Chapter Four
_________________________
"I knew that this was just yet another attempt to get in my pants, but I liked the jewel so much that I didn't care."
-Quistis Trepe
_________________________
Bald men. little bald men, working hard scribbling down things.. digging.. talking to one another. It took everything in me not to run around in circles and sing "We represent the lollipop guild." I also kept my eyes open for those nasty little Oompa Loompas... *I* wasn't about to fall for one of their ironic traps. It certainly wouldn't make my day to end up eating Willy's magic sour sucker and end up shriveling up to the size of a toothpick. No way, not going to happen to me.
But then again.. those little men could be used to my advantage. All a witch really needs are little stooges to go around and do her bidding. Yes... first we shall transform good old Murphy into a eunuch.. then chop off all of Squall's pretty hair.. and we couldn't forget Rinoa...
Ahh. I'm getting ahead of myself. There would be no way that I'd be able to house all these minions. Not to mention feeding (Tony would not appreciate this at all), clothing and MATING them. I'd have to settle for doing things myself... Back to the drawing board, I guess.
I was probably over-exaggerating about the workers underground. After all, some of them were women. However, the image of the dwarves in Snow White kept popping into my head. Maybe there was a height maximum for working underground? Saving money by making tunnels shorter? No... I was definitely exaggerating.
Perhaps my imagination was running like wild to keep my mind off unpleasant things. Things like Murphy's calloused hand still on my waist. Edgy wasn't the word for how I was feeling, and it took all of my strength to keep my eye from twitching. Needless to say, I quickly walked out of his grasp.
"We're here!" Leon stated the obvious. Yes Leon, we are all aware that we are here. He grinned as he looked around the cave, wonder gleaming from his eyes. Perhaps it was just the flourescent lights, but you get the idea.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" he continued, as Murphy stared a bit sullenly at my waist where his hand had resided. I wondered how many women actually responded positively to his advances. By the look on his face, it would seem to be many. He had to have money, and lots of it.
"Yeah.. It is.." I said truthfully. It *was* pretty impressive. "Have you found anything yet?"
"Well, no," Leon said a bit sadly, before perking up, "But we're optimistic that we will find something soon! We're getting close!"
Nothing? Absolutely nothing.... Does that mean that this is all a waste of time? With my luck? I was sure that it was. Great. Just great. This was going to be a long couple of weeks.
*****
I stared mercilessly at my leather boots, positive that I was getting close to burning a hole straight through them. Never mind the broken bones and terrible bleeding... it would actually give me a little excitement. It had been two weeks of hell. A never ending punishment. I had littered the desert with the corpses of many sandfish, yet still the rage continued to burn inside of me. It had gotten to the point that the image that had been circulating in my head continuously of Cid Kramer choking on his morning danish was starting to make me smile. Somehow I kept back the hysterical laughing, and hummed a small tune under my breath.
Ding dong, the witch is dead.... not dead, but I'm getting there. The witch went psycho on all the trolls, then danced around the desert covered in blood until the sun finally dehydrated her to death.
Yes. Pretty story. I need to start writing things down.
"Hey there doll, what's got you down?" I heard a seductive voice that would only belong to Murphy. Wait, seductive? Well.. The effort was there, I suppose, but all it managed to do was creep the hell out of me.
I lifted my head a few inches, my eyes piercing out behind my stressed locks of hair. He visually cringed, at what I would guess to be the look of derangement. Yes, that's right Murphy, I'm a woman with PMS and a deadly whip that I know how to control. Please take your time and tell me what you want. I've still got a few more inches before I slip off that edge.
He gulped slightly and smiled a bit nervously. "I've got something you may like."
If he said what I thought he was going to say...
I continued to stare at him, much in the way I had stared at my boots for the last hour. Unfortunately, no burning hole formed through him.
He reached into his pocket hastily and displayed a gem in front of my face. It was... beautiful. I immediately sat up straight, my nasty mood being quickly forgotten about as I examined the exquisite trinket. Only the size of a small rock, the gem seemed to be dwarfed in Murphy's large hand... but even though it was small.. that didn't take away from its appeal. Oval shaped, the jewel sparkled with a red glow, the reflections of the cave showing up in its shiny surface.
I gasped in spite of myself and looked into Murphy's beaming face with a sense of wonder. "What is it...?" I manage to whisper, so transfixed on the object. His smile widened with self satisfaction as he placed the item in my gloved palm. I moved it around in my hands, indulging in the strange pleasurable feeling that it seemed to give me.
