Chrono Trigger is still not mine. I sound like a broken record here. So, a bit happens, kinda... Onward!
Fall was on the land, and the harvest was coming in. Not that Lyn got to see any of this. She hadn't left the castle since going with Janus to that construction. She had spent most of her time 'fighting' with Flea, and had been mildly horrified when she had learned more spells, first a cure spell, and then a version of Flea's flame kiss. If it wasn't for the time she spent under the care of Slash and therefore with Janus, Lyn probably would have had a screaming fit months ago. But even Janus was changing, acting more and more like a Mazoku, and Slash had mentioned the word Human-born more than once. It seemed that nobody quite knew what to classify Janus as, and Lyn had been afraid that she might be classified as 'other' along with him. But for the most part, time passed, her fighting and spell casting improved, and life wasn't too bad.
Flea walked in and gave Lyn a long, appraising look. "What is your race, girl?" she asked.
"I… am Human, Mistress," Lyn answered, wondering what had sparked that question.
Flea didn't explain the query, however, sighing, "Lardon damn it. I thought that's what she'd say… Merciful Lizard, I don't have a choice, then. Damnit, Slash, why'd you have to be at Chorot now?"
"M-mistress?" Lyn said quietly, taking a few hesitant steps towards the Mazoku woman.
"Well, I suppose I could always leave you here," the pink-haired woman said, looking at Lyn, but clearly not responding to her. "But no, I don't dare… Magician take it, if he kills you I am going to murder him."
"Please Mistress, what do you mean?" Lyn asked, louder.
Flea sighed, then answered Lyn. "Maou Ozzie wants me at Porre. And of course he wants me there tonight, so I have to leave now, and I don't dare leave you here unsupervised, and I can't wait for Slash to get back, and so I have to leave you with Tihl."
"I thought he didn't like mages," Lyn said stupidly, not even realizing that she was including herself with the mages.
With a smile that usually heralded pain, Flea patted Lyn's cheek. "He doesn't, but not like you think. Still, I think you'll go as nothing more than my bed slave. A slightly dense slave, so I don't dare leave her alone in my rooms."
Lyn was confused, but this wasn't the time to show it. "I see, Mistress."
"Good, now come on. I don't have time to dawdle."
The path through the castle was different this time. Lyn could tell by the tapestries. Janus had mentioned, a few weeks ago, that the tapestries were used for directions at least as much as they were used for decoration. This time when they came to the depiction of what he'd termed the "Great Escape," Flea took a left. When she finally stopped, it was before a carved door, which struck Lyn as very pretentious.
At Flea's knock, a Human man opened the door, giving a quiet squeak when he saw Flea. "W-what can I do for you, Lady?" the man asked.
"Where in Magician's name is Tihl?" the Mazoku answered, pushing the door open more. "I need to speak to him."
"What do you need, Flea?" another man's voice came from further inside the rooms. A moment later Tihl stepped out, eyeing Flea with a face that indicated something didn't smell very nice.
Flea offered a smile which practically screamed fake, and explained in a light manner, "I have an assignment, and I just can't leave my girl alone in my rooms while I'm gone."
Glancing over at Lyn, Tihl nodded a little. "Bed slave?" he asked with clear disinterest in his voice.
"I know you don't have much use for her, but she can fetch and carry, and she's not too bad at cleaning," Flea responded, trying to put an end to Tihl's protestations before they were even made.
"I see," the green-skinned Mazoku answered. "Well… I suppose I can watch her, as a favor to you, Flea."
"Oh, you needn't word it like that. Of course I'll repay you, I wouldn't want you to feel as though I'm taking advantage of you," Flea simpered back in a surprisingly convincing display. Turning to Lyn, she motioned towards Tihl. "Now you obey him, girl, but remember what I told you. Go on then, behave yourself, and I'll be back before long."
With a quick, convulsive nod, Lyn said, "Yes, Mistress." Scuttling into Tihl's rooms, Lyn saw that both Tihl and the unnamed slave were looking at her. After a few moments, Tihl shrugged.
"Don't come into the bedroom, and don't touch anything," the green-skinned General ordered. Not waiting to see how Lyn responded, he vanished into his room, slave following.
For the last three days, Tihl had been so busy with his slave that he almost seemed to have forgotten Lyn. Today, for example, he had gone to his room early, taking the boy with him, and not even looking at Lyn. Food from the kitchens was sent up, but taken straight too Tihl, and Lyn was given none. She had been doing well to get anything the last couple days, and she knew that if this kept up she would be almost useless to Flea. While the thought of instigating some form of fight between the generals had its appeal, Lyn remembered what Janus had said about their fighting abilities and decided she would be safer if she simply went to get her own food.
Slipping out of Tihl's quarters late in the evening, Lyn looked around, trying to figure out where she was, and what was nearby. Janus had told her once how to reach the kitchens, but she'd have to find her own way back to that tapestry of the Great Escape, which seemed to be one of the primary landmarks of the castle. She wasn't surprised, really, since from everything she could tell it had been a pretty critical turning point in Mazoku history.
