Ryoko let out a sigh and pursed her lips as Washu stood up and stretched her arms.
"Want to know more, or do you want to go to bed?" she asked halfheartedly, thinking she would try and give Ryoko a choice.
"I want to know more, but I think I'd end up falling asleep," Ryoko said, but remained on the bed.
"Well, I'm not going to keep myself up if you're going to fall asleep," Washu said as she headed for the door, intending on helping Ryoko find her way out.
"Than you can talk until I pass out," Ryoko said, causing Washu to stop. She turned around and stared at Ryoko before glancing around the room and giving Ryoko an awkward look.
"Who says I want you to sleep in here? Who says I don't sleep in here?" Washu asked with a slight bite to her voice.
"Sorry I asked," Ryoko mumbled before standing up.
"Ryoko, wait," Washu said, halting her daughter in mid-faze. She fully appeared and watched as Washu walked over to her before wrinkling her brow at the downcast expression on her mother's face.
"What?"
"Do you really want to know that badly?" Washu asked.
"Yes, I do," Ryoko said as she sat back down. Washu sat next to her and rubbed her temples in slight irritation, but she owed Ryoko an explanation, she guessed.
"Ryo-Ohki was smart and knew what was going on. She had gone back to your room to warn me, but I had already noticed you were gone…"
Putiko jumped up as the door behind him swung open to reveal a worry-stricken Washu.
"Putiko, where's Ryoko? Did you see her come out?" Washu asked in a rushed voice.
No. Why? Putiko asked as his own concern cultivated itself as he woke up. Washu then looked over and saw Ryo-Ohki quickly making her way around a corner and went to the cabbit as it stumbled into a roll as she tripped over her ears.
"Where's Ryoko?" she asked the fuzz-ball. Ryo-Ohki squirmed in her grasps before taking off around the corner again with Washu and Putiko in tow.
You really think that thing will know where she is? Putiko asked critically. Washu didn't answer him, but just continued to follow the cabbit until they came to a carpet on the wall. Washu wrinkled her brow as the cabbit pawed at the corner and looked up at the story it told but didn't understand what the cabbit was trying to tell her. The carpet portrayed an old man holding a Clav pup in his arms and walking down an old path towards what looked like the kingdom they were living in.
Told you Putiko snorted. Washu looked over at him before down at the cabbit who was now trying to wiggle her way behind it. Washu slowly moved the tapestry to the side and felt her heart crack upon seeing the roughly cut doorway of a hallway behind the carpet. She stared at the doorway for a long time before feeling the cabbit pawing at her ankle. She leaned down and picked it up before cuddling it to her chin, still staring at the passage with a worried look.
"Go get the King," she whispered before placing the cabbit down on the floor and heard it scuttle off down the hallway.
Why did you do that? Why not send me? Putiko asked, wounded that she used the 'pet' as the messenger.
"Because you're going to go find Ryoko," Washu said as she looked down at the beast. Putiko stared at her for a moment, knowing he had no choice and nodded before disappearing into the dark hallway.
***
"Why hello there," Mikollious said as Ryoko's pet came to a rolling stop at his feet after tripping on her ears again. She started meowing at him while jumping up before running for the door again. She stopped and looked back at him with an urgent look, causing him to wrinkle his brow before a smile broke out over his face.
"You want me to follow you?" he asked in an amused voice. Maybe it wasn't as stupid as it looked, seeing it gave him an enthusiastic meow before indicating the door again. He slowly shook his head and chuckled as he stood up before following the creature out of the throne room.
"Slow down. I'm an old man," he said as he slowly walked through the hallways, greeting the servants as they bowed to him. The critter ran over to him and nudged the back of his foot, urging him to move faster.
"Okay, okay," Mikollious chuckled before picking his pace up a bit, but it still wasn't fast enough for the cabbit. She then sank her teeth into his ankle hard enough to get her point across but not hard enough to draw any blood. He let out a shout before glaring down at the critter and saw it glaring right back at him. She then ran ahead again and turned to face him with the same urgent look on her small face.
"I don't have time for this," Mikollious mumbled before turning back towards the throne room. He started walking but stopped as he felt the creature bit him again, but the difference was that it almost brought tears to his eyes and he could feel small trickles of blood running down his ankle.
