She'd do more than that to be with Tao. She paused for a moment, staring into the flames. Her face hardened with resolve, and she pulled out another slip of paper. Pausing only for a brief moment of thought, she wrote swiftly, her pen scratching into the early hours of the morning. - = - Morning came far too soon for Treisel's liking. He hadn't had a truly restful night of sleep in the longest while. And after they'd dropped off their final package, with no explosions or earthquakes or rabid tuatara attacks, he figured he'd finally get a nice, peaceful evening in a soft warm bed. He'd figured wrong, of course. The plan had originally been "Humans in one room, Other beings in the other," but with Ezekiel gone, Iryien had insisted that the girls have one room and he ought to share a room with his personal demons. Or demon. Whatever. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that Waj snored. Not in the 'I must put a pillow over my head in order to deaden the sound' sense, which Treisel was used to and fully expected. No, Wajissabequahze was in rare form last night, droning out a concerto loud enough to raise the partially undead. As a result, Treisel awoke grumpy and irritable. However, the thought of spending some time with Iryien lifted his spirits a bit. He grinned and dressed himself, whistling lightly. He looked over to the empty beds in the room. It didn't look like Zeke'd made it back from Heaven yet. And Waj had somehow managed to wake up before him. Treisel stretched. He ambled over to the door, pushing it open and stepping out into the dining area of the inn. The others were already sitting at a table in the middle of the room, eating their breakfast. He walked over to the table, taking a seat between Tao and Iryien. Tao was staring intently at her plate of potatos, Waj was half-heartedly tossing back what looked to be his fourth glass of ale, and Iryien... well, Iryien was the only person who looked awake at the table. She was chatting animatedly, not discouraged by the lack of response from either of her companions. Treisel sighed in contentedness. That healthy glow, that warm smile... Truly she was perfect. "I think I'm going to go for a walk," Tao said softly, breaking his train of thought. She stood up and slowly pushed her chair back under the table. She nodded to the Treisel, Iryien, and Waj in successsion. She turned to leave, but suddenly Iryien reached out and grabbed her wrist. Treisel watched Tao's face fall as she turned back around and found Iryien's hand on her wrist. He puzzled at her reaction; after what he'd walked in on the previous day, he didn't think she'd respond like that. Iryien handed something to Tao that he couldn't make out and whispered to the younger girl. Tao nodded mutely before turning and leaving. Treisel watched Iryien watch Tao's retreating back before returning his attention to the half-finished stack of pancakes in front of him. He gulped down his milk and slammed the glass down. "So how about we..." he started as he looked up. Iryien and Waj were already standing and tucking in their chairs. "We were going to go get supplies," Iryien told him. "We'll be back in just a bit." "Both of you?" Treisel asked. "Surely both of you don't need to go." Waj grumbled. "She needs someone to carry things, and doesn't trust me to get the right items." The demon shrugged. "Well, why don't I--" Treisel started, but the others were already out the door. "Well, shoot," he said to no one in particular. - = - Tao sighed dreamily as the leaves floated past, the surface of the water rippling slightly in their wake. Autumn. To think it was only weeks since the tumultous events that had led to her sitting here beside this stream. She stood and stretched, hands reaching sky-ward. For a brief moment she wanted to grab the entire heavens and hold them close to her. Regretfully, she let her arms drop and looked around her. It was such a *romantic* setting, this little spot. If this were a book, Trei would step out out any moment. And with that incredible smile of his that made her melt, he'd say- "Hey, Tao!" Tao jumped backwards with a scream, forgetting that it really wasn't quite such a good idea to do that when a stream lay behind you. She remembered this a split second later and braced herself for the bracing shock of icy water before she realised she wouldn't need to. Strong (if somewhat scrawny) arms had pulled her away from the brink and into a warm embrace. Tao's heart stopped. Trei was... hugging her? "Didn't mean to scare you," Trei said apologetically, releasing her. "Whoa, you're trembling. Is everything all right?" Tao gave him a shaky smile. "I'm fine," she said. "Thanks for... catching me." "That's okay," Trei shrugged, sitting down and motioning for her to do the same. "Hey, Tao..." She waited. "Yes?" she prompted finally. "Well, it's just that... Can I ask your advice on something?" He was actually blushing a little, Tao noticed with increasing interest. And he wouldn't meet her eyes. "Of course!" she declared, just a little too loudly. He gave her a startled look, and she turned away awkwardly. "I mean... sure, whatever." He was definitely blushing now, and Tao's heart backflipped in anticipation. Could it