Disclaimer: I own none of the places, although many of the creatures are of my invention, they would have never come to being without the reading of the Xanth series.
Soul in a Marble: Part Two
By Rhi and "Mercy"
Chapter Six: Anywhere
Kie was a very good companion, as Flinch found out. Even though he initially though she was a little too talkative, he realized that Kie's chatter was oddly comforting. Since she didn't need to eat or sleep, he decided when and where to stop for the night.
One day, they came upon a strange sight. A man was trying to yank open a cottage door, which appeared to be locked. Flinch strolled up and chittered, "Pardon me, but why do you want to get in there?"
The man wiped sweat off his brow. "Can't you see? Foolish spider, this is the fabulous, wonderful map store."
"Oh." Kie and Flinch chimed together, feeling very foolish, which was not a foreign emotion to the greenhorn travelers.
"Now, leave me alone, so I can open this %%%% door." Kie blushed pink, which was an interesting effect against her white bones.
"Maybe we could help you?" Flinch suggested, looking at Kie pointedly, who vigorously shook her head.
"How? Anyway, I am Ego Tist. I make people feel foolish, so by contrast I seem intelligent. I need to get into the map store so I can find Sending. He could change reality for me, so I will truthfully be appreciated, like I should."
"What do you mean?"
"After my talent wears off, people generally think of me as a boorish goblin. While my talent is working on people, it tends to make them irritated and annoyed with my skills. If I could only open this door, my problems would be solved."
Flinch and Kie looked at each other. The minute skeleton sighed and willed herself into a key. Flinch fitted her into the lock, which swung open with a creak.
After the water had finally run out, the trio peered in. Boxes of map were stacked upon more boxes, which were leaning against more boxes marked "MAPS". Flinch browsed through the boxes until he found a magic map, updated daily and moving markers. Ego Tist thanked them absentmindedly and they hurried off.
Chapter Seven: Music Man
Lusion and Cay were lost. There was no doubt of that. Cay tried to communicate with the grass, but as she did not know the Language of Plants, her efforts where in vain. So the demons wandered along the path and were pleasently surprised to come upon a skeleton.
He was wearing a tuxedo, and waving his arms to music emanating from a bone organ in his mouth. A wig of shaggy red hair accented every movement.
Lusion was the first to speak. "Excuse me, do you know how to get to Castle Roogna?"
The skeleton turned. "As a matter of fact, I do. My name is Thom Bone, and I can make instruments from my bones. I love music."
"Which way is it?" Cay asked impatiently.
"I'll show you where, it's not far from the Band Stand I'm headed for. Besides, young girls shouldn't travel alone." Thom Bone said, changed the mouth organ to a minature violin, with a tiny bone bow.
Before Cay could retort that they were thousand year old demons and could travel just fine without help, Lusion kicked her in the shins. Cay stifled a squeal, trying hard not to dissapate her body.
"Thank you, Thom Bone." Lusion smiled at him, then glared at the shaking demon beside her, who shot daggers from her eyes. Lusion ducked.
Thom, Lusion and Cay headed toward Castle Roogna.
Chapter Eight: Hag
Flinch and Kie trekked on to Castle Roogna, occasionally taking breaks to catch Flinch food, to rest, and for Kie to take in the beauty of Xanth. At each stop, they would find their position in accordance to Castle Roogna on the map. Flinch hoped he could get to DeCay and DeLusion before they found protection in the castle.
It was gettnig dark, which didn't bother the giant spider at all, but Kie had wanted to experience sleeping in a beer barrel tree, so Flinch found an empty tree and obliged.
The next morning, they stopped in a clearing. Bathed in the oozing light stood a large cottage, which was titled, "Hari's House" on the map. Although it was a beautiful house, all white cottage cheese, the horrid squeals floating out were considerably less pleasent.
Flinch looked at his map again. Still far away from Castle Roogna. "Flying Rats!" he swore.
Kie shrieked, an unnaturally loud and piercing scream for such a little skeleton. Flinch turned to see the vision of ugliness Kie was seeing.
It was Hari, the owner of the cottage. She was a hag, no other words could describe her condition, although "crone" and "what is that horrid thing?" came to mind. Her yellow, though thoroughly tangled, hair was rather pretty, but she was still a hag on a pooka, which was almost as wretched as herself. Her muddy eyes came to rest on the spider and the skeleton.
"Well, Jethi, it seems we;ll be getting dinner tonight, eh?" Hari the Hag pointed her finger at Flinch, and he knew no more.
When he woke up, he was locked in a cage and Kie was no where to be found.
Chapter Nine: What's Cooking?