"Why you little…" he sneered before turned to see the cabbit running off. He ignored his ankle and ran after it, thinking how he didn't want that thing running loose around the castle. Better take care of it while it was in sight other than having to search for it later. He awkwardly ran down the hall after the cabbit and let out a grunt as a throbbing pain started to form in his ankle and heel. He then stopped and wrinkled his brow as he rounded the corner, finding Washu pacing the hallway with a fearful look on her face.
"Washu?" he asked curiously while she picked the cabbit up as it reached her. She looked over at him with the same fearful look and wrinkled her brow in worry. She opened her mouth to answer him but stopped and turned her head towards the carpet hanging on the wall. Mikollious followed her gaze and picked his jaw up off the floor as Putiko came out from behind the tapestry.
"Did you find anything?" she asked in a rushed voice.
This. The passage then split in two, so I came back Putiko said in a sullen tone as he handed Washu Ryoko's doll. Washu took the doll from him and let out a whimper as she saw the rip in it's front leg, as though it had been torn from her hands against her wishes.
"What's going on here? And why is that little thing so violent?" Mikollious bellowed, wondering why the hell he had been dragged all the way here. It was too early for this.
"She's gone, Mikollious," Washu whimpered as she looked over at him with a grief-ridden face. Mikollious wrinkled his brow and tilted his head before looking down at Putiko who was hanging his head.
"What? Who's gone? And why did that thing attack me?" he asked again, completely baffled.
"She's gone! Ryoko's gone…" Washu said before dropping all the cool she had and fell to her knees in fits of sobs. Ryoko knew better than to take off without asking anyone, let alone running off into dark hallways that were hidden behind the tapestries. Ryoko's always hated the dark, so this was more than just curiosity. Ryo-Ohki nudged her elbow as she sat on Washu's lap and softly meowed up at her.
We'll find her, Washu Putiko said as he sat by her side. Washu ignored his reassurances and hugged her arms while trying to calm her sobs. Mikollious knelt in front of her and let her cry on his shoulder, seeing there wasn't anything else he could do.
"You said the passage split in two?" Mikollious asked after a moment as he looked over at Putiko. The beast nodded and waited for Mikollious to say something, seeing he was obviously cultivating an idea by the look on his face.
"Go find Tashacca and then return here and search those two hallways," Mikollious demanded as he rose to his feet while pulling Washu up off the floor. "We are going to find her."
***
Putiko ran as fast as he could and found Tashacca lazing about in bed, seeing Paradise still wasn't up yet.
Come on. There's a job for us to do Putiko said as he nudged her awake.
It's still early, though she mumbled, still half asleep. Putiko then lifted her off the ground and placed her down hard on her feet, causing her to growl at him with an aggravated expression.
What's wrong with you? I was sleeping, okay? Tashacca said bitterly.
Ryoko's gone. We have to go search for her Putiko said.
Gone? What do you mean, gone? Tashacca asked, paying a bit more attention.
I don't know what happened, but she's in the passages within the castle walls for some reason Putiko said as he headed out the door without any more arguing from the white beast that followed him.
***
Ryoko crawled for what seemed like hours, not knowing where she was and felt her fear rising with every step she took. That figure had dragged her in here and she had managed to free herself of his grasp but now found herself lost within the castle walls, literally.
"Mommy?" she called softly, knowing she wasn't going to get an answer, but trying anyway. She wrinkled her small brow and slowly made her way through the hallways before stopping and letting out a whimper, seeing she didn't even have her Putiko doll to keep her company any more. He had told her that toys are for children and not demons, whatever that meant, before ripping it out of her hands. She then wrinkled her brow as she heard something fast approaching. It was a faint clicking sound that Ryoko knew all too well and jumped up before attempting to see around her.
"Putiko?" she called, hearing a growl from her right. She then ran her hand across the wall and ran in the direction Putiko was coming from but let out a scream as she felt someone sweep her up off the floor and into their arms.
"There you are. You know, you really shouldn't stray too far. You could get lost," the figure chuckled before dragging her deeper into the maze of passage ways.
***
Washu stood in the throne room, pacing in front of the thrones while Mikollious watched her before shifting nervously in his seat.
"Please calm down, Washu. If anyone will find her, Putiko will," Mikollious said. She stopped and held her chin as her eyes roamed the room, wondering if he was indeed right before letting out a sigh as Ryo-Ohki pawed at her ankle with a soft meow.
