Return to Childhood chapter 2
Apr. 22nd, 2009 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eastofthemoonOkay, here's chapter 2. The chaos begins. XP
Title: Return to Childhood
Series: Slayers
Rating: G
Chapter 2
Lina gave a low moan. She felt awful and that was stating it lightly. Her ears had a constant buzz and she felt sore all over. It felt as if her whole body had been rinsed and squeezed like it was a sponge. There was a voice calling her, it was faint but grew louder as her mind broke out of her dream world.
“Lina?”
She opened her eyes to a concerned Gourry hovering above her. There was a chill in the air but the brightness of sun’s rays stabbed her eyes. He sighed with relief. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
Not quite ready to sit up yet, Lina made herself comfy on the pillow she was laying on. “How long was I out?”
“You, Amelia and Zel have been unconscious the whole night.”
Lina shut her eyes from the sunlight and draped her arm back over her head. Automatically, she reached to fluff her pillow, which she realized was rather lumpy. “That’s right, I got the water, but I dropped the canteen.” She frowned. “I can’t remember what happened after-“
Her current thought trailed off as she felt her pillow. It was too lumpy, in fact it was too warm as well. Fearfully, she turned her head. What she was lying on was not a pillow. She discovered the reason why Gourry was hovering over her. She was lying in the swordsman’s lap.
The pain in her body forgotten, Lina bolted, spun around and proceeded to bonk Gourry’s head with her slipper. Yet, for some strange reason her attack didn’t carry the force it normally did. Instead of knocking him over as usual, Gourry gave a soft “Ow!”
His rubbed his head. “Geez Lina, what was that for?”
She was still puzzled, but Lina was not about to let this go. “You took advantage me! What kind of young woman would let you do that?”
Gourry blinked. “Lina, I did that because I thought it would be more comfortable. Besides-“ He rose to his feet. “I don’t think that’s a problem right now.”
Lina gapped. She literally had to look up at him. “Gourry, how did you get so tall all of a sudden?”
“He didn’t.” The new voice caused Lina to jump. “It was a voice of a kid, but the tone of it was familiar.”
She turned to the source and blinked. “Zel?”
It was indeed the chimera, but a smaller version. His face was much rounder and he was the size of a 10 year old. His old clothes were presently hanging loosely off his body. He looked like a boy that was trying to play dress up in his father’s clothing. “It’s me,” he grumbled, in a higher voice then Lina was use to.
There was only once reaction that entered Lina’s mind. She laughed long and hard. “HA HA! Aw man!” she pointed at teased. “I never thought you were such a cute kid.”
The chimera twitched, but kept his glare. “Lina.”
“Ha ha! What? Ha!”
“Aren’t you wondering why you’re at the same eye level as me?”
Lina’s laughter stopped cold. Fearfully, she glanced down. Her clothes were also now loose and baggy. With a yell, she searched the area until she spotted a small puddle, ran and looked down. It was a face she hadn’t seen in for over ten years. It was the face of her 8 year old self.
The full details of last night echoed in her mind as she remembered the falling water right before she went unconscious. It was at this point, Lina let loose a blood curdling scream. “How could this have happen?!”
“It happened because someone was a klutz and splashed the water on all three of us,” Zelgadis sharply replied.
Lina glared hands on her hips. “I am not a klutz.”
“The recent situation suggests otherwise.”
Quickly, Gourry dashed in between them. “Now, now let’s calm down,” sounding like an over worked school teacher. “Having a shouting match isn’t going to solve anything.”
Zelgadis said nothing, but kept his glare, while Lina stuck her tongue out. A thought occurred to her. What did Zelgadis mean when he said the ‘three of us’? Actually, it was odd that Gourry jumped in, usually that was Amelia’s job.
She then groaned. “I hate to ask this, but where’s Amelia?”
“I’m over here, Miss Lina!” replied a high tone cheery voice.
The short sorceress looked to her right and spotted Amelia as she appeared from behind a tree. Unlike her and Zelgadis, Amelia was wearing clothes that fitted her exactly. It was an outfit that was almost exactly like her normal clothes however, they seemed to be altered to fit her current size.
“Amelia, what happened to your clothes?”
