See Chapter 1 for the usual disclaimer.

Different Viewpoints

Consciousness was slow in coming. The darkness and dullness of sleep seemed intent on keeping her within it's clutches, and Telca was more than happy to let herself stay within that comforting warmth, but something, or rather, someone was refusing to let her rest. Groaning, she swatted at the hands that were shaking her, fighting against the voice that was calling to her through the grey fog that permeated her mind. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she opened an eye and glared up at the one who was bothering her, blinking when she looked up into Lashana's worried gaze. "Elfy?"

"Thank the Gods," Lashana sighed in relief. "I thought you were dead!"

"M'not dead," she muttered, shaking her head to clear it as she sat up, raising a hand to her head when a wave of dizziness hit her. "Where are we?"

"Um. I don't know," the elf replied as she helped her friend to stand. "But there's bars. And, um, you're not gonna like this..."

"What?" Another look around answered her question. Beside their cage, was a small stapler. This wouldn't have been such an important thing to note had it not been the size of a motorcycle. "Oh, crap."

"Yeah. That's what I thought," Lashana sighed as Telca staggered away from her. "I woke up about half an hour ago. As far as I can tell, we're up on a shelf. And we have neighbours. There's a pack of raptors to our right and just beyond the stapler is a Wookie."

"Damn." Pretty much awake now, Telca walked over to the door to their prison and eyed it curiously, glancing back at Lashana with a smirk as she reached into her hair and pulled out a bobby pin, seeing the rather evil grin spread over the elf's lips. "Let's blow this joint." Smiling, she slid her arm through the bars then bent her wrist to slide the pin into the lock, biting her tongue as she worked the improvised lock-pick tool, her ears straining to hear that soft click that would announce their freedom. As she worked, she was vaguely aware of Lashana moving to the front of the cage to keep watch for whoever had shrunk them and shoved them into said cage.

It was almost five minutes later when she gave a soft cry of happiness and shoved the cage door open, stepping out onto the ledge of the shelf and peering down at the floor that was seven stories away. "Ooh. Watch that first step."

"Gotcha," Lashana acknowledged, closing the door behind her as she stepped out of the cage, then looked around for a way off the shelf. "I could try to weave my flight spell..."

"Considering that we don't know if our magicks work yet, I'd rather not try that out and end up going splat on the floor," Telca rationalised as she edged her way along the shelf, slapping at the raptor's claws when they tried to grab her. "Keep yer talons to yourselves! Crucio!"

"I'd say our magick still works," the elf commented as she eyed the raptors who were now writhing and twitching in pain on the floor of their cage.

Telca grinned at that, then pointed to the far end of the shelf. "There's a set of blinds over there, we can use the string to get closer to the ground," she told her friend as she headed for her goal, glancing into various cages as she past them. At any other time, she would have freed the other captives, but somehow, she guessed that Bobba Fett and a group of Nascar Racers weren't exactly going to be of any help. Anyone who drove worse than Lashana was bound to be more of a hindrance than an asset.

Frowning, she stepped up to the edge and looked out at the blind that covered the window, judging the distance from the shelf to the cord. It was a long jump, and she didn't like it, but unless she wanted to take a long plunge to the floor, it was the best choice, actually the only choice, that was available. Sighing, she wiped her palms dry on the legs of her jeans, then took a few steps back, ignoring Lashana's curious look as she did so. Taking a deep breath, she broke into a running start and flung herself off the shelf, outstretched hands closing on the cord and locking there as she curled her ankle around it and pretty much attached herself to the string.

Smiling shakily, she turned and looked at the elf, who was standing up on the shelf with her jaw hanging open in silent shock. "It's easier than it looks! Really!"

Doubtful, but willing to give it a shot, Lashana stepped back a bit to give herself enough of a running start, then bit her lower lip and threw herself forward, eyes widening when a glass jar slammed down around her, the surprising appearance of it leaving her to crash headfirst into the side of it. "What the hell!"

"Ah, ah, ah! No running around my little ones!" Smiling broadly, Sterling used a thumb to push his glasses further up on the bridge of his nose, then grabbed another glass jar and scooped the red-haired elf up into it, ignoring the curses from her as he set the jar on the top shelf, then upended the other jar, sending the white-haired elf to the bottom of the jar. "You're my limited editions! I can't have you getting hurt!"