Finally reaching the door to the kitchens, Lyn slipped in and closed it carefully behind her. Glancing around, she saw that they were empty, much to her relief.
The banked fire gave enough light for Lyn to see by, though it seemed odd. She didn't remember a banked fire giving so much light, though to be fair this fire was much larger than any she'd seen before. Deciding not to worry about it, Lyn looked around for food. She soon located bread, a small amount of cheese, and the remains of a baked fish. Passing up the fish because she wasn't sure how long it had been out, Lyn gathered some bread and the cheese, putting a largish portion into the pocket she'd sewn into her dress.
The sound of quiet, shuffling footsteps, slightly hesitant in the dark, caused Lyn to silently turn. Searching the dim kitchens, Lyn quickly found the walker, and surprise loosened her tongue. "M-mother? Why are you here?" Lyn asked, using Medinian from habit.
Shanda looked up at the voice and gave a muffled yelp when she saw red eyes looking at her. "Who are…" Shanda stopped, the first word Lyn had said finally penetrated. It alone had been said in Zenese. "Lyn?" the older woman asked, studying the girl. "You've changed… is it you?"
The words didn't make sense to Lyn, their rounded form unlike the lilting Medinian. And then she realized Shanda was speaking Zenese, and Lyn hadn't recognized it. This time in careful Zenese, Lyn repeated herself, "Mother, why are you here? It's night, shouldn't you sleep?" The Human language was unfamiliar in Lyn's mouth, and the girl couldn't remember the last time she had used it, even to think in.
For her part, Shanda was more concerned with Lyn's strange new appearance. "Lyn, what's happened to you? You… look so different. You look like…"
Lyn closed her eyes, taking a quick bite of the bread. With a swallow, she nodded, opening her eyes. "I know. Mistress Flea changed me. She said I look better this way."
"Oh, Lyn, be careful!" Shanda said, taking a step closer, and then shrinking back a little. "Be careful. I've heard rumors… They do things. I'm just glad you're with a woman, so at least you don't have to worry about that. Maris… that purple man, the general, he came and took her… We all know what he wanted her for… but at least… you're safe."
Lyn looked at her mother in confusion before realizing that she was talking about sex. And… Slash, apparently. "Sir Slash is violet, not purple," Lyn corrected before the rest of Shanda's statement was processed. "He took Maris? Oh, thank the Lady and Lizard, she's with someone kind! I don't think she'd have survived if Mistress Flea had taken her."
"Kind?" Shanda said in horror. "Lyn… he's… he's laying with her. Can you imagine how horrible that must be, to lay with one of… of them?"
"He is kind, he will not beat her for no reason, and he's the expected gender. It could be worse," Lyn answered, not hearing the coldness in her own voice.
Shaking her head, Shanda backed away more. "How… how can you say that, Lyn? You- you're practically one of them! Lyn, what are you doing? You're turning your back on your race!"
Shanda's words hit their mark, and now Lyn was shaking her head, green hair glinting darkly in the firelight. She had learnt to cover fear with aggression however, long days spent with Janus showing their effect. "I am surviving, mother," she snapped. "It's a different world up there, one you can't begin to understand. Don't go making judgement on me, not while you stay here safe in the kitchens! You don't have to make my choices, and don't pretend that makes you better than me," Lyn hissed, unconsciously mimicking the imperious tone Flea used when she was annoyed.
"Lyn, you're not Human any more!" Shanda cried desperately.
This time Lyn's voice was ice, deadly cold masking hurt and fury. "You don't know anything. Shut up and leave."
Shanda crept forward, tears in her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Lyn. I didn't mean that…" Hesitantly she reached for the strangely blue flesh her daughter now wore.
At the feel of a human hand on her skin, Lyn pulled away, slapping Shanda before she thought about what she was doing. For a moment, horror was in her carmine eyes, but Shanda didn't see it. When brown eyes finally meet the ruby gaze, all she saw was a strange calmness. "Yes you did," Lyn said, sounding dead. "But that doesn't mean it's true."
With another shake of her head, Lyn turned away, leaving the kitchens. Behind her, she heard her mother drop to the stone floor with quiet sobs, but Lyn's own eyes were dry. She had only cried from physical pain since that night in Algetty, and sorrow alone was no longer reason to shed tears.
Returning to Tihl's rooms, she was glad to note that it seemed she had not been missed. Sounds of pleasure came from the Mazoku's bedroom, and Lyn made a face. She didn't need to hear that, or to imagine what was happening in there. Sighing, she ate a little more from what she'd brought, and then began practicing a spell. Some of the words had come to her in her last fight with Flea, and she was rather sure that it was a protection spell, but she hadn't quite got enough of the words to successfully cast it before Flea knocked her out. Lyn was hoping to master the spell while Flea was gone so she would have something to surprise her Mistress with.
Oohhh... harsh, Shanda. I rather feel sorry for her...