"You're right. But what if he doesn't find her?" she asked as she picked the cabbit up.
"He will. Don't worry," Mikollious said, glad that she had stopped pacing. She then wrinkled her brow slightly as she heard the familiar clicking of Putiko's claws on the stone floor and spun around to see him entering the throne room with Tashacca, but no Ryoko.
"Where is she?" Washu asked in an urgent voice as the two beast reached the thrones while putting Ryo-Ohki back on the floor.
I heard her call for me and followed where her voice was coming from, but as I grew closer, I heard someone else speaking to her. I couldn't find her after that. It was if she just disappeared Putiko said as he hung his head. Washu then knelt in front of him and grabbed his face violently, causing him to give her a wide-eyed look.
"Why did you stop searching?" she hissed bitterly.
"Washu, calm down," Mikollious repeated.
"No, I won't calm down!" Washu screamed as she rose to her feet.
"You will. Now, Putiko, did you see this person?" Mikollious asked as he held up a hand to silence Washu who crossed her arms and looked away with a nasty look on her face, ignoring Ryo-Ohki's persistent attempts to get her attention.
No he said with a small growl. Ryo-Ohki finally got fed up with being ignored and scuttled around the room, drawing their attention with her movement before running over to Mikollious and pawing at his cloak.
"Now what?" Mikollious asked as he sneered down at the critter that had bitten him earlier that morning. She meowed up at the others and pawed at his cloak again, causing Washu to wrinkle her brow.
"I hate this game," she muttered before kneeling down and thinking about what the cabbit was indicating. The cabbit let out a huff and started pulling on the King's cloak, causing him to shoo the creature away impatiently.
"What do you want? Go away," he sneered as he pushed it away for a second time as it went for his cloak again.
"What are you trying to tell us, Ryo-Ohki?" Washu asked, obviously the only one who understood that the cabbit was trying to tell them something. The cabbit ran over to her and jumped up while meowing and looking back at Mikollious.
"His cloak…" she muttered to herself before picking the cabbit up by the underarms and giving her a stern look.
"What about it? What's wrong with it?" he asked as he examined it for any stains that might have accumulated.
"You know who took her, don't you?" she asked firmly. The cabbit nodded her head and then pawed at the black on Washu's dress, causing the scientist to grow sick to her stomach.
Cloak and black… Putiko said before looking at Washu with a worried look.
"Someone wearing a black cloak took her," Washu said finally before looking over at Putiko with a scared look.
No need to ask he growled before taking off with Tashacca to continue their search.
***
Ryoko snapped her eyes open to find herself…in the lab? She blinked a few times before shooting her eyes around the room and let them focus on a figure cursing in the corner. He then let out a chuckle before turning around just as Ryoko closed her eyes, leading him to believe she was still out. She heard his footsteps approaching her and felt a tremor pass through her as he came to stand over her. She grew confused as a silence settled over the room, wondering what he was doing and way he was waiting. She then snapped her eyes open and shouted in pain as her wrist were engulfed in a fiery pain that squeezed tears from her eyes and she choked on her breath as her neck burst into a scorching burn that gagged her to no end.
"Shocking, isn't it?" the man chuckled as the burning faded to be replaced by an almost anxious feeling of energy, causing her body to shake. She looked at her wrists and her eyes widened while she let out a whimper as she saw her mother's gems slightly protruding from the skin. She then frantically felt around her neck and found the third one in the base of her neck where it meet the collarbone.
"Finally," he said with a chuckle before heading towards the corner. He stopped and spun around to face Ryoko before lowering his hood and smoothing down his hair that was as silver as the table she was lying on. His nose was pointy and roughly placed in the center of his face and held up a pare of small spectacles. His eyes were as golden as his and his smile was downright evil looking as he grinned at the frightened little girl.
What's happening? Ryoko thought to herself as she let out another whimper, causing the man to scowl at her.
"Fear is not an emotion you should embrace, Ryoko. You are the one to be feared. You are a demon as well as unwanted, so I'm taking it upon myself to make sure you fulfill what you were created to be," he sneered as he walked in her direction.
Demon? Unwanted? What is he talking about? Ryoko asked herself as she wrinkled her brow at him. He drew closer and she could see his hands balled into fists and she felt her body still trembling from the effect the gems had on her small body, as well as from fear as to what this man was intending.