“My normal clothes were too big, so Mr. Pokota altered them for me.”
“Pokota?!”
Zelgadis nodded. “Apparently, Pokota is quite good at sewing. Although, I’ll admit, it surprised me too.”
Pokota glared. “It’s not that shocking.” He jumped to the ground. “I’ve been traveling by myself for some time, my body is that of a stuffed animal and my cape tears easily. It doesn’t help that there’s not many tailors that would take me seriously, so after the tenth tear I started doing it myself.”
Gourry raised an eyebrow. “Mending clothing and your own body I get, but doesn’t it take more effort to resize an outfit like that?”
Pokota blushed and turned away. “So, I have a knack for it big deal.”
“But it’s a handy and just talent Mr. Pokota!” Amelia cheered. “We may be in a bad situation that Ms. Lina caused, but at least we’ll have fitting clothes thanks to you.”
Lina twitched. She would soon start to lose count of how many times the blame for their problem was going to be pinned onto her. “Okay, so Pokota can fix our clothes, that’s great, but we need a plan on what to do next.”
Zelgadis nodded as Pokota took his measurements. “Agreed. I refused to stay like this.”
Gourry took a thinking position on a stump. “Well, we could just wait it out. Nobody stays a kid forever. So, you three will grow out of it eventually.”
Lina felt the urge to whack him with her slipper, but then recalled that he was currently too tall for that. “Sure, great plan Gourry, except that would take years and I don’t wish to go through puberty twice. Once was enough.”
Gourry grinned. “Hey, maybe this time round you’ll grow bigger breasts.”
On instinct Lina went to tackle, but Gourry seized her by the back of her shirt like she was a kitten. Momentarily baffled, she blinked and then screamed. “Dammit! I hate this!”
“I don’t know, I’m rather enjoying this,” Gourry laughed. It was rather nice to not worry about tackled and hits from Lina’s slipper for a change.
Amelia frowned. “There is a spring of growth. My sister once told me about it.”
“I’ve read about that too,” Pokota replied, getting his needle and thread ready. “But isn’t it on Mipross Island?”
“It is.” Lina wiggled herself free from the swordsman’s grip. “The water is rather potent. There’s a good chance it could make us too old.” Lina shivered at the memory. If that farmer hadn’t stopped her, she would probably be sitting in a retire home with a glass of false teeth somewhere. She tapped her toe in thought.
Gourry raised an eyebrow. “You seem to know quite a bit about it?”
Lina coughed and ignored the question.
“Isn’t there someway we could adjust the water’s potency?” Pokota asked, as he threaded his needle.
Lina folded her arms. That was a good point. “I suppose if we found an expert on potion making, it could be possible to tweak the spring water.” She snapped her fingers. “That’s right! We would be back to our normal age in no time!”
“The only problem is that Mipross Island is a long way from here.” Amelia stated. “It’s going to be a pain to get there.”
“We might not have to go that far,” Zelgadis muttered, as he handed Pokota his shirt. “There are magic shops that will sell spring water.”
“And it will cost an arm and a leg to buy it,” Lina grumbled and sighed. “But, we don’t have a lot of alternatives and it’s our best plan at the moment.” She turned to Pokota who had already started to sew Zelgadis’s shirt. “How long will it take you adjust our clothes?”
“Give me a few hours,” he said without looking up. “It won’t take that long.”
“Good-“
“Especially yours since you didn’t have that much to fill out in the first place.”
Gourry lifted Lina off the ground before she could launch an attack on Pokota.
Unaware to the group, a few feet away Flan and Zollan peeked from their hiding place. “Hey bro, this is just weird.”
“Hmm…” replied the dogman. “But this may work to our advantage. With over half the group reduced in size, this should make getting our hands on the sword of light easier.”
Zollan flicked his ears, grinning. Flan was right, that’s what made him the brains of the team. “So, should we go and grab it from them?”
Flan grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “No, they may have gotten smaller, but they’re magic might not have changed. Let’s just watch and see when a good chance arrives.”
“Oh right, good plan.” A loud rumble came from the catman’s stomach. “Um, bro, do you think we could get some breakfast. I’m starving.”