"I am not a limited edition anything!" Telca screamed, hating how her voice resonated loudly within the jar. "Let me out of here you four-eyed geek!"

"Now, now, don't get rowdy. Wouldn't want you getting hurt," he crooned as he set the second jar next to the first, leaving the covers off so as not to suffocate them. "You're the only female elves in the collection! I know plenty of buyers who will be interested in you two!"

"Joy," Lashana muttered sourly, giving her glass prison a hardy punch just for the hell of it.

"Oh, now don't get upset my little ones! It's not as if you're alone. I've made many a friend for you! Just look at them all!" He turned and waved an arm at all the caged Pocket Monsters that sat on shelves around them. "My fortune lies in you all!"

"And that makes up for teaming up with a Mazoku?" Telca growled, folding her arms over her chest as she glared up at him.

"But of course! Eternal happiness, it has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Lashana frowned and shook her head. "Not really. No."

"Well, you're just women. What do you know?"

Flames danced in Telca's eyes. "Oh yeah! Change us back you asshole, then we'll see who knows what!"

Sterling shook a finger at her. "Language, language! You keep that up and I'll have to have you trained."

"Train this!" Lashana snarled, flames gathering at her fingertips. "Flare Arrow!" Much to her dismay, the spell reflected against the glass, making her dive for cover as the ten fire arrows rebounded all around her. "Itai!"

"Ooh! And you're a sorceress too? Wonderful! Your price just went up!" Sterling smiled at the small white-haired elf happily, clutching his hands in front of his chest like a little schoolgirl.

"Yay," Lashana growled, smoothing down her scorched hair and exchanging non-impressed glances with Telca.

The sound of a phone ringing drew Sterling's attention then, and he smiled as he waved at the two women then headed deeper into the warehouse, leaving them alone and securely in the jars.

Lashana gave him the finger as he left, then folded her arms over her chest and sulked. "Well this sucks," she grumbled, turning to look at Telca when her friend didn't answer. As she watched, the other sorceress backed up until her back was against the side of the jar, then bolted forward and threw herself at the opposite side, sending the jar wobbling dangerously. "Are you insane! What are you doing!"

"Getting out of here!" Telca shot back as she threw herself at the wall of the jar again, breathing heavily at the strain of trying to topple such an awkward thing. "Are you gonna stay in there all day or are you going to actually do something!"

The elf bit her lower lip in thought, then shrugged and backed up a few steps, sucking in a breath to steel herself as she lunged at the other side, her shoulder hitting the side of the jar with enough force to crack the glass and send her prison wobbling. Following Telca's example, she quickly threw herself to the opposite side, going back and forth numerous times until the jar toppled, falling from the security of the shelf, and she loosed a shriek of surprise as she spun to look at Telca, who had managed to knock over her prison at the exact same moment. She had at least expected to stay on the shelf, not plunge off of it.

Panicked, she frantically pulled on every ounce of power she could manage and threw caution to the winds as she wove her flight spell, sighing in relief as she darted out of the jar seconds before it shattered into a million pieces against the stone floor. A yell drew her attention upwards then, and she looked up in time to have Telca's jar slam into her head, the glass breaking in two and allowing the burgundy haired sorceress to latch onto her as she hovered there and clutched at her head, cursing fluently.

"Itai! Ow, ow, ow!"

Telca tightened her arms around the elf's waist and tried not to think about the long drop. "Can we please get to some sort of ground!"

"Don't you at least care that I just had a huge jar slam into my skull!"

"Of course I do! But I'll care more if I'm not dangling over a sudden-death drop!"

Lashana grumbled but complied anyway, turning to fly over to a cluttered tabletop and gingerly landing on it, hearing Telca's sigh of relief as the other sorceress sunk to her knees and fairly kissed the table in joy. "I don't know whether to be insulted or amused."

"You know flight spells, I don't. Having to cling to someone to prevent a death drop isn't my choice of 'fun ways to spend the day'."

"So why don't you learn a flight spell?" When Telca blinked and looked up at her, she smirked and pulled her friend to her feet. "Lessons start in three days, in the Danger Room."

"Why in three days?"

"Because I somehow think that today is going to be a long, long day."

"Point." Telca sighed, then rose a hand to tug at her braid, straightening it. "Alright. So what do we do now?"