be? Finally? "It's just that... how do you tell a girl you like her?" Tao almost bursts into tears of joy. She opened her mouth, ready to declare her undying love -- and Trei grabbed her hand and looked pleadingly into her eyes and she couldn't say a word. "Please, you've gotta help me!" he pleaded. "Iryien is *such* a babe, and I need you to help me figure out how to tell her!" Tao's heart thudded into the pit of her stomach like a head to the sand from the executioner's block. "Iryien?" she said blankly. Trei nodded eagerly. "Will you help?" Tao closed her eyes, shutting out the face that had filled her vision. It was no use though, he filled the space behind her eyes as well. She mentally slapped herself. Of *course* he meant Iryien! For a moment she thought the despair and the hurt would crush her, but Tao was nothing if not sensible. And the only sensible course was clear. "Yes," she decided, opening her eyes. "Of course I'll help. It's what a friend would do, right?" Trei nodded. "I knew you'd help. You're a great friend, Tao!" He favoured her with another of his special smiles and fished a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I wrote her a poem last night," he explained, rubbing the back of his head bashfully. "And I thought that if she let me, I might read it to her. But it's pretty bad. Um. Would you listen and tell me how to make it better?" Tao nodded woodenly. Trei was too exuberent to notice her distinct lack of enthusiasm and plunged ahead, blissfully unaware of the torment he was creating for his friend. "Great!" he said. "I'll try and do it like I was doing it to her, okay?" Tao nodded again, not trusting her voice to words. She flinched back a little when Trei reached for her hand, but otherwise retained her interested-and-helpful-and-nothing-else face. "I'll compare you to a summer's day Because they are sunny and you are too. When I was a kid, in summer I'd play. I wonder if you used to play in summer too?" He paused. "Okay so far?" "Yes," Tao whispered. "Great!" He continued. "But comparing you isn't a good idea Because you're really much more pretty. In other words, you're far more fair Which is why I'm writing this ditty." Possessed by poetic fervour, he grabbed both of Tao's shoulders and stared deeply into her eyes. "Mere words can't show you the love in my heart Or the depth of the feelings I hold. I detest every moment that we're apart But together every second is gold." Tao's eyes were wide and unblinking as Trei gently whispered the last two lines, both of them caught up in the magic of the moment. "If I could only see love in your eyes I'd be forever under perfect summer skies." He leant forward and kissed her forehead. Gently. Softly. It felt like a benediction. To Tao, it was as if an angel had brushed against her brow with its wing. There was a pause. "So, what did you think?" Trei grinned, letting go of her and sitting back on his haunches. "Will she go for me or what?" Tao stared at him. "You... You..." she croaked, then promptly burst into tears. "Tao!" Trei was on his feet at once, instantly concerned. "Tao, what's wrong?!" He reached out for her, but she stumbled to her feet and pushed him away, ran away, as far away as she could get. "Tao!" Trei called out, one arm outstretched questioningly. He watched her vanish among the trees and sighed, letting his arm fall uselessly. "I will *never* understand women," he muttered. "And she didn't even let me know what she thought of my poem!" - = - Waj glanced sidelong at his shopping companion as they made their way through the streets of Bengloara. Granted, he didn't really know Iryien all that well, but she certainly was not acting like she normally did. There was a spring to her step that he hadn't noticed before, and she was constantly smiling. Despite her outward demeanor, she also seemed very nervious. She was maybe a bit too perky, too overexhuberent in her actions -- jumpy, almost. She kept glancing from side to side, distracted by the slightest thing. He realized suddenly that she'd stopped walking. She was gazing off to the side, as though she'd seen something. She ran a few steps to catch up with him and took hold of his hand. Waj shuddered as her warm, supple fingers played over his own. With her other hand, she thrust a small folded piece of paper into his. "Here," she said tersely, before letting go of his hand and running away, melting into the crowds. Waj looked at the human girl's retreating back in puzzlement, but kept on walking. He looked at the piece of paper in his hand. He frowned and raised the note to his nose. He sniffed at it. The paper it was written on was... perfumed -- roses, it smelled like, with just a hint of lavendar. With a shrug, he carefully unfolded it and skimmed it once. He stumbled over a loose cobblestone, almost falling on his face. He slowed his pace and read it again. "I know it's wrong," the note began. "To want someone so different from what is normally expected, but I can't help my feelings! I burn with passion, with desire, with love!" Waj blinked and fought back the urge to run back to where he'd left Iryien. He read on. "I've never felt this way about any mere man. It is only you I dream of now, my angel. I