Flan scoffed. “We can’t waste time on food. We have to be focus on getting the sword…” Another stomach rumble, and slightly louder, grumble came from his own stomach. “Although, you can’t focus on an empty stomach either,” he replied fighting back the blush. “They’ll probably head back to town as well. So, we’ll get something to eat while we wait for them and plan our next move.”
The hungry pair walked off, not noticing that they were also being watched by a shadowy figure up in the tree.
Without opening his eyes, Xellos grinned. “Well, this will surely be fun to watch.”
808080808080808080
“Hey Lina, do you need a nap?” The sorceress twitched. With her smaller body, she was finding it a lot more exhausting to trek through the forest and having Gourry constantly ask her if she needed to rest wasn’t helping. “No, Gourry, I don’t.”
“But you look more tired than normal?”
“Well, considering that my body has shrunk and kids wear out more easily, that would probably be why.”
“I could carry you for awhile if you want?”
Lina whirled around. “Listen Gourry, currently I may look like a child, but that doesn’t I should be treated as one.”
“Never mind that there are times you act like a greedy brat.”
Lina cast a glare. “Care to say that again Zel?”
The chimera child barely glanced back as he ducked under a branch. “I don’t have to. You have good hearing.”
Lina’s fists tightened. “Why don’t you come over here then? My hearing must have gotten worse since we’ve shrunk.”
Amelia sweated a little. With their current state, there was a good chance that Lina and Zelgadis hnd less control on their tempers. She couldn’t ignore the possibility of them getting into a fist fight. Images of watching the pair tumble and roll on the ground like a couple of bear cubs kept appearing in her mind.
She needed something to distract them. “How about we play I spy?”
Lina raised an eyebrow. “Amelia didn’t you hear what I just said to Gourry?”
“I’ll start!” Amelia sweated and frantically scanned the area. “I spy something…green.”
“The bushes?” Gourry suggested.
“Nope.”
Pokota yawned. “Let me guess, the leaves?”
“That’s it! You got it Mister Pokota.”
“We’ll considering we’re in a forest. It can’t be much else.”
The princess smiled and glanced toward Lina. “You go next.”
Lina rolled her eyes, but then wicked grins appeared. “Oh I got one.” She stared straight ahead and directly at Zelgadis. “I spy something blue.”
The chimera twitched. “Your sense of humour must have reduced to an immature level along with your body.”
Lina stuck her tongue out.
“Oh, that’s showing your maturity Lina!”
Amelia groaned. Gourry sighed and tapped Pokota’s head. “Would it be wrong if I threaten to ground them for a week with no dessert unless they agree to get along?”
The small creature buried his head into his paws. “That depends, could you do it without worrying about Lina tackling you once she’s big again?”
The swordsmen sighed and plug his fingers into his ears to tune out the arguing.
080808080808080
Lina was exhausted but they had at last arrived. She was positive they were overdue for lunch. It was far too tempting to simply grab Gourry’s arm and drag him and ordering the other to go to the nearest restaurant and eat.
Yet, she ignored it. Even though she was hungry, her desire to return to her proper age again was far greater. She wanted to be back to normal as soon as humanely possible. Lina refused to be stuck in this state for another minute. They would eat to celebrate once they had the spring water in their hands. Of course, that is if they could find the spring water in this town.
Lina cringed at the possibility and glanced to the chimera. “Since you were exploring the shops yesterday, any notion where we can buy spring water?”
Zelgadis thought quietly as he pulled his hood up and covered his face. He got enough attention as an adult, he didn’t want to find out how people would react seeing a chimera child. “There is one shop, but I couldn’t find anything useful so I didn’t stay very long.” He folded his arms. “However, I did notice the shop keeper had a lot of imports from other countries.”
“So, they might have spring water from Mipross Island?”
Zelgadis shrugged. “I can’t guarantee it, but it seems to be the best place to start.”
“Well then, led the way Zel.”
The chimera led the group down the street, around the cornet and took a right turn at the next. Lina’s merchant senses went off as soon as she laid eyes on the shop. It wasn’t well kept. The whole building was overdue for a new coat of paint. Grim and dirt covered the outside walls. The sign itself was a mess. The chain on one side of it was broken and swung back and forth in the breeze.