"I found it on my way to my bunk yesterday," Murphy explained to me.
I took my eyes off the item in my hand and focused on the man in front of me. "Shouldn't you be showing this to the project advisor?"
He chuckled softly. "I was off duty when I found it, it belongs to me... and I am giving it to you." "But I can't accept this," I argued, "This should be recorded as a finding. This is one of the first things that anybody has found at the site."
He laughed, "Give up this finding? Why would I do that? You could probably get yourself millions with this artifact. I say we hightail ourselves out of here and sell it on the black market."
My jaw dropped as I looked at him with bulging eyes.
Murphy smiled at me again, reassuringly. "Quistis, let me level with you. This wasn't found at the site. I'm pulling your leg."
I frowned as I waited for the full explanation.
"This," he said referring to the jewel, "I found stuck in the ridges of my tires. Quite a nice surprise, don't you think?"
I nodded. The only things that I had ever found stuck in my tires were nails. "You've got some kind of luck, Murphy."
He grinned at me, "You don't know the half of it."
I shrugged off the innuendo, as I admired the crimson gem. "Are you sure you want me to have this? It's quite a gift to give up."
"No, keep it. I'd have no use for such a thing."
I gave him my first genuine smile that he had received the whole two weeks that I had been stationed here. I knew that this was just yet another attempt to get in my pants, but I liked the jewel so much that I didn't care. I was truly grateful for such a gift. "Thank you Murphy."
"No problem." he said with a wink. "Well, I have to get back to work before I get another pay cut. If there's anything that you need, just give me a shout."
"Okay, I will. Good bye." I told him amicably.
He waved and walked off into a tunnel, leaving me alone again. As I gave the jewel a last look before a pocketed it, something peculiar happened. Perhaps it was just my excitement in receiving such a beautiful present, or maybe it was the harsh lighting in the caves, but the light that flashed along the inside of the scarlet gem was one that no imagination could ever conceive.
____________________
A/N: hey! This story is still alive! I'm just a little slow... but that's just me anyway :). anywho, be sure to review and tell me your thoughts. Feedback is always appreciated.
Kimmie
"I knew that this was just yet another attempt to get in my pants, but I liked the jewel so much that I didn't care."
-Quistis Trepe
_________________________
Bald men. little bald men, working hard scribbling down things.. digging.. talking to one another. It took everything in me not to run around in circles and sing "We represent the lollipop guild." I also kept my eyes open for those nasty little Oompa Loompas... *I* wasn't about to fall for one of their ironic traps. It certainly wouldn't make my day to end up eating Willy's magic sour sucker and end up shriveling up to the size of a toothpick. No way, not going to happen to me.
But then again.. those little men could be used to my advantage. All a witch really needs are little stooges to go around and do her bidding. Yes... first we shall transform good old Murphy into a eunuch.. then chop off all of Squall's pretty hair.. and we couldn't forget Rinoa...
Ahh. I'm getting ahead of myself. There would be no way that I'd be able to house all these minions. Not to mention feeding (Tony would not appreciate this at all), clothing and MATING them. I'd have to settle for doing things myself... Back to the drawing board, I guess.
I was probably over-exaggerating about the workers underground. After all, some of them were women. However, the image of the dwarves in Snow White kept popping into my head. Maybe there was a height maximum for working underground? Saving money by making tunnels shorter? No... I was definitely exaggerating.
Perhaps my imagination was running like wild to keep my mind off unpleasant things. Things like Murphy's calloused hand still on my waist. Edgy wasn't the word for how I was feeling, and it took all of my strength to keep my eye from twitching. Needless to say, I quickly walked out of his grasp.
"We're here!" Leon stated the obvious. Yes Leon, we are all aware that we are here. He grinned as he looked around the cave, wonder gleaming from his eyes. Perhaps it was just the flourescent lights, but you get the idea.
"Pretty impressive, huh?" he continued, as Murphy stared a bit sullenly at my waist where his hand had resided. I wondered how many women actually responded positively to his advances. By the look on his face, it would seem to be many. He had to have money, and lots of it.
"Yeah.. It is.." I said truthfully. It *was* pretty impressive. "Have you found anything yet?"
"Well, no," Leon said a bit sadly, before perking up, "But we're optimistic that we will find something soon! We're getting close!"
