Well, whaddya know? Chapter six is here! ;) (hands out Filia's mace to reviewrs) Hee-! Okay, heeeeere we go!
Disclaimer: …I own Lina's song. Go me! Yes, I know, there's lots of singing, but I LIKE singing, so HA!
Chapter 6: A Change of Mind?
Lina stared upward at the ceiling of her cell as the voice descended upon her awaiting ears:
How does life go
In this dark temple?
Have you heard any news?
Lina pondered the question for a moment, then sang back:
Nothing much, oh voice of mine!
My Lord never tells me such things!
But tell me, O Bodiless One,
Are you an Angel with wings?
Mentally Lina slapped herself. Of course angels had wings! Well, most of them… The voice suddenly spoke again:
Wingless Angel some may call me,
Those who have seen my face!
You may do so, oh child of the sorceress race!
Lina grinned to herself, a plan formed in her head. However, before she could voice it, the Wingless Angel sang once more:
No, little one, don't try it!
I won't show you my form!
Call me shy, but truth be told
Not many want me at the door!
Lina shrugged, and listened as the voice disappeared with a whoosh. Getting up, she walked to her cell door, and walked outside to the temple hallway. Glancing behind her, she noticed that Phibrizzo was walking towards her. Growling, she asked "What do YOU want, kid?" The Hellmaster's right hand rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, er, I was going to ask you…if you would take a walk with me." He muttered, his face in the sheepish-anime-expression. The sorceress bent down to his height and asked "Why? Do you plan to seduce me in the gardens?" Phibrizzo shook his head. Lina thought for a moment, then hissed "In the villa?" Again a shake of the head. Lina was loosing her patience. "Well, WHERE then!" she screamed, knocking the Hellmaster off balance. "Waah!" he squeaked as he fell over onto his bottom. "No, miss Lina, I don't want to seduce you." Phibrizzo sniffed, looking on the verge of tears. Lina blinked in surprise. Helping him up, she said "Okay, fine. Where are we going?" Phibrizzo shrugged. Taking her hand, the Hellmaster walked the sorceress through a maze of hallways and doors, never letting go. Suddenly, Phibrizzo stopped walking. "Okay, close your eyes, please." He instructed. Lina, used to ordered, obediently did as she was told. "Alright, you can open them now!" Phibrizzo giggled. Opening her eyes, the sorceress gasped with surprise.
They were standing at the foot of a large, underground lake. In the middle there was an island, with bookd and blueprints and play scripts and easels scattered everywhere. In the center, there was a church organ, rather worn out, but still able to play a tune. Snapping his fingers, Phibrizzo conjured a boat out of thin air, and, settling Lina into it, poled it across the lake to the island with a gold pole to match the boat.
After a few strong, swift strokes, they arrived at the island. Leaping out of the boat, followed by Lina, Phibrizzo exclaimed "Welcome to my 'kingdom'. I heard from a fellow servant that you used to enjoy singing when you were a child. Let's see how well you can vocalize." Walking toward the organ, he seated himself, and began to play a familiar song. Lina gave a small smile, and began:
Roads go eternally on
Through the seasons and years
As the snow melts one
Another path will soon appear
Adventures are waiting
Outside the oaken door
Coming back from one
We cheer for some more!
Roads go eternally on
Like friendships, they will grow
Through the warm days of Spring
To the chilly days of snow
"Higher!" Phibrizzo ordered, his eyes shining with joy. Lina obeyed, practically rolling in her triumphant voice:
As our lives begin to turn
Know as you listen, you will learn:
All roads lead to one place
Which every one must, at one point, face!
Roads go eternally on
Unlike life, which has to go
But where will your path lead?
To the sun, or to the snow?
Where…will…you…go?
Phibrizzo applauded heartily at the song's end. "Miss Lina, you're a triumph, undoubtedly!" he said with a smile. Lina blushed, and looked around the "kingdom".
"M-Master Phibrizzo, I have one question." She turned toward him suddenly, looking deeply into his eyes. "Yes?" he prompted. "Well…there are so many things I wanted to ask…okay, here we go: Why do you want me as your wife?" Lina finally asked, after a pause. Phibrizzo smiled. "Because you have an amazing spirit. You're practically fully visible on the Astral Plane, where Mazoku live. And that's not just something anybody can do. You see, you have so many emotions, so many thoughts, like myself, that you have your own place in my world. You move there unconsciously, without even realizing it. That's why I want to marry you: you're the only human I know that shares a Mazoku's thought patterns. We can understand each other almost perfectly. Get it?" he said, index finger pointed into the air. Lina's eyes widened. It was true. When she had first been captured by Phibrizzo, when she was five, she had felt a slight tingle in her mind, some feeling of triumph that, of course, was not hers. Five months later, she began to feel other emotions, and more complicated thoughts entered her head. Such as: "How many years would I live if I were part dragon?" and "Is the Sea of Chaos really a sea?" Not really taking much notice to these questions, Lina had thought that they were natural questions. However, now that Phibrizzo had explained things more thoroughly to her, she was beginning to see things diffrerently. Thinking back, she suddenly remembered something else from a long time ago…
Flashback…
"Hmmm, well miss Inverse, you will definitely have an interesting future ahead of you. Let me see…" the old fortune teller clucked as she dug through her box of oddments. "Ah, here we are! Okay, miss, what do you see?" she said with a smile as she held up a piece of paper with a purple ink blot on it. Lina, then only three, stared very hard at the paper for several minutes, and said "Well, missus, it looks to me like a young boy. Oh, and he's got some sort of tiny ball floating above his hand!" The fortune teller looked at the paper herself for a moment, and muttered "Yes, yes, I can see it too…" Putting the paper away, she said "Well, my girl, I believe that you may indeed see this boy of yours very soon, oh yes, very soon indeed…"