“I’ve seen ruins in better condition than this place…” Pokota commented.
“Mister Pokota, it’s unjust to judge a place by its’ appearance.” As the princess said this, a roof title crashed loudly to the street. Amelia sweated. “Although, I suppose there are exceptions to the rule.”
“Actually, from what I hear this shop does earn a fair profit.” Zelgadis added.
Gourry blinked. “You’re kidding right?”
Zelgadis shook his head. “I came to this here because of rumours that this place had a unique inventory when compared to the other local shops. Although, after I explored it, I have a good suspicion the shop keeper gets a lot of his stock through crooked methods.”
“Oh, wonderful!” Lina thought. “With our luck we’ll be entering it just as the local lawmen come to arrest the shopkeeper and tear this place apart.” She sighed. Her poor tummy was so empty. “Whatever. Let’s just go in and get this over with so we can eat.”
Not letting anyone argue, she entered the shop. The inside of the shop proved to be an improvement from its’ outside appearance. Although, it was only a mild upgrade. The shelves were filled to the brim with items; however they weren’t categorized in any specific style. Lina could hear the screams of her horrified mother. Keeping a shop organized was a must follow rule in Inverse family shop. Lina imagine that keeping inventory in this place would be her mother’s worst nightmare.
“Where are we supposed to start looking?” Amelia asked, sounding overwhelmed upon the site.
“Simple,” Lina replied as she walked up to the counter. “We’ll just ask.” She slammed her hand on the counter. “Hey! Who’s ever in here, get out here and attend to your costumers!”
A curtain from the backroom was pulled back. A short plump man poked his head out. “Oh, hello there.”
Lina relaxed a little the man come rushing forward. Good, at least there’s some service she thought. When the man was an inch away from her, Lina said “We want to know-“
And the man walked right past her. Lina blinked confused as the shop keeper kept on walking right towards Gourry. The man enthusiastically rubbed his hands together. “Now then, how can the great Talus be of service to you?”
Gourry glanced around, and then pointed at himself. “Um…are you talking to me?”
“Of course Sir!” Talus continued.
Lina’s blood promptly began to boil, but she calm herself. She couldn’t blame the shop keeper, Gourry was the only present ‘adult’ so any normal person would assume he was in charge. However, that was not going to stop her.
Lina marched up and tugged on Talus’s apron.
“Hey mister, we want-“
The shop keeper turned to her with a disgusted look. “Kid, I’m busy with Daddy here. Why don’t you and the other brats go play out in the street or something?”
Lina was no longer calm. Her fingers ached to fetch her slipper. “Why you-”
Zelgadis quickly grabbed Lina from behind. “Don’t do anything foolish. You can kill him later once we’re back to normal.”
Lina growled, but the small chimera kept his grip.
Gourry sweated, but he was glad to see Zelgadis had managed to hold back Lina. He turned his attention back to the shop keeper. “Um…we’re looking for a type of spring water called um…”
“Mipross spring water,” Pokota whispered.
“Right, Mipross spring water. The kind that can makes people and animals grow older.”
Talus clapped his hands. “Ah yes, very rare and expensive. But you are in luck Sir, I have just what you need in the back.” Talus sharply turned and head back behind the curtain.
Once the man was out of the danger zone, Zelgadis let go of Lina. She glared, “You should have let me fireball the jerk.”
“But Miss Lina, that wouldn’t have solved anything,” Amelia replied.
“And he’s such a pleasant guy,” Pokota muttered sourly.
“But justice does prove to be on our side!” Amelia cheered. “How lucky for us that Mister Talus does have the spring water.”
Zelgadis said nothing, lost in his own thoughts. This was too easy. The first store they set foot in does happen to have the water they need to return to normal without having to search through the other stores for hours on end? No, this was far too easy. Something was going to happen to make this more difficult. He could feel it in his pessimistic bones.
Talus promptly returned, carrying a small glass bottle in his hands. “Here we are Sir, Mipross spring water of growth.”
Lina raised an eyebrow. “How do we know that’s the real stuff and not some cheap knock off?”