"Looks like that fat fruit man couldn't warn your dear mother fast enough," he chortled as he continued his slow, leisurely walk towards her.
Pat? she thought to herself before feeling the tremble of fear rise in her gut as the man reached out for her. She then closed her eyes while raising a hand to ward him off and felt the anxious energy in her wrists and neck grow to a point where it was agonizingly painful before growing sick to her stomach. She took a few breaths and felt the pure energy coursing through her before it stopped all together, returning the anxious feeling to her wrists and neck. She could hear the sound of people talking and shouting and wrinkled her brow before lifting her while opening her eyes to come face to face with…Pat?
***
Washu had resumed her pacing of the room as she waited for some hopeful news from Putiko and Tashacca. She then stopped dead in her tracks and snapped her head up with a shocked look before looking around the room as her daughter's voice popped into her head.
What's happening? she heard, causing her to wrinkle her brow in confusion.
"Washu? Washu, are you okay?" Mikollious asked, seeing her confused, distraught look. She looked over at him and tilted her head while further wrinkling her brow.
"Did you hear that?" she asked curiously.
"Hear what?" he asked, causing her to look at the floor in thought.
"Nothing," she said after a moment of thought before resuming her pace, thinking of what she had just heard. It did sound as if it were from someone in the room with her, but more like a whisper in the back of her mind. It was, however, Ryoko's voice and Washu was certain of that.
"Washu, would you please stop pacing?" Mikollious asked with a pleading look. Nothing made him more nervous than someone pacing in front of him.
Demon? Unwanted? What is he talking about? she heard again, causing her eyes to fly open and her paces to stop once again.
"Ryoko?" she called out, wondering if the little girl was in the room somewhere. Actually, it was more like hoping the little girl was in the room.
"Washu, what is it? Ryoko, I hate to say, isn't in the room," Mikollious said as he tilted his head. Washu ignored him and spun around, searching for anything that resembled her daughter's hair, seeing that was what you usually noticed first. Mikollious then stood up and walked over to Washu before placing a hand o her shoulder, causing her to snap her head over to him and give him a wide-eyed, confused look.
"I heard her, Mikollious," she said as she looked around the room again.
"Ryoko? You heard her?" he asked critically.
"Yes, I heard her!" Washu shouted as she raised her hands up as if to strangle anyone who stepped in front of her.
"You're just worried about her, Washu. You thought you heard her. I didn't hear a thing," Mikollious said as he tilted his head to see her face. Washu let out a sigh and stood motionless, seeing if anything else would be said, but the room remained silent.
Pat? she heard her daughter say again, causing Washu to give Mikollious an almost pathetic look, begging him to believe her.
"I heard her voice, Mikollious. It wasn't my imagination," Washu said, as she thought of what Ryoko had just said in her mind. Pat? What about Pat?
"Come now, you couldn't have heard her, she's…" Mikollious started, but stopped himself as Washu shot him an apprehensive look. He smiled at her and let out a hangdog chuckle as he scratched the back of his neck before returning to his seat to resume watching her pace the room with her chin in her hand.
***
"Am…am I dreaming?" Ryoko asked, more to herself than the shocked fruit-seller standing in front of her.
"I don't know. Am I dreaming?" he asked in stupefied shock as he stared at the little girl. His look then softened a bit as he saw the appropriately place look of fear on her small face.
"What happened?" she asked as he picked her up of the ground to avoid being trampled by the passing crowd. How the hell did she get here? She was in the lab with that man walking over to her.
"I don't know, miss Ryoko. Ye just…popped out of nowhere," he said.
"How?" she asked in a soft voice, trying to figure this out. Pat then lifted her wrist as something caught his eye and they both looked at the gem embedded in her skin.
"I've never in me life seen jewels like these," he said as he examined the gems in her skin with an interested look. Ryoko, however, was giving them a look of sheer terror, seeing they were now glowing and she could feel her skin starting to burn again.
"They hurt," she whimpered after the burning faded to a degree as she calmed herself down. Pat then looked up at her and wrinkled his brow in disapproval.
"They hurt?" he echoed.
"My skin burns. My fingers are tingling," Ryoko said as she squeezed her fingers, trying to get the tingling that had aroused to stop. Pat then took her hand again and examined the wrist more closely and noticed the skin around the gem was starting to grow red with irritation almost to the point where it looked like it was infected.