Nothing? Absolutely nothing.... Does that mean that this is all a waste of time? With my luck? I was sure that it was. Great. Just great. This was going to be a long couple of weeks.
*****
I stared mercilessly at my leather boots, positive that I was getting close to burning a hole straight through them. Never mind the broken bones and terrible bleeding... it would actually give me a little excitement. It had been two weeks of hell. A never ending punishment. I had littered the desert with the corpses of many sandfish, yet still the rage continued to burn inside of me. It had gotten to the point that the image that had been circulating in my head continuously of Cid Kramer choking on his morning danish was starting to make me smile. Somehow I kept back the hysterical laughing, and hummed a small tune under my breath.
Ding dong, the witch is dead.... not dead, but I'm getting there. The witch went psycho on all the trolls, then danced around the desert covered in blood until the sun finally dehydrated her to death.
Yes. Pretty story. I need to start writing things down.
"Hey there doll, what's got you down?" I heard a seductive voice that would only belong to Murphy. Wait, seductive? Well.. The effort was there, I suppose, but all it managed to do was creep the hell out of me.
I lifted my head a few inches, my eyes piercing out behind my stressed locks of hair. He visually cringed, at what I would guess to be the look of derangement. Yes, that's right Murphy, I'm a woman with PMS and a deadly whip that I know how to control. Please take your time and tell me what you want. I've still got a few more inches before I slip off that edge.
He gulped slightly and smiled a bit nervously. "I've got something you may like."
If he said what I thought he was going to say...
I continued to stare at him, much in the way I had stared at my boots for the last hour. Unfortunately, no burning hole formed through him.
He reached into his pocket hastily and displayed a gem in front of my face. It was... beautiful. I immediately sat up straight, my nasty mood being quickly forgotten about as I examined the exquisite trinket. Only the size of a small rock, the gem seemed to be dwarfed in Murphy's large hand... but even though it was small.. that didn't take away from its appeal. Oval shaped, the jewel sparkled with a red glow, the reflections of the cave showing up in its shiny surface.
I gasped in spite of myself and looked into Murphy's beaming face with a sense of wonder. "What is it...?" I manage to whisper, so transfixed on the object. His smile widened with self satisfaction as he placed the item in my gloved palm. I moved it around in my hands, indulging in the strange pleasurable feeling that it seemed to give me.
"I found it on my way to my bunk yesterday," Murphy explained to me.
I took my eyes off the item in my hand and focused on the man in front of me. "Shouldn't you be showing this to the project advisor?"
He chuckled softly. "I was off duty when I found it, it belongs to me... and I am giving it to you." "But I can't accept this," I argued, "This should be recorded as a finding. This is one of the first things that anybody has found at the site."
He laughed, "Give up this finding? Why would I do that? You could probably get yourself millions with this artifact. I say we hightail ourselves out of here and sell it on the black market."
My jaw dropped as I looked at him with bulging eyes.
Murphy smiled at me again, reassuringly. "Quistis, let me level with you. This wasn't found at the site. I'm pulling your leg."
I frowned as I waited for the full explanation.
"This," he said referring to the jewel, "I found stuck in the ridges of my tires. Quite a nice surprise, don't you think?"
I nodded. The only things that I had ever found stuck in my tires were nails. "You've got some kind of luck, Murphy."
He grinned at me, "You don't know the half of it."
I shrugged off the innuendo, as I admired the crimson gem. "Are you sure you want me to have this? It's quite a gift to give up."
"No, keep it. I'd have no use for such a thing."
I gave him my first genuine smile that he had received the whole two weeks that I had been stationed here. I knew that this was just yet another attempt to get in my pants, but I liked the jewel so much that I didn't care. I was truly grateful for such a gift. "Thank you Murphy."
"No problem." he said with a wink. "Well, I have to get back to work before I get another pay cut. If there's anything that you need, just give me a shout."
"Okay, I will. Good bye." I told him amicably.
He waved and walked off into a tunnel, leaving me alone again. As I gave the jewel a last look before a pocketed it, something peculiar happened. Perhaps it was just my excitement in receiving such a beautiful present, or maybe it was the harsh lighting in the caves, but the light that flashed along the inside of the scarlet gem was one that no imagination could ever conceive.
____________________
A/N: hey! This story is still alive! I'm just a little slow... but that's just me anyway :). anywho, be sure to review and tell me your thoughts. Feedback is always appreciated.
Kimmie