Talus scoffed. “Not that I feel I have to listen to a kid, but just to prove you wrong.” The shopkeeper took out a small jar of dirt and a small bag of seeds. He planted them into the jar and then carefully let one drop of the water drip into the jar. The jar shook, and in an eye blinks flower buds popped out from the soil.
“It looks real to me,” Gourry commented.
Talus nodded. “Exactly Sir, now may we discuss the price.”
Gourry scratched his head. He wasn’t the one to normally haggle, that was usually Lina’s job, however, Gourry would have to since the guy cleary didn’t want to deal with a kid. He glanced to Lina and said “How much do you want for it?”
“Well…” Talus stroked his mustache. “Since you are my first costumer today, I’ll give you a deal on such a rare item.” He wrote down the price on a piece of paper and shoved it across the counter. Gourry took it and his jaw dropped.
Lina snatched it from him and had a heart attack once she read it. “Are you nuts?! That’s way too expensive!”
“It’s a fair price kid,” Talus replied unfazed by the outburst.
“That’s enough to buy three castles!” Amelia cried as she looked at it. “This is unjust treatment of your costumers!”
“It’s not justice, its business,” Talus replied smirking.
Gourry recovered from his shook. “We can’t afford this.”
“That’s not my problem, Sir. That is my price, if you don’t like it you can go elsewhere.”
“Fine!” Lina snapped as she stomped out. It was clear this guy wasn’t willing to haggle or lower the price. “We’ll get it somewhere else you swindler.”
Talus grinned. “I should warn you, I’m the only shop in town that has spring water at all.”
Lina froze.
“You guys can look all you want, but I can guarantee you, there’s no other store that carries the same stock as me.”
Her grip tighten on the doorknob. Lina growled, but didn’t look back. “Let’s get out of here, before I blow up this place.”
The rest followed. Zelgadis groaned. “I knew it was too easy.”
Title: Return to Childhood
Series: Slayers
Rating: G
Chapter 2
Lina gave a low moan. She felt awful and that was stating it lightly. Her ears had a constant buzz and she felt sore all over. It felt as if her whole body had been rinsed and squeezed like it was a sponge. There was a voice calling her, it was faint but grew louder as her mind broke out of her dream world.
“Lina?”
She opened her eyes to a concerned Gourry hovering above her. There was a chill in the air but the brightness of sun’s rays stabbed her eyes. He sighed with relief. “Oh good, you’re awake.”
Not quite ready to sit up yet, Lina made herself comfy on the pillow she was laying on. “How long was I out?”
“You, Amelia and Zel have been unconscious the whole night.”
Lina shut her eyes from the sunlight and draped her arm back over her head. Automatically, she reached to fluff her pillow, which she realized was rather lumpy. “That’s right, I got the water, but I dropped the canteen.” She frowned. “I can’t remember what happened after-“
Her current thought trailed off as she felt her pillow. It was too lumpy, in fact it was too warm as well. Fearfully, she turned her head. What she was lying on was not a pillow. She discovered the reason why Gourry was hovering over her. She was lying in the swordsman’s lap.
The pain in her body forgotten, Lina bolted, spun around and proceeded to bonk Gourry’s head with her slipper. Yet, for some strange reason her attack didn’t carry the force it normally did. Instead of knocking him over as usual, Gourry gave a soft “Ow!”
His rubbed his head. “Geez Lina, what was that for?”
She was still puzzled, but Lina was not about to let this go. “You took advantage me! What kind of young woman would let you do that?”
Gourry blinked. “Lina, I did that because I thought it would be more comfortable. Besides-“ He rose to his feet. “I don’t think that’s a problem right now.”
Lina gapped. She literally had to look up at him. “Gourry, how did you get so tall all of a sudden?”
“He didn’t.” The new voice caused Lina to jump. “It was a voice of a kid, but the tone of it was familiar.”
She turned to the source and blinked. “Zel?”
It was indeed the chimera, but a smaller version. His face was much rounder and he was the size of a 10 year old. His old clothes were presently hanging loosely off his body. He looked like a boy that was trying to play dress up in his father’s clothing. “It’s me,” he grumbled, in a higher voice then Lina was use to.
There was only once reaction that entered Lina’s mind. She laughed long and hard. “HA HA! Aw man!” she pointed at teased. “I never thought you were such a cute kid.”