"Flinch! Help me! I'm over here!" Kie was crumpled up in a ball and tied over a cup of vine-gar. With the help of magic, the rope she was tied to was descending every few moments. Within minutes, Kie would disinegrate.
Flinch looked around and saw his small cage was made of thin yarn. Obviously this "Hari" didn't know what she/ he (too ugly to distinguish, but presumed female) was doing. Spiders, even giant ones like him, were masters of threads. The talent of weaving webs and such designs were ingrained into their very beings. He concentrated on one thread and followed it around. Satisfied, he began to chew.
The hag below failed to notice-she was too busy flipping though her cookbook, muttering rapidly about which sauces would tastes best with boiled jumping spiders marinated in skeleton vine-gar. "Decisions, decisions." She cackled happily, pulling a bronze pot from a pantry.
"Kie!" Flinch whispered, halfway through with his destruction of the flimsy cage.
The terrified skeleton looked up. Even from his distance, Flinch could see the skeleton was frightened and desperately trying to keep her body from the bubbling liquid. The pernicious fumes reached his nostrils, and he fought the urge to retch.
Working with speed, Flinch silently freed himself of the cage and dropped onto the floor. The hag remained ignorant, bustling around in the adjacent kitchen.
The rope began to lower more quickly, and Flinch could see the vine-gar a scant inch from Kie's body. He jumped to her rescue.
One thing Flinch should have remembered was that he was a huge spider and it was a cottage, not a mansion, he was inhabiting. He knocked the vine-gar over, but the force of his jump carried him across the room... and through the wall. The resulting noise of bubbling vine-gar on dried cottage cheese, falling shelves and breaking vases was enough noise to disturb the most distracted hag from her cooking.
In a moment, the ghastly figure stepped out of the wreckage. "You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!" She chanted ominously, all the while fingering a glinting ladle.
The duo bolted. Through the forest the spider scurried, with the skeleton hanging on for her dear life; the enraged hag following at their heels hotly. It was too good to last. They stopped, for before them was a garden of tangle trees.
"Of course it would happen to us." Flinch groaned, and turned around to watch the hag approach.
"You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!" She continued her monosyllablic monologue.
"Such a conversationalist." Whispered Kie sarcastically.
Flinch ignored the skeleton's wit and did the best thing he could thing of. He screamed.
Chapter Ten: Staples, Glue, and Straps
Demon Lusion jumped. "Did you hear that?" She asked.
"What? The scream? Nah-it's probably some stupid farmer who get bit by a cobra plant." Cay chortled nastily.
It came again, a desperate shriek filling their ears. Their eyes met, and the two demons decided to investigate.
When they finally tracked down the screams, which really didn't take all that long, Cay grabbed Lusion's arm. "Look! It's the spider brat! You know, little 'I-want-my-dad's-soul-back'? We should just let the old bag take care of--"
Cay was talking to thin air. Presently, the air would be thicken with misuse and become thick air. However, the thickness of air was not the present issue on Cay's mind. Lusion was heading toward the hag with a look of determination glued, stapled and strapped on to her face.
Cay sighed. When Lusion had determination so tightly fixed on her person, there was no way of stopping her, except to help her. She looked around for a suitable weapon.
Chapter Eleven: Save Our Selves
Hari was still chanting, "You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!" as she lit a fire underneath the copper pot which she had been wearing as an attractive head piece-it covered her face.
Flinch didn't know about Kie, but the rhythmic beat of the chant was making him sleeply. He looked over and saw her sitting unaffected. Oh, right. Skeletons didn't sleep. Why did all the bad things happen to living, breathing creatures?
He stopped thinking about the unfairness of life, not because he had matured in the last millisecond, but because he saw a figure creeping up on the hag. It was May, no, DeLusion. The stupid demon who'd stolen his father's soul. He would have said something, but the demon quickly held a finger up to her lips.
Because he saw a figure creeping up on the hag. It was May, no, DeLusion. The stupid demon who'd stolen his father's soul. He would have said something, but the demon quickly held a finger up to her lips.
"You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!"
"Oh, shut up." Spoke a voice yards away from the hag. Cay stood stiffly, holding a branch and glaring at the surprised hag. "Do us a favor and shut up."
The hag pondered her words a moment and spoke up, "You stopped my chant! You pay! You stopped my chant! You pay!"
Lusion sighed and reached for the hag. "I didn't want it to come to this." She said.
The hag must have had some sense; evidently she realized some magic would be performed on her. The thing reached for Lusion's curls and pulled.
Flinch shuddered at the battle cry reverberating from the demon's throat. "Never, never pull a demon's hair," he thought.