"Who did this to ye, might I ask? Certainly not ye mother," Pat said with a small shake of his head.
"No, mommy didn't do this. I don't who it was," Ryoko whimpered as she continued to squeeze her fingers and could feel the burn return to her skin. She then let out a whimper as the skin around the gems on her wrists as well as her neck started to itch and scratched the back of her hands.
"Calm down, miss Ryoko. No use in getting upset over something neither of us understand," Pat said as he sat in his sagging chair. Ryoko let out a whine but did what she was told and sat motionless in his lap.
"Now, tell me. What did this stranger look like? The one that put these in ye skin?" he asked, indicating the gems.
"He was wearing a black cloak. His hair was silver and his eyes were gold, like mine," she said in a small voice as she lowered her head. Pat swallowed hard as she described the man he had spoken with and licked his lips before smiling at the little girl while handing her a shiny red apple. She took the treat and ran her fingers over the smooth surface but the fearful look remained on her face.
"Where is ye mother? Maybe she can help," Pat suggested.
"I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her since last night," Ryoko whined.
"That long, ye say?" he asked.
"I had gone to get a snack before she woke up this morning and that man had taken me," Ryoko said as she felt tears form in her eyes. She then wrinkled her brow as the burning returned to her skin and squeezed her fingers again while swallowing hard to rid the tingles tickling her throat.
Why is this happening? she asked herself.
"Then lets get ye back to the castle. I'm sure she's worried sick about ye," he said as he stood up, but wrinkled his brow as Ryoko violently shook her head.
"No! That's where that man is! He's in mommy's lab," she cried as her face twisted in childish fear.
"But that's where ye mother is, is it not?" Pat asked.
"But I don't want him to take me again!" Ryoko cried.
"If ye find ye mother, than you wouldn't have to worry about him. She would protect you," he said, trying to calm her fear, but doing just the opposite.
"He'll hurt her! I know he will!" she whined loudly as she started to wiggle in his arms before letting out a loud shout as the burn turned into a scorching pain. She scratched at the gems but her fingernails found no edge to grab and slid over the smooth surface, preventing her from removing them by those means. Pat wrinkled his brow and was about to say something but jumped back in shock as the little girl swiftly faded from sight.
***
"Why is what happening? Ryoko, where are you?" Washu shouted into the air as her daughter's voice popped into her head again. Mikollious had left the room to go see if any servants had seen the little girl with anyone, leaving Washu in a now empty throne room.
"I know I heard her," Washu said to herself as she let her eyes search the room. She then wrinkled her brow and spun around as she heard a faint whooshing sound behind her. Her face eyes then went wide and her body froze as she saw Ryoko sitting on the floor, scratching at her wrists. She wasn't there two seconds ago, but now she was, and she didn't seem to realize that she was sitting in the throne room. Washu then shook her head before finding her voice as well as the strength to move her legs.
"Ryoko!" she shouted before running over to the little girl who had snapped her head up at the sound of her mother's voice.
"Mommy?" she asked before looking around the room with a fearful look. She was back at the castle, and that scared her. Washu fell to her knees and grabbed the little girl and held her close while kissing her on the top of the head as her eyes glazed over with tears that her daughter was here.
"Ryoko, I was so worried about you. Where were you?" Washu asked as she pulled the little girl back to look at her face.
"They hurt, mommy," she whined as she scratched at her wrists again, completely ignoring her mother's question. Washu then took her daughter's hand and felt the blood leave her face as she saw her gems embedded in Ryoko's skin.
"Ryoko, how did you get these?" she asked as Ryoko pulled her hand back to continue her scratching.
"They burn! Make it stop, mommy!" Ryoko cried as her tears finally fell from her golden eyes, ignoring her mother's question again. She then stopped scratching her wrists and used both hands to scratch the one at the base of her neck. Washu hesitated for a moment, collecting her thoughts as well as her knowledge on the gems and let out a shush as she pulled Ryoko close to her again while holding her head.
"It's okay, Ryoko. Mommy will make it go away, but you need to calm down," Washu cooed as she stroked her daughter's head.
"But they hurt! I can't breath," Ryoko said, and for the first time since she appeared in the room, Washu became aware of her daughter's labored breathing.