The chimera twitched, but kept his glare. “Lina.”
“Ha ha! What? Ha!”
“Aren’t you wondering why you’re at the same eye level as me?”
Lina’s laughter stopped cold. Fearfully, she glanced down. Her clothes were also now loose and baggy. With a yell, she searched the area until she spotted a small puddle, ran and looked down. It was a face she hadn’t seen in for over ten years. It was the face of her 8 year old self.
The full details of last night echoed in her mind as she remembered the falling water right before she went unconscious. It was at this point, Lina let loose a blood curdling scream. “How could this have happen?!”
“It happened because someone was a klutz and splashed the water on all three of us,” Zelgadis sharply replied.
Lina glared hands on her hips. “I am not a klutz.”
“The recent situation suggests otherwise.”
Quickly, Gourry dashed in between them. “Now, now let’s calm down,” sounding like an over worked school teacher. “Having a shouting match isn’t going to solve anything.”
Zelgadis said nothing, but kept his glare, while Lina stuck her tongue out. A thought occurred to her. What did Zelgadis mean when he said the ‘three of us’? Actually, it was odd that Gourry jumped in, usually that was Amelia’s job.
She then groaned. “I hate to ask this, but where’s Amelia?”
“I’m over here, Miss Lina!” replied a high tone cheery voice.
The short sorceress looked to her right and spotted Amelia as she appeared from behind a tree. Unlike her and Zelgadis, Amelia was wearing clothes that fitted her exactly. It was an outfit that was almost exactly like her normal clothes however, they seemed to be altered to fit her current size.
“Amelia, what happened to your clothes?”
“My normal clothes were too big, so Mr. Pokota altered them for me.”
“Pokota?!”
Zelgadis nodded. “Apparently, Pokota is quite good at sewing. Although, I’ll admit, it surprised me too.”
Pokota glared. “It’s not that shocking.” He jumped to the ground. “I’ve been traveling by myself for some time, my body is that of a stuffed animal and my cape tears easily. It doesn’t help that there’s not many tailors that would take me seriously, so after the tenth tear I started doing it myself.”
Gourry raised an eyebrow. “Mending clothing and your own body I get, but doesn’t it take more effort to resize an outfit like that?”
Pokota blushed and turned away. “So, I have a knack for it big deal.”
“But it’s a handy and just talent Mr. Pokota!” Amelia cheered. “We may be in a bad situation that Ms. Lina caused, but at least we’ll have fitting clothes thanks to you.”
Lina twitched. She would soon start to lose count of how many times the blame for their problem was going to be pinned onto her. “Okay, so Pokota can fix our clothes, that’s great, but we need a plan on what to do next.”
Zelgadis nodded as Pokota took his measurements. “Agreed. I refused to stay like this.”
Gourry took a thinking position on a stump. “Well, we could just wait it out. Nobody stays a kid forever. So, you three will grow out of it eventually.”
Lina felt the urge to whack him with her slipper, but then recalled that he was currently too tall for that. “Sure, great plan Gourry, except that would take years and I don’t wish to go through puberty twice. Once was enough.”
Gourry grinned. “Hey, maybe this time round you’ll grow bigger breasts.”
On instinct Lina went to tackle, but Gourry seized her by the back of her shirt like she was a kitten. Momentarily baffled, she blinked and then screamed. “Dammit! I hate this!”
“I don’t know, I’m rather enjoying this,” Gourry laughed. It was rather nice to not worry about tackled and hits from Lina’s slipper for a change.
Amelia frowned. “There is a spring of growth. My sister once told me about it.”
“I’ve read about that too,” Pokota replied, getting his needle and thread ready. “But isn’t it on Mipross Island?”
“It is.” Lina wiggled herself free from the swordsman’s grip. “The water is rather potent. There’s a good chance it could make us too old.” Lina shivered at the memory. If that farmer hadn’t stopped her, she would probably be sitting in a retire home with a glass of false teeth somewhere. She tapped her toe in thought.
Gourry raised an eyebrow. “You seem to know quite a bit about it?”
Lina coughed and ignored the question.