"Personally, I think we should get out of sight before Mr. Psycho comes back from his phone call." Suiting words to actions, Lashana turned and stared to trudge across the table, picking her way over stacks of papers and old candy-bar wrappers. "Ugh, does this man ever clean?"

"He's a man, what do you think?" Telca shrugged as she hopped over a partially eaten lollypop, then paused at a stack of papers, peering at them curiously. "Hey, these are receipts, from stores. Look, here's some from that store we found Fred at."

Curious, Lashana joined her and helped her go through the large sheets of paper. "I've seen four different store names here, and woof, they must be rich to pay this much money."

"Wacko's charging a hefty price for these supposed 'Pocket Monsters'," Telca mused as she held a packet of papers above her head, her arms straining at the weight. "But I don't get why there's a Mazoku involved."

"Neither do I," Lashana muttered as she rifled through a few more sheets. "Mazoku don't care about money, though, I suppose that the meal of negative emotions from the shrunken people would be good enough."

"Maybe. Either way, I don't like it." She sighed and dropped the papers she was holding up, then dusted her hands. "First off, we should try to find out what shrunk us and reverse it. Can't do much in the way of threatening if we're the height of a soda-can."

"Right..." Frowning, Lashana glanced at the receipts a final time, then pointed to a desk on the opposite side of the room. "There's a computer over there."

Telca's gaze followed the elf's pointing finger. "Maybe there's something on it that'll have the two clicks we need to make a clue," she muttered as she walked to the edge of the table and looked down, smirking when she saw a power cord from a lamp leading down to the floor. "I've got an idea. C'mon."

"Are you sure this is safe?"

"Safe? Hell no. But unless you wanna swan dive off the table, then we gotta find something to climb down on." Secure in her reasoning, Telca walked over to the lamp and tested it's weight before moving to grasp the cord, her gaze moving to a hesitant Lashana. "You coming?"

Her heart shot up to her throat when Telca leisurely hopped off the table, and she ran over to the edge and looked over it, her eyes widening when she saw Telca casually climbing down to the floor. Oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound. Shrugging, she followed Telca's lead and slid down the power cord, not even daring to take a breath until her feet touched the floor. "Whew."

"Chicken," Telca smirked.

"Oh shut up," she muttered sourly. "Besides, exactly how to you plan to get up to that computer anyway?"

"Duh. There's a mess of wires leading up from the floor to the computer. We'll just take another climb."

Lashana grimaced. "Joy." Muttering to herself, she followed Telca across the floor, her gaze constantly darting around them, and then shifting to the shelf that was covered in cages, hating having to see all those creatures and people behind those damned bars. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Telca, and the long trek across the floor that would lead them to the mess of wires they would have to clamber up to reach the desk.

It wasn't until a low, throaty growl caught her attention that Lashana realised how much trouble they were in, her eyes widening as she turned to look up into the face of a very annoyed housecat, a high-pitched yelp leaving her as she grabbed Telca's arm. "Telca!"

"What?" the other sorceress whined, turning around to see what had frightened the elf and paling when she saw the gigantic cat. "Uh... Good kitty?"

The cat hissed, baring sharp fangs as it crouched, shoulders working as it readied itself to pounce on them.

Seeing and understanding the very real threat, Lashana bolted, dragging Telca along behind her as she made a mad dash for the wires that lay behind the desk, and screaming when she heard the cat's screech as it gave chase. "I don't wanna get eaten by the cat! Telca! Use crucio!"

"I'm not using that spell on a cute little cat!"

"That 'cute little cat' thinks we're it's next meal!"

"So? It's got a healthy prey drive."

"That's all fine and dandy, you idiot, but need I remind you that the cat is the size of a T-Rex!"

"Hm. You might have a point."

"Might! Might! There is no 'might'! There is the point! And said point is large, furry, pissed, and it is trying to kill us!" The last was more of a wheeze than a scream, and Lashana barely managed to take in a frantic gasp of air before she threw herself forward, ignoring the yelp from Telca as she dove headfirst into the mess of wires that lead up to the computer.

A rather annoyed yowl preceded the cat's tumble into the wires, and Lashana gave a quick thank you to any Gods that were listening as she dropped Telca and scrambled up the keyboard wire.

"Hey, thanks a lot!" Telca growled, grumbling when Lashana gave her the finger before the Elf pulled herself up over the edge of the desk then turned to peer down at her.