"I know they hurt, baby, I know. If you calm down, than mommy can make the pain go away, okay? Can you do that for me?" she asked as she craned her head down to see the little girl's tear-streaked face. Sometimes you had to barter with this girl in order to get her to do something and it always made Washu's job harder to do.
"But they itch. They burn. I want them to go away," Ryoko whimpered as she attempted to do what her mother asked of her.
"Don't think about them. Think about something else," Washu cooed again as she rocked the little girl back and forth, helping her to take her mind off the gems for a moment. Ryoko let out another whimper before falling still in her mother's arms and Washu couldn't help but smile as she heard her daughter's breathing return to normal. "There. Does it feel better?"
"Yeah," Ryoko muttered. Washu then let out a sigh as she rested her head on top of Ryoko's while thinking about the situation she now found her and her daughter to be in. Those gems contained her goddess powers and she had found throughout her studies of them that the power they held was phenomenal. She had always been able to feel their power when she held them and her fingers would tingle from the energy, so this scared her. Ryoko was so young and so small that the powers they held would destroy her is she didn't know how to control them, and she didn't. She was only four years old. Four.
"Let me see your hand, honey," Washu said as she picked her head up. Ryoko lazily lifted her arm and Washu flipped her hand to see her wrist and felt a stabbing pain of alarm in the pit of her gut. The skin around the gem was almost as red as the gem itself and spanned out to her palm before fading at her fingers.
How did she get these? Washu asked herself.
"The man in the black cape gave them to me," Ryoko whimpered. Washu wrinkled her brow and cocked her head back as she stared at the little girl. How did she hear her? She then looked back at the gem to see a faint glow before it faded from sight, leaving the gem to twinkle at her. Ryoko then let out a whimper as she started to scratch at the gem on her left wrist but Washu grabbed her hand and pulled it away to prevent her from hurting herself. Ryoko let out a long, drawn out whine and tried to continue her scratching but failed, seeing Washu had a tight grip on her arm. She watched in a panic-stricken awe as the redness around the gem fanned out, covering Ryoko's fingers with an infected looking puff of red skin.
"Ryoko, listen to me," she said sternly as she stood the little girl up while taking her shoulders in her hands and looking her square in the eye.
"You heard me, right? You heard me ask where you got these?" Washu asked.
"Yeah," she whined, trying her hardest not to scratch at the burning skin around the gem.
"Ryoko, think about the time we went on that picnic. Think to yourself what happened," Washu said with a smile, causing the little girl to smile at the memories of the day in the fields. She was going to help her daughter with this. She had no idea how she had released the gem's power so the best thing she could do now was help her coop with their power, seeing she was clueless as to how to remove them. Ryoko wrinkled her brow and tilted her head as the first memory popped into her head.
We had a big basket of food and I remember running ahead of mommy almost the whole way Washu heard. She licked her lips and let out a snort as she bit her lower lip in thought as she watched her daughter struggle to keep herself from her scratching.
We laid down a huge blanket and mommy started taking out the food as I chased the butterflies she heard her daughter say in the back of her mind.
Yes, that's what happened. You almost caught one of them, too Washu thought, causing the little girl to give her a stunned, yet terribly confused look before wrinkling her brow as the itch returned. Washu gave her a reassuring smile and raised a finger to her lips before nodding for her to continue.
Keep going, Ryoko. It's okay Washu thought, knowing her daughter heard her. Things were starting to make a bit of sense. Ryoko wrinkled her brow and swallowed hard before doing what her mother asked of her, despite the burn in her skin.
I picked some flowers and ran back to the blanket and gave them to… she said, but stopped, giving her mother a curious look, wondering if she should think 'mommy' or 'you'. Washu smiled and chuckled slightly as she tilted her head.
You gave them to me, didn't you? she asked. Ryoko wrinkled her brow again and looked around the room nervously before returning her gaze to her mother who had gently grabbed her shoulders again.
"It's okay, Ryoko. You're fine. Keep going," Washu whispered to her in a comforting voice, calming the girl's nerves enough to continue.
I gave them to you and you put one in my hair Ryoko thought slowly.
Yes, I remember that. You looked so cute Washu thought with a smile as she gently chucked the little girl in the chin, causing her to smile at the comment.
"What was that, mommy?" she then asked, not able to hold back her question any longer. Washu smiled at her while taking her hands and held them out so they could see the gems.