“Isn’t there someway we could adjust the water’s potency?” Pokota asked, as he threaded his needle.
Lina folded her arms. That was a good point. “I suppose if we found an expert on potion making, it could be possible to tweak the spring water.” She snapped her fingers. “That’s right! We would be back to our normal age in no time!”
“The only problem is that Mipross Island is a long way from here.” Amelia stated. “It’s going to be a pain to get there.”
“We might not have to go that far,” Zelgadis muttered, as he handed Pokota his shirt. “There are magic shops that will sell spring water.”
“And it will cost an arm and a leg to buy it,” Lina grumbled and sighed. “But, we don’t have a lot of alternatives and it’s our best plan at the moment.” She turned to Pokota who had already started to sew Zelgadis’s shirt. “How long will it take you adjust our clothes?”
“Give me a few hours,” he said without looking up. “It won’t take that long.”
“Good-“
“Especially yours since you didn’t have that much to fill out in the first place.”
Gourry lifted Lina off the ground before she could launch an attack on Pokota.
Unaware to the group, a few feet away Flan and Zollan peeked from their hiding place. “Hey bro, this is just weird.”
“Hmm…” replied the dogman. “But this may work to our advantage. With over half the group reduced in size, this should make getting our hands on the sword of light easier.”
Zollan flicked his ears, grinning. Flan was right, that’s what made him the brains of the team. “So, should we go and grab it from them?”
Flan grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “No, they may have gotten smaller, but they’re magic might not have changed. Let’s just watch and see when a good chance arrives.”
“Oh right, good plan.” A loud rumble came from the catman’s stomach. “Um, bro, do you think we could get some breakfast. I’m starving.”
Flan scoffed. “We can’t waste time on food. We have to be focus on getting the sword…” Another stomach rumble, and slightly louder, grumble came from his own stomach. “Although, you can’t focus on an empty stomach either,” he replied fighting back the blush. “They’ll probably head back to town as well. So, we’ll get something to eat while we wait for them and plan our next move.”
The hungry pair walked off, not noticing that they were also being watched by a shadowy figure up in the tree.
Without opening his eyes, Xellos grinned. “Well, this will surely be fun to watch.”
808080808080808080
“Hey Lina, do you need a nap?” The sorceress twitched. With her smaller body, she was finding it a lot more exhausting to trek through the forest and having Gourry constantly ask her if she needed to rest wasn’t helping. “No, Gourry, I don’t.”
“But you look more tired than normal?”
“Well, considering that my body has shrunk and kids wear out more easily, that would probably be why.”
“I could carry you for awhile if you want?”
Lina whirled around. “Listen Gourry, currently I may look like a child, but that doesn’t I should be treated as one.”
“Never mind that there are times you act like a greedy brat.”
Lina cast a glare. “Care to say that again Zel?”
The chimera child barely glanced back as he ducked under a branch. “I don’t have to. You have good hearing.”
Lina’s fists tightened. “Why don’t you come over here then? My hearing must have gotten worse since we’ve shrunk.”
Amelia sweated a little. With their current state, there was a good chance that Lina and Zelgadis hnd less control on their tempers. She couldn’t ignore the possibility of them getting into a fist fight. Images of watching the pair tumble and roll on the ground like a couple of bear cubs kept appearing in her mind.
She needed something to distract them. “How about we play I spy?”
Lina raised an eyebrow. “Amelia didn’t you hear what I just said to Gourry?”
“I’ll start!” Amelia sweated and frantically scanned the area. “I spy something…green.”
“The bushes?” Gourry suggested.
“Nope.”
Pokota yawned. “Let me guess, the leaves?”
“That’s it! You got it Mister Pokota.”
“We’ll considering we’re in a forest. It can’t be much else.”
The princess smiled and glanced toward Lina. “You go next.”
Lina rolled her eyes, but then wicked grins appeared. “Oh I got one.” She stared straight ahead and directly at Zelgadis. “I spy something blue.”
The chimera twitched. “Your sense of humour must have reduced to an immature level along with your body.”
Lina stuck her tongue out.
“Oh, that’s showing your maturity Lina!”
Amelia groaned. Gourry sighed and tapped Pokota’s head. “Would it be wrong if I