must call you my angel, though you are a devil to enslave me so!" Waj's stomach both flipped in joy and twisted in disgust at being called an angel. He could hardly believe he'd made such an impression on the coed in such a short amount of time. "Please, I know you are not cruel. If you have any shred of similar feelings, let me know, and I will be the happiest woman alive!' "Oh, I'll make you more than happy," Waj promised, beaming widely. He picked up his pace, adding a gay bounce to his step. He made a mental note to pick up some breath spray at the store. - = - Ralf Goatfarmerssonsonsecondcousindanfan had complained vociferously when his father had insisted he go into the tailoring business. He'd wanted to be a warrior, like all his friends. Or even a butcher. That would have been fun, and more importantly, manly and more likely to attract chicks. His father had made him an apprentice to a tailor anyway, mentioning only rather mysteriously that Ralf would thank him some day. Ralf had hated him at the time, and at many times since. "Does this scarf suit me?" Iryien asked, coming out of the changing cubicle. Ralf silently resolved to give his father a big, manly hug the next time he saw him. "Ah... fine," he croaked. "Just fine." Iryien gave him her sunniest smile, and Ralf felt small parts of his brain fuse together. He'd been enclosed in a small room with Iryien for several hours though, so his recovery rate was increasing. "Um... usually, people wear something *besides* the scarf, though," he added nervously. "You know. The scarf is supposed to be in the nature of an accessory." Iryien smiled again, and it was all Ralf could do to stop his knees from giving way. "Oh, I won't be wearing it like this in public," she replied airily. "It's intended for a more private... intimate use. With a very special friend." She stroked the flimsy fabric lovingly. Who would have thought that a dump like this would have had a decent clothes shop? Once she'd seen it, she'd just *had* to go in and make some purchases. Her eyes glazed over as she envisaged Tao and herself in matching scarfs, romping on lush grass under a full moon while the wind gently caressed their... She blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "I was distracted for a moment. How much do I owe you for this?" Ralf lay on the floor, a thin trickle of blood coming out of his nose. Iryien frowned and left some money on the counter. For some odd reason, she often seemed to get that result when she inadvertantly began her [THRUST]ing exercises. - = - Treisel threw open the swinging double doors that lead into the inn. The other patrons turned to stare at the wild-looking youth. He ignored their looks and the murmurs and stomped directly over to the door to the girls' room. Not bothering to knock, he turned the knob and walked right in. Inside, Iryien was waiting. She was casually sprawled out across the bed, draped in what could very generously be called a flimsy shawl. Treisel's eyes widened as his eyes took in the sight before him, and he fought off a nosebleed. He clenched his eyes and shook his head. "Have you seen Tao?" he asked, the worry evident in his voice. At the sound of his words, Iryien immediately sprung to her feet, covering herself with her cloak. She looked at him, suspisicion flaring. "What's happened to Tao?" "She's gone missing. She ran off, and I don't know where she is now," Treisel explained. "I... was insensitive, I think. I said some hurtful things, did some things I shouldn't have... I crossed the line of friendship." "What did you do you her?" she asked, ice in her voice. "What did you say?" Treisel faltered. He couldn't exactly explain why he'd asked for Tao's help; that would mean telling Iryien that he was interested in her, and this was completely the wrong time and place for that. Tao was missing, and it was because he'd gone and upset her, because he'd gotten carried away and kissed her. "Well?" Iryien demanded. She was standing directly in front of him now, her face only inches from his own. Treisel gulped nervously. Iryien drew her fist back, ready to pound him righteously into the ground. Suddenly, she relaxed, dropping her fist. Her eyes softened as she took in his appearance -- the tattered cloths, the small twigs stuck in his hair, the scratches and cuts on his face and hands... "You're... really worried about her, aren't you?" Treisel nodded slowly, still unable to speak. Iryien smiled slightly, understanding. "Let's go find her, then. Where'd you last see her?" "I'm back!" came a booming voice. Treisel and Iryien looked over to the door, where Waj was standing, his arms full of rations and other supplies. He walked into the room and carefully set his load down on the bed. Treisel blinked. He could have sworn that among all of the bags and boxes the demon had set down, there was a bouquet of roses. But he didn't really have time to waste on floral concerns. "Tao's missing, Waj," he told the demon. "She's gone! We have to look for her!" Waj looked over at Iryien almost wistfully before turning to face Treisel. "You're kidding! Where did she go?" Treisel blinked again. Waj's breath smelled... pleasant. Minty, almost. He banished those extraneous