Present day…
"It was true. It was really true." Lina muttered to herself. She was back in her cell, sketching a face. She didn't know whose it was until she studied it. "WHAT! PHIBRIZZO!" she screamed in shock, falling out of her chair. It looked rather good, since the sorceress hadlived alongside Phibrizzo for most of her childhood. Taking it and placing it beside her tiny nightstand, Lina asked herself out loud "Who was that fortune teller? And why did she even give me that paper-test?" Thinking back, she remembered Phibrizzo's comments about her having her own form on the Astral Plane. "The Astral Plane…" Lina sighed dreamily, wondering what it was like there. She decided on asking the Hellmaster. Getting up, she unconsciously pulled on a dress she didn't know she had. Looking down, she gave a small gasp. It was light blue, with white frills on the bottom and an amber jewel fastener on the back. "Amazing…" she thought to herself, half-wondering who had sent it. Shaking it from her head, she ran down the hallway, to Phibrizzo's study. She didn't notice the eyes that watched her—the eyes that were full of fondness and lust…
In Phibrizzo's Study, three hours later…
"…And so that's what the Astral Plane is like." Phibrizzo concluded, folding his hands across his lap. Lina grinned at the…boy (?) in front of her. He was blowing his manuscripts and papers across his desk, smiling like a child. "You really should try this sometime, miss Lina!" the Hellmaster said between breaths. "I can't, 'cause you give me so much work." Lina smiled bitterly. Phibrizzo looked up from his manuscript-blowing. "Hmm, good point. Okay, as of today, you get four hours off each day!" he chirped. The sorceress blinked, blushed, stammered her thanks, and fell over in a single movement. Phibrizzo laughed and helped her up. "I take it you're pleased with that?" he chuckled as Lina righted herself on her chair. "Ehehe, yeah, guess so…" she giggled, embarrassed. Phibrizzo laughed again, and poured her some cordial.
A few days later…
For Lina, life seemed to have taken a better turn. She now had four hours off from the normally grueling work she preformed, spent most of her time either with Phibrizzo (though she hated to admit it) or in the underground lake, where she and Phibrizzo would sometimes sing together. She enjoyed these few hours together, because each time she got to see more of her master's personality. However, she reminded herself that he was a Mazoku, not a human, and that he wanted to marry her. So, she would try her best to keep her pride-barrier up as much as she could. However, she began to just leave it altogether, and found herself almost eagerly waiting for the marriage. She had gotten less and less appearances from the Wingless Angel, whoever he might be. She debated with herself on whether she should even ask Phibrizzo about him. She decided against it. After all, she didn't want anything to spoil the relationship they had together.
One night, Lina awoke to the sound of something moving next to her on the bed. Turning over, she found herself staring into the gold eyes of Phibrizzo. "Ah…ah…!" she gasped, trying to move away, but found that the Hellmaster's arms were holding her tightly. "Oh c'mon, miss Wina! I had a bad dweam!" Phibrizzo mock-whimpered in a baby-voice. "Hey, let me go!" Lina yelled, and tried to whack Phibrizzo over the head, but failed, for some reason. "You gave me too much of your soul. Now you belong to me." The Mazoku Lord of Death whispered with a smile.
Thinking back, Lina felt herself grow cold. "It was…all…?" she gasped for breath. "Yes, all just an illusion. You wanted company so much you would even go to me for it. I nearly had you, too. Pity. Anyway, there's no point in my child-act anymore. Look in the mirror." Phibrizzo purred, holding up a looking-glass. Staring at the mirror, the sorceress gaped. On her head, a gold crown-like device was fixed onto her head. It had an amber orb in the center, with a sapphire orb on one end, and a ruby orb on the other. "It symbolizes us. The jewels, I mean. As for the crown, well…" the Hellmaster chuckled. Lina screamed as the crown began to glow. Suddenly, the world disappeared in a flash of blue light…
"Urgh…where am I?" Lina groaned. She was in some sort of dark vortex. She began walking in circles to get circulation back in her legs. Two familiar gold eyes stared at her as if from far away. "I recommend that you stop walking around. It'll make things less painful." It instructed. Lina, however, didn't listen, and continued walking in circles. "Okay, Phibrizzo, you b—" she began with a snarl.
PWICK. A sound like a violin being plucked was heard, and her train of thought was lost. "Okay, what was that?" Lina asked herself. PWICK. Again, her train of thought was lost. Okay, she was in this place for some reason. Why? Well, it might've involved her parents? Maybe her sister? She couldn't remember. There was someone coming to save her, according to…to who? Some sort of angel… Oh, wait, that was it, the Wingless Angel! Yes! She was being held as a slave by Hellma—PWICK. "O-okay. Let's try my name." she told herself. Lina Inverse Lina Inverse Lina Inverse Lina Inverse Lina…Lina…Lina Phibrizzo? Yes, that was it, Lina—"NO! NO NO! MY NAME IS LINA INVERSE, SISTER TO LUNA, SORCERESS SUPREME, AND SLAVE TO HELLMASTER PHIBRIZZOOOOOOOOO!" Lina screamed, yanking her hair in anger to help keep that sentence in mind. Yes, that was it, that was what really happened! She was L—
PWICK. The last memory in her mind was eliminated, and Lina fell down, down, down into the vortex—and into the waiting arms of Phibrizzo in reality. "That was much easier than I thought. Now, Lina Phibrizzo, it's time for you to rest." He smirked, and levitated the sorceress to her new quarters.
How is it? R&R! This was wicked fun tow write, like all the chapters. Phibrizzo's fun to write about! Speaking of which—(holds up Phibrizzo's Soul Orbs)—if you review, you get THESE!