No, I still don't own Chrono Trigger. Why do I have to say this every chapter? Oh well, on with the story!
The next day was the same, with Lyn fighting Janus, unprovoked this time. She didn't feel like she was accomplishing anything, as she still ended up on the ground as often as not. The rest of the time she was usually finding out about some interesting new way Janus could twist her that she couldn't escape from. On the third day of her unofficial training, Slash suddenly intervened shortly after they started.
"I think Flea's back," he said shortly, gliding towards the door. The blue light warred with the sunlight when he opened the wooden door, and Lyn heard him speaking softly.
Lyn wasn't particularly surprised to hear the voice of her Mistress a few moments later. "Girl! Get out here, it's time to go!"
"Bye, Janus," Lyn said quickly.
"Luck, Lyn," he answered, a strange half-smile on his face.
Stepping from the sun-lit room into the antechamber, Lyn had to fight to keep walking, not stop, and stare. There were many small changes in what she saw, little things, like the walls. They were the same stone walls that had been in the dojo, but they seemed brighter, with small veins tracing through them.
"You're only now noticing huelin?" Flea asked in an off-put voice.
Lyn blinked a moment, trying to remember where she'd heard that word before. Oh, that was right! Janus had mentioned it; it was the name of the new color she was supposed to be seeing. Lyn answered as they walked away from Slash's rooms. "No, Mistress. There… not much in the room I in."
"We have got to work on your grammar," Flea sighed. "Look at your necklace and tell me if the left stone is black."
Confused, Lyn did as she was told, giving a small gasp when she saw the stone. It most certainly was not black, though it wasn't any color she'd seen before. "It… dark, but not black, Mistress," she answered.
"No, it's actually a very bright huelin, but I suppose you're not too far behind. I'll still have to wait a few days… Have you used your tech since I left?"
Still looking at the stone, and trying to see how that could be called 'bright', Lyn answered, "Yes, Mistress."
"Was it easier? Harder? More effective? Less effective?"
"E-easier, Mistress. And…" Lyn paused a moment, suddenly realizing she had healed Janus from a couple of paces away. "More… I not have to be close."
"Easier, and increased range… wonderful…" Flea muttered, trailing off and muttering to herself for the rest of the journey through the halls.
Lyn was realizing that the castle was not nearly as dark and gloomy as she had thought. The stone walls were brighter, the tapestries had more detail, and parts of it were so beautiful that she almost wanted to cry. Why did her race want to destroy all of this? Why were they so determined to name the Mazoku simple 'monsters'?
The memory of Tobias' death, and Herbert's along with everyone who'd followed him, and even the way Flea had so casually injured the slave girl, reminded Lyn why the Humans fought. She didn't understand how one nation could have such casual cruelty and such beautiful art at the same time.
Entering Flea's chambers, Lyn realized that this was the only place she'd seen any red in the castle. Or in all the Mazoku lands, she recognized, thinking back on it. "M-mistress?" she asked.
Looking over her shoulder, Flea raised a brow inquisitively. "What is it, girl?"
"Why… is the color red only here?" Lyn said, fairly pleased with herself. She was pretty sure she'd gotten that sentence correct.
"Heh. Most Mazoku don't see red, and there aren't enough Human-born for red to be very fashionable," Flea answered, pleased that her slave was actually thinking about things.
Lyn looked around the room, obviously trying to imagine it without any of the red in it. She wasn't able to do it, and gave up, shaking her head. "You don't see red, we don't see… huelin. How odd."
Flea went to her library, and Lyn followed almost automatically. "Watch this," Flea instructed, lighting one pair of candelabras with the normal yellow flame. Pointing towards the bookshelves, she commented, "You won't get the full effect, but it will still be interesting." Without explaining her comment, the mage gestured and lit the other two candelabras.
When the blue flames started burning, Lyn gasped. The black wood of the shelves paled into something she was only just learning to recognize as huelin. Books changed colors, some gained titles, and Lyn turned to Flea. "Why… the blue fire. It… lights things right for… see huelin? Ah, Mistress?"