thoughts from his mind before answering Waj. "If we knew where she went, we wouldn't have to find her, now would we?" "Hmm.... You do have a point, there," Waj agreed. "Well, where did you see her last?" "He saw her in the woods, down by one of the streams feeding the river," Iryien began. She looked up at Waj to see that the demon's attentions were focused on her and her alone. She shifted nervously under his gaze. "She ran off.. and..." The room fell into an uncomfortable silence for a moment, before Treisel stood up and walked to the door. "Well, let's go," he said, reaching for the knob. Just as he took ahold of it, the door swung open, revealing the tall figure of Ezekiel. Ezekiel smiled widely as he strode into the room. "Well, I've got good news, folks. It took a little bit of doing, but I called in some favors, and we're good to go!" His smiled turned to a slight frown, disappointed by the rather underwhelming response to his announcement. His frown grew wider as he did a quick inventory of people in the room. "Where is Tao?" he demanded, perhaps a bit too eagerly for his liking. "She's gone, run off," Waj told him in a level, calm voice. "We were just about to go find her." "You know where she is, then?" Ezekiel asked, a note of relief in his voice. It really wouldn't do for him to promise the girl to his Master, only to have her disappear by the time he'd returned to collect her. Iryien shook her head. "No, we know where she started from. Anything beyond that, is up in the air." "Well, you're a magician. Have you tried using a spell to find her?" Ezekiel asked, looking at Treisel. Treisel's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe he hadn't thought of that. It was such a simple solution too. Travelling with Tao had gotten him into a habit of not relying on magic. "Let's see," he said, humming to himself. He rubbed his jaw. "The best spell in this case would be.... would be..." "Finder." "Right! Finder. Thanks, Iryien!" Treisel began digging through his back for the necessary spell components. "Oh blast," he said. "We need a reflective surface." "How about this?" Iryien asked, handing him her compact. Treisel studied it, then nodded his approval. Sprinkling some crushed herbs over it, he began chanting quietly, weaving together the Finder spell. The plane surface of the mirror started to glow with a dull white light, growing in intensity for a brief moment before it faded out, leaving the image of Tao. She was talking to an elderly gentleman, in the woods, it looked like. They chatted for a few moments, and then the man gestured at ground. With almost no warning, the ground opened up and the two of them decended down a fiery stairway... "What just happened!?" Treisel demanded. He looked at Iryien, who had gone pale. He turned to Waj and Ezekiel, who were both shaking their heads in disbelief. "What?" "Tao has just gone to Hell." Ezekiel placed his hand on Treisel's shoulder to reassure him. "Trust us, we were heading there anyway. We'll just have another stop on the way before we go to find out why Waj wasn't allowed back." Waj chuckled loudly. "Oh, this should be rich. Remember, you two, stay as close to us as you possibly can." "What, is it going to be dangerous or something?" Iryien asked. "Nah, it's more like... Oh, I don't know. Culture shock?" Waj offered. "Hell really isn't what you're expecting. Trust me." "Whatever," Treisel replied. He turned to Ezekiel, grim determination on his face. "Take us to her." The angel nodded slowly. "We're going to Hell." - = - Tao stumbled into a large clearing, rubbing her arm gingerly. She'd picked up quite a few scratches in her headlong rush away from Trei, before she'd realised that she a) had no idea where she was and b) had no idea how she had gotten there. Since then, she'd just trekked through the forest, hoping to find a road or hopefully, the others. Unfortunately, she hadn't been very successful. She glanced around the clearing and groaned. There was the same broken stump, the same deep muddy puddle, (she scraped some mud off her calf) the same old man standing calmly in the middle of the clearing... She'd been through here three times already. She sighed and sat down moodily, some primeval instinct at the back of her mind suddenly alerted. She absentmindedly ignored it. This was yet another cruel trick that Fate had played on her. Any halfway decent mage could have cast a simple Finder spell to discover the location of the others. The instinct jumped up and down, waving its metaphorical arms in an attempt to gain her attention. She knew the theory for a Finder spell -- the words and gestures were right there in her mind... The instinct wrote out a metaphorical sign and waved it around, then broke the sign over its metaphorical knee in frustration. Perhaps, just this once, she'd be able to perform a simple spell without her stupid aura disrupting it... But then, she didn't want to face the possible consequences if she was wrong. She sighed, disregarding the thought, and wearily got back to her feet. Time to go. The instinct sighed, shrugged in a 'I didn't want to do this, but you've forced me to it' kinda way, grabbed a large portion of frontal lobe and bit down hard. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Wait a minute! There was an old man standing in the middle of the clearing! The instinct gasped in feigned astonishment and wandered off for a well-deserved metaphorical coffee break. "Ah, Spellbreaker! I have been looking for you, do you realize?" the old man asked, walking towards her. She pointed at her chest. "Are you talking to me?" she asked, letting just enough of her confusion show. "Why, of course I mean you! "Always the playful one, weren't you? Very well, I'll play along," he said, winking at her. "I am Elmunster Cornelius de la Roche. I am here to escort you. Now let us be on our way; your mother is most anxious to see you." "My mother? Where do you think you're taking me?" Then her brain caught up. "Wait, *Elmunster*? The sorcerer? You're the one we've been looking for!" "Why, isn't that obvious?" Elmunster smiled, blithely ignoring her last two questions. "I've come to take you home." Tao felt a small worm squiggle in her stomach. It wasn't fear, which would at least have been normal. Fear, she could have understood. But somehow, she just couldn't be afraid of this man, famous sorcerer or not. He was almost familar, somehow. No, this sensation wasn't fear. This was more... anticipation? Excitement? "I have no home," she said quietly. "Not any more. And my mother is dead. Both of my parents are dead. I'm sorry, sir, you must be mistaken." For a very brief moment Elmunster's face resembled a thunderstorm. "Dead? Is *that* what they told you?" he roared. "The incompetent fools! To grow up without any idea of your heritage, your potential!? That is nothing short of *criminal*!" To her mild alarm, Tao saw small sparks leaping from the sorcerer's hands. Elmunster noticed her glance and made an obvious effort to calm down. "I'm sorry, Tao," he said soberly. "If I'd known... but no matter. Your parents are both very far from dead. You have a home -- two homes, in fact. And I've been entrusted with escorting you to see your mother, right now." He smiled wanly. "Of course, that must seem very flimsy right now..." "No," Tao decided, her mind suddenly flipping into calm determination. "No, I want to see my mother. Take me to her, please?" Elmunster looked at her dubiously. "Are you *sure*, Tao?" he asked. "From your point of view, I can't be very trustworthy." "I trust you," Tao said firmly. "I don't know why I do, exactly, but I do. And I want some answers. I want... I want to know. Please?" Elmunster grinned, a roguish, impish grin which should have looked completely out of place on that eighty-year old face, but strangely, did not. "Far be it from me to refuse a lady!" he declared, waving his arm in an oddly ceremonial gesture. For the first time Tao noticed the arcane diagrams sketched onto the forest floor. She had no time to study them though. With a sudden roar of flames the ground covered by the diagrams collapsed, revealing a descending staircase. Ponderous, ominous music echoed up from the depths of the earth and wisps of smoke escaped into the clearing, wafting through Tao's hair. A flock of ravens suddenly took to the sky with a shock of beating wings, cawing raucously. "Honestly, demons have to make a drama out of *everything*," Elmunster complained, chivalrously offering his elbow to the stunned girl. "Shall we go?" Numbly, Tao took the offered support and entered the portal. She had only time to notice one thing before descending the stairs -- the worm in her stomach had hatched into a butterfly. FIN (chapter 12) - = - AUTHORS' NOTES [or, In Which The Authors Cut and Paste from Chat] *** Now talking in #notes Wai! I'm the admin! * Ravi nods. That you are. ^_^ * Phoebe lords it over Ravi * Ravi pouts. Okie! We're going to do the notes things now Yosh! Normally, we'd thank our pre-readers But... we didn't have any. But... we didn't have any What she said. Yes, what I said. I'm the admin and what I say goes! Hai! Phoebe-sama! Ahem. Anyway, we acted as each other's pre-readers for this. So I'm going to thank Ravi. And I'm going to thank Phoebe. Because it has been sooooo much sun to work with him ^_^ Not to mention an honour ^_^ Sun? Is that some strange New Zealanderism? Fun. Fun! Ah. Okie. * Phoebe bows and kisses Ravi on the cheek. * Ravi blushes prettily and takes a bow. Curse that Typo Demon. (He truly is the most evil person in Impro) * Phoebe baps Ravi. "Hmm? WHO is?" Ow. You are, Phoebe! You are! Yes. I am. Vote for me! Ne, Ravi-chan... Yes? It's been an honOUR Mwaha! * Ravi glares at Phoebe. Silly Brits and their colonies. You'd almost think they thought they'd invented the bloody language. * Phoebe happy EnglishEnglishLanguageDances * Phoebe baps Ravi with a sign reading "No Z's, EVER!" Oh feh. One of these days you'll realiZe the proper way to spell things. If you want to know who wrote what part, we suggest you check the spelling. Cos don't we all like to waste time and avoid work? Yeah, it's pretty obvious who wrote what. Mine are the good parts. ^_^ NEEEEEEEEE????? * Phoebe advances on Ravi Okay folks! It's been fun! Gotta go! * Ravi takes off running, over the horizon. BAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! * Phoebe leaps into pursuit And remember, vote for meeeeeee!