"Ryoko, you know that these are mommy's gems and you also know that they are very powerful, right?" Washu asked in a soft, comforting voice so as not to scare the little girl. Ryoko let out a sigh and hung her head and shuffled her feet slightly before whining slightly at the still present itch.
"Yeah," she whispered, thinking she was in trouble.
"It's because of these that you can hear me. They are very special to mommy, but they're yours now and you know what?" Washu asked, forcing a playful smile to her lips. Ryoko looked up at her and smiled slightly as she saw that she wasn't in trouble for having her mother's gems, that were still torturing the hell out of her.
"What?" she asked.
"There's a lot of things you can do with them but there's a trick to it," Washu said, not wanting to let this happen, but was left with no choice. Either this, or have them ultimately destroy her daughter, which she would rather sacrifice herself before letting that happen.
"I like tricks," Ryoko said with a mischievous smile, causing Washu to smile at her while rolling her eyes playfully.
"I know you do, so I know you'll have no trouble with this. What you have to do is treat them like you would Ryo-Ohki," Washu said. Ryoko wrinkled her brow and tilted her head curiously.
"I don't get it," she said. Washu smiled and pointed to one of them before looking back at her daughter.
"Consider them friends, not enemies. They can hear your thoughts, so that's how you speak to them. Do you understand?" Washu asked.
"Yeah, I think so," Ryoko said.
"Don't can't tell them to do something, because it will make them angry. You have to ask them to do something and then they'll be more than willing to help," Washu said. Ryoko tilted her head curiously, wondering how this would work. Washu then shuffled her feet to get into a more comfortable position and continued with her explanation. "First things first, Ryoko. Ask them to be your friends and accept them like you had accepted Ryo-Ohki," Washu said. Ryoko wrinkled her brow and looked at her wrists before smiling as the puffy red skin started to fade.
"Like that?" she asked as she looked up.
"Yes. Just like that. Now, ask them if you can speak to me like you did only moments ago," Washu continued.
What do I say? Washu heard her daughter ask and smiled broadly as she failed to see her scratch at her wrists, that were returning to normal color.
"Good. Try it again," Washu coaxed. Ryoko tilted her head in thought before giggling and smiling at her mother.
Remember the frog in the fields? she asked, causing Washu to laugh at her.
I do, little Ryoko. I still think that wasn't very nice of you to throw it in my lap like that while I was eating Washu thought with a chuckle. Ryoko giggled again but soon wrinkled her brow in confusion.
"Mommy, how did I get here?" she asked. Washu gave her an awkward look before remembering how she had just appeared in the room and wrinkled her brow in thought.
"Can I ask where you were before you came here?" she asked with a thoughtful tilt of her head.
"I was with Pat in the market," Ryoko said. Washu licked her lips as she took a deep breath, remembering her daughter thinking of his name.
"What were you thinking before you came here?" she asked, not looking at her daughter but looking to the side, still thinking about this.
"I was thinking of how that man would hurt you. I wanted to warn you," Ryoko said in a saddened voice, remembering how she felt before finding herself here. Washu smiled to herself and looked back at Ryoko as she understood what had happened.
"Try this, little Ryoko. Ask your gems to bring you to Mikollious' throne," Washu said as she pointed to the seat behind them. She then heard the 'whoosh' sound again and turned to see her daughter gone and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down before letting out a sigh of relief as she heard the noise behind her.
"Wow!" Ryoko said as she grinned at the gems on her wrists, no longer fearing them, but finding them as a useful tool to cause some trouble. Washu walked over and picked her up before giving her a protective hug.
"See? I told you I would make the pain go away," Washu said as she kissed the top of Ryoko's head again.
"Thank you, mommy," Ryoko said as she hugged her mother around the neck. Washu then snapped her head in the direction of the lab as she heard a faint clapping sound and felt her blood boil as she saw that man in the black cape walking towards them from the direction of the lab.
"Well done, Washu. Thank you for saving me the trouble. Now, if you don't mind, I'll take over from here…"
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I lost interest in this story for a little while, but I'm starting to get back into it, so have no fear. It will be finished! I figured I'd have Washu teach Ryoko a little bit about the gems before bringing Kagato back in. It just seems like something that would be needed, and everyone knows how Kagato thinks. The less work for him, the better. Keep reading and keep the reviews a'comin!