"You deserve it! Cute cat my ass! I don't wanna be kitten kibble!" Huffing, Lashana moved away from the edge and stood up, blinking at the desk that stretched out before her. The computer, she noted, looked old, possibly something from before the Pentium One era, and she dreaded having to use it, especially when she and Telca were in this current vertical challenge.

"Oof! I'm getting too old for this shit." With a grunt of exertion, Telca hauled herself over the edge of the desk, then got to her feet, brushing dust and dirt from her jeans. Sighing, she pressed her hands against the small of her back and pushed, groaning when she heard tendons pop and crack. "So, Elfy? See anything of use?"

"Not really. Computer's old. Craptacular kind of old. I don't think it'll be of much use, Telca. Not unless you remember how to use MS-DOS."

The other sorceress shook her head. "I didn't know how to use it then, and I sure as hell don't know how to use it now."

"Lovely. Now what are we supposed to do?"

"I dunno," Telca sighed, tucking loose strands of burgundy hair back into her braid as another yowl of displeasure came from the cat that was still under the desk. A muffled yell from the direction of the door drew her attention, and she quickly grabbed Lashana's arm and dragged the Elf along with her as she went to hide behind the computer.

Eyes wide, Lashana peered around the side of the hard drive as Sterling stomped into the room, seeing his eyes widen behind his black rimmed glasses when he realized that they were no longer in their glass prisons. She quickly ducked back behind their hiding spot when he spun to rake his gaze across the room, meeting Telca's wary look and gesturing to her to be quiet.

"Oh no. Nonononono!" Heart racing, Sterling darted around the room, looking under chairs and tables, under papers and through magazines. A soft noise drew his attention to his cat, and for a brief moment, pure terror gripped him. "Nico! Did you eat them! Wait. What am I saying? You can't even catch mice!" Ignoring the feline, he dropped to his hands and knees and crawled around the room with his cheek against the floor, trying to see under all the furniture. "Oh no! They can't be gone! They can't!"

Curious, Telca edged around the corner of the computer, dimly aware that Lashana had knelt and was peering around her knees. "Why the hell is he freaking out?"

"Dunno," Lashana whispered. "Maybe he promised us to a high bidder."

"Well, in that case, I hope the stress gives him a stroke."

"Gee, you're so kind."

"I try."

"Try harder."

"Shh! He's babbling to himself again!"

The two sorceresses leaned forward as Sterling continued to crawl around the room, and it wasn't until they saw the shadows move that they realised just why Sterling was freaking out. They saw the Mazoku appear before Sterling did, and Telca shoved Lashana backwards when the demon glanced their way, knowing that the elf's white hair would be far too easy to spot.

"Where are they?" The Mazoku growled, and even though he had assumed a human form, he made sure that he looked threatening enough to scare the mortal. "We made a pact, Sterling. We agreed, I help you with this... business, and you give me the most powerful beings you found for your collection. Where's my payment?"

"Um... well..." Standing, he grabbed a napkin off one of the desks and used it to wipe the sweat from his brow. "It seems like they've... escaped."

The temperature in the room plummeted as the Mazoku grew in size, reverting to it's more normal demonic appearance as it towered over the now cowering human. "You lost them! How can you--" Oddly, the Mazoku visibly calmed himself, resuming it's human appearance. "You have one day to find them. Otherwise, my pact with you is broken."

"B-but..." Sterling's blubbering fell on deaf ears, for by the time he had managed to find the courage to speak, the Mazoku had vanished.

Frowning now, Telca ducked behind the computer again and looked at Lashana. "Methinks we may be in trouble."

"I heard. At least we know why the Mazoku's involved. Sterling gives him the 'strongest' of his freaky little pocket people, and he'll suck 'em dry of any mystical power they have."

"Yeah. But where does that leave us? We can't let that fool catch us again, and we have to figure out how to reverse this shrinking thing before the Mazoku leaves." Sighing, Telca ran a hand through her hair, meeting the elf's gaze. "Sterling's got the magickal abilities of a rock, so it's probably the Mazoku that has the key to this... condition."

Lashana leaned her head back against the computer. "So... basically, we have to hope that we see the Mazoku shrink someone within the next day or we're screwed."

"That's pretty much it."

"...okay. How?"

"I have no idea."

"Great."