Lusion turned to the hag, eyes burning. As the smoke wafted up over her head, she lurched forward and grabbed Hari's throat. In turn, Hari opened her mouth, serrated teeth flashing as she positioned the little daggers over Lusion's arm. Lusion brought her foot up... into Hari's stomach.
"Oh, dungballs, Lusion. Grow up and stop toying with the hag. It's not nice to play with your food." Cay yawned.
Lusion ignored Cay, her left hand working furiously to dig gashes in Hari's skin.
"Are they going to kill each other?" Kie asked, eyes (sockets, if you must be totally correct) widening in worry.
Hari, strength clearly failing, thrashed in Lusion's strong hold. She brought her hand up, raking it accross Lusion's skin.
"Oh, dungballs." Cay whispered, going pale.
If Lusion had been in a fighting mood minutes ago, it was nothing compared to now. She gingerly felt the blood trickling down her cheek. "You hag." She whispered, and launched herself onto the thing.
"I don't know, Kie. But I don't think Hari has much of a chance. If she got angry for a curl pulled, imagine what she'll do over blood being drawn."
The fight went on. And on. Just as it seemed Lusion would finally triumph, the hag would summon an inner core of fighting stamina and the battle would continue.
In the ball of dust that had kicked up by the oppenents, Hari uttered a yelp and went quiet. As the dust settled, Lusion could be seen to be standing proudly over an exhausted, defeated hag.
"What'd you do to stop her?" Cay inquired, color coming back to her face.
Lusion shrugged. "This and that." She panted. "Mostly this." She held two fingers up and squeezed.
"Oh, the old 'get-them-in-the-shoulder-blades' thing, huh?"
"Yup."
Flinch watched with amazement. These two girls, no, demons were talking about the fight and defeat of a bloodthirsty hag as easily as he and his father would discuss flies! How could they stand there conversing while a hag lay defeated? Shouldn't they be cheering, or something?
"Well, it was fun, kiddies. But we're leaving now. Bye!" Cay called over her shoulder, having abadoned the branch. Lusion stood beside her, looking smug.
The spider and skeleton waved goodbye to the disappearing duo.
"That was nice of them." Kie murmured.
Then Flinch remembered his task-to get his father's soul back. And. He. Had. Just. Let. Them. Go.
He groaned.
~End Part Two~
Soul in a Marble: Part Two
By Rhi and "Mercy"
Chapter Six: Anywhere
Kie was a very good companion, as Flinch found out. Even though he initially though she was a little too talkative, he realized that Kie's chatter was oddly comforting. Since she didn't need to eat or sleep, he decided when and where to stop for the night.
One day, they came upon a strange sight. A man was trying to yank open a cottage door, which appeared to be locked. Flinch strolled up and chittered, "Pardon me, but why do you want to get in there?"
The man wiped sweat off his brow. "Can't you see? Foolish spider, this is the fabulous, wonderful map store."
"Oh." Kie and Flinch chimed together, feeling very foolish, which was not a foreign emotion to the greenhorn travelers.
"Now, leave me alone, so I can open this %%%% door." Kie blushed pink, which was an interesting effect against her white bones.
"Maybe we could help you?" Flinch suggested, looking at Kie pointedly, who vigorously shook her head.
"How? Anyway, I am Ego Tist. I make people feel foolish, so by contrast I seem intelligent. I need to get into the map store so I can find Sending. He could change reality for me, so I will truthfully be appreciated, like I should."
"What do you mean?"
"After my talent wears off, people generally think of me as a boorish goblin. While my talent is working on people, it tends to make them irritated and annoyed with my skills. If I could only open this door, my problems would be solved."
Flinch and Kie looked at each other. The minute skeleton sighed and willed herself into a key. Flinch fitted her into the lock, which swung open with a creak.
After the water had finally run out, the trio peered in. Boxes of map were stacked upon more boxes, which were leaning against more boxes marked "MAPS". Flinch browsed through the boxes until he found a magic map, updated daily and moving markers. Ego Tist thanked them absentmindedly and they hurried off.
Chapter Seven: Music Man
Lusion and Cay were lost. There was no doubt of that. Cay tried to communicate with the grass, but as she did not know the Language of Plants, her efforts where in vain. So the demons wandered along the path and were pleasently surprised to come upon a skeleton.
He was wearing a tuxedo, and waving his arms to music emanating from a bone organ in his mouth. A wig of shaggy red hair accented every movement.
Lusion was the first to speak. "Excuse me, do you know how to get to Castle Roogna?"