"Exactly," the mage answered. Pulling down the same book from earlier, Flea turned to the very back this time, and reached for a quill that was nearly lost among the other stuff on the table. She made a few notes with practiced motions, then stopped, brushing the feather against her lips and looking at Lyn measuringly. "Well, I suppose we've got a few options right now. First, let's find out if you can use your tech when it's not needed. Use it on me."
Lyn focused inward, trying to find the energy she needed. Pulling the power out, she hesitantly reached towards the Mazoku, trying to send the healing to her. The tech fizzled, died, the energy spreading back through Lyn. She looked at Flea, worry in her brown eyes. "Maybe… I need be close?"
Flea raised a brow and gave a one-shoulder shrug. "Then get closer, girl," she drawled.
Not completely sure if she trusted Flea, Lyn nevertheless approached. Stretching her hands toward her Mistress' bare arm, Lyn stopped a short distance from the skin before impulsively touching that too-smooth flesh. She told herself that the tech was more likely to work if she had skin to skin contact.
Again she focused, finding the energy quickly. Trying to direct it into the arm beneath her hand, Lyn felt a tingle. Instinctively, she pulled back before tingle grew into pain, looking up at Flea and hoping she hadn't displeased the mage. "I… can't. You… not need healing, Mistress."
"Why did you pull back?" Flea whispered, leaning in closer to Lyn.
"It… was going to hurt. The, ah… the power, it…" Lyn had to stop, not having the words to say what she wanted.
"Backlash," Flea said, her exhalation barely enough to carry the word to her slave's ears. "You had to stop to avoid the backlash…" With the same shifting of attention that she had shown before, Flea abruptly left, brushing past Lyn with an order to "Stay here, girl."
Flea came back a short while later with another slave. Lyn had as sinking feeling as she looked at the young man, sure that Flea had brought him for Lyn to… demonstrate with. And so it proved; Flea cut him, and then sent Lyn to the other side of room, seeing how far away Lyn could be and still use her tech. The distance proved to be only a few steps, ten at the furthest.
Once that was found, Flea directed Lyn to stand inside a circle inscribed on the floor. Looking at the circle to avoid seeing the Mazoku's knife flash again, Lyn saw the ring was made of something that resembled the kisch she had seen earlier, formed into an unbroken circle of shimmering black. When she glanced back up, Lyn saw that the slave was bleeding again, and within her range. Collecting the energy, she 'threw' it at him. The light died at the edge of the circle. Confused, Lyn tried again, and again the healing light faded when it tried to cross the kisch band.
"Mistress? Why can't I…?"
Flea answered Lyn by smirking and chanting, shooting a stream of fire at the Human girl. Lyn stepped back, wondering what she had done wrong, but she found the flames stopped at the same point her own tech had. A sudden surge of huelin drew Lyn's eyes to the stone, and as she watched, it faded back to black. Looking back at Flea, Lyn saw she was still smirking. "That kisch has been specially treated. It blocks all magic, and, as you saw, it blocks techs as well," the Mazoku woman explained, walking closer. "Even ones," she delicately crossed the line, "As unusual as yours. Quite interesting, isn't it, girl?" she asked, running a finger along Lyn's cheekbone.
Lyn worked her mouth, but no sound came out, and she wasn't sure what to say at any rate. Why was Flea acting this way, treating her this way? "Ah… Yes, Mistress. It… is. Interesting…"
Flea traced Lyn's jawbone, then her neck down too the collarbone. "This is proving to be… quite the puzzle, girl. Quite the puzzle…"
The slave's shifting broke the mood, both Lyn and Flea looking over the Mazoku's shoulder at him. Turning away from Lyn, Flea walked toward the man, hips swaying. "I suggest you leave now, boy," she purred, in a manner Lyn was beginning to recognize as dangerous.
The boy was not stupid, and he knew to take an out when one was offered to him. He bowed his head and scurried out, leaving as fast as he could without out and out running, and not caring that he still bled.
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