The skeleton turned. "As a matter of fact, I do. My name is Thom Bone, and I can make instruments from my bones. I love music."
"Which way is it?" Cay asked impatiently.
"I'll show you where, it's not far from the Band Stand I'm headed for. Besides, young girls shouldn't travel alone." Thom Bone said, changed the mouth organ to a minature violin, with a tiny bone bow.
Before Cay could retort that they were thousand year old demons and could travel just fine without help, Lusion kicked her in the shins. Cay stifled a squeal, trying hard not to dissapate her body.
"Thank you, Thom Bone." Lusion smiled at him, then glared at the shaking demon beside her, who shot daggers from her eyes. Lusion ducked.
Thom, Lusion and Cay headed toward Castle Roogna.
Chapter Eight: Hag
Flinch and Kie trekked on to Castle Roogna, occasionally taking breaks to catch Flinch food, to rest, and for Kie to take in the beauty of Xanth. At each stop, they would find their position in accordance to Castle Roogna on the map. Flinch hoped he could get to DeCay and DeLusion before they found protection in the castle.
It was gettnig dark, which didn't bother the giant spider at all, but Kie had wanted to experience sleeping in a beer barrel tree, so Flinch found an empty tree and obliged.
The next morning, they stopped in a clearing. Bathed in the oozing light stood a large cottage, which was titled, "Hari's House" on the map. Although it was a beautiful house, all white cottage cheese, the horrid squeals floating out were considerably less pleasent.
Flinch looked at his map again. Still far away from Castle Roogna. "Flying Rats!" he swore.
Kie shrieked, an unnaturally loud and piercing scream for such a little skeleton. Flinch turned to see the vision of ugliness Kie was seeing.
It was Hari, the owner of the cottage. She was a hag, no other words could describe her condition, although "crone" and "what is that horrid thing?" came to mind. Her yellow, though thoroughly tangled, hair was rather pretty, but she was still a hag on a pooka, which was almost as wretched as herself. Her muddy eyes came to rest on the spider and the skeleton.
"Well, Jethi, it seems we;ll be getting dinner tonight, eh?" Hari the Hag pointed her finger at Flinch, and he knew no more.
When he woke up, he was locked in a cage and Kie was no where to be found.
Chapter Nine: What's Cooking?
"Flinch! Help me! I'm over here!" Kie was crumpled up in a ball and tied over a cup of vine-gar. With the help of magic, the rope she was tied to was descending every few moments. Within minutes, Kie would disinegrate.
Flinch looked around and saw his small cage was made of thin yarn. Obviously this "Hari" didn't know what she/ he (too ugly to distinguish, but presumed female) was doing. Spiders, even giant ones like him, were masters of threads. The talent of weaving webs and such designs were ingrained into their very beings. He concentrated on one thread and followed it around. Satisfied, he began to chew.
The hag below failed to notice-she was too busy flipping though her cookbook, muttering rapidly about which sauces would tastes best with boiled jumping spiders marinated in skeleton vine-gar. "Decisions, decisions." She cackled happily, pulling a bronze pot from a pantry.
"Kie!" Flinch whispered, halfway through with his destruction of the flimsy cage.
The terrified skeleton looked up. Even from his distance, Flinch could see the skeleton was frightened and desperately trying to keep her body from the bubbling liquid. The pernicious fumes reached his nostrils, and he fought the urge to retch.
Working with speed, Flinch silently freed himself of the cage and dropped onto the floor. The hag remained ignorant, bustling around in the adjacent kitchen.
The rope began to lower more quickly, and Flinch could see the vine-gar a scant inch from Kie's body. He jumped to her rescue.
One thing Flinch should have remembered was that he was a huge spider and it was a cottage, not a mansion, he was inhabiting. He knocked the vine-gar over, but the force of his jump carried him across the room... and through the wall. The resulting noise of bubbling vine-gar on dried cottage cheese, falling shelves and breaking vases was enough noise to disturb the most distracted hag from her cooking.
In a moment, the ghastly figure stepped out of the wreckage. "You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!" She chanted ominously, all the while fingering a glinting ladle.
The duo bolted. Through the forest the spider scurried, with the skeleton hanging on for her dear life; the enraged hag following at their heels hotly. It was too good to last. They stopped, for before them was a garden of tangle trees.
"Of course it would happen to us." Flinch groaned, and turned around to watch the hag approach.
"You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!" She continued her monosyllablic monologue.
"Such a conversationalist." Whispered Kie sarcastically.
Flinch ignored the skeleton's wit and did the best thing he could thing of. He screamed.
Chapter Ten: Staples, Glue, and Straps
Demon Lusion jumped. "Did you hear that?" She asked.
"What? The scream? Nah-it's probably some stupid farmer who get bit by a cobra plant." Cay chortled nastily.
It came again, a desperate shriek filling their ears. Their eyes met, and the two demons decided to investigate.
When they finally tracked down the screams, which really didn't take all that long, Cay grabbed Lusion's arm. "Look! It's the spider brat! You know, little 'I-want-my-dad's-soul-back'? We should just let the old bag take care of--"
Cay was talking to thin air. Presently, the air would be thicken with misuse and become thick air. However, the thickness of air was not the present issue on Cay's mind. Lusion was heading toward the hag with a look of determination glued, stapled and strapped on to her face.
Cay sighed. When Lusion had determination so tightly fixed on her person, there was no way of stopping her, except to help her. She looked around for a suitable weapon.
Chapter Eleven: Save Our Selves
Hari was still chanting, "You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!" as she lit a fire underneath the copper pot which she had been wearing as an attractive head piece-it covered her face.
Flinch didn't know about Kie, but the rhythmic beat of the chant was making him sleeply. He looked over and saw her sitting unaffected. Oh, right. Skeletons didn't sleep. Why did all the bad things happen to living, breathing creatures?
He stopped thinking about the unfairness of life, not because he had matured in the last millisecond, but because he saw a figure creeping up on the hag. It was May, no, DeLusion. The stupid demon who'd stolen his father's soul. He would have said something, but the demon quickly held a finger up to her lips.
Because he saw a figure creeping up on the hag. It was May, no, DeLusion. The stupid demon who'd stolen his father's soul. He would have said something, but the demon quickly held a finger up to her lips.
"You broke my house! You pay! You broke my house! You pay!"
"Oh, shut up." Spoke a voice yards away from the hag. Cay stood stiffly, holding a branch and glaring at the surprised hag. "Do us a favor and shut up."
The hag pondered her words a moment and spoke up, "You stopped my chant! You pay! You stopped my chant! You pay!"
Lusion sighed and reached for the hag. "I didn't want it to come to this." She said.
The hag must have had some sense; evidently she realized some magic would be performed on her. The thing reached for Lusion's curls and pulled.
Flinch shuddered at the battle cry reverberating from the demon's throat. "Never, never pull a demon's hair," he thought.
Lusion turned to the hag, eyes burning. As the smoke wafted up over her head, she lurched forward and grabbed Hari's throat. In turn, Hari opened her mouth, serrated teeth flashing as she positioned the little daggers over Lusion's arm. Lusion brought her foot up... into Hari's stomach.
"Oh, dungballs, Lusion. Grow up and stop toying with the hag. It's not nice to play with your food." Cay yawned.
Lusion ignored Cay, her left hand working furiously to dig gashes in Hari's skin.
"Are they going to kill each other?" Kie asked, eyes (sockets, if you must be totally correct) widening in worry.
Hari, strength clearly failing, thrashed in Lusion's strong hold. She brought her hand up, raking it accross Lusion's skin.
"Oh, dungballs." Cay whispered, going pale.
If Lusion had been in a fighting mood minutes ago, it was nothing compared to now. She gingerly felt the blood trickling down her cheek. "You hag." She whispered, and launched herself onto the thing.
"I don't know, Kie. But I don't think Hari has much of a chance. If she got angry for a curl pulled, imagine what she'll do over blood being drawn."
The fight went on. And on. Just as it seemed Lusion would finally triumph, the hag would summon an inner core of fighting stamina and the battle would continue.
In the ball of dust that had kicked up by the oppenents, Hari uttered a yelp and went quiet. As the dust settled, Lusion could be seen to be standing proudly over an exhausted, defeated hag.
"What'd you do to stop her?" Cay inquired, color coming back to her face.
Lusion shrugged. "This and that." She panted. "Mostly this." She held two fingers up and squeezed.
"Oh, the old 'get-them-in-the-shoulder-blades' thing, huh?"
"Yup."
Flinch watched with amazement. These two girls, no, demons were talking about the fight and defeat of a bloodthirsty hag as easily as he and his father would discuss flies! How could they stand there conversing while a hag lay defeated? Shouldn't they be cheering, or something?
"Well, it was fun, kiddies. But we're leaving now. Bye!" Cay called over her shoulder, having abadoned the branch. Lusion stood beside her, looking smug.
The spider and skeleton waved goodbye to the disappearing duo.
"That was nice of them." Kie murmured.
Then Flinch remembered his task-to get his father's soul back. And. He. Had. Just. Let. Them. Go.
He groaned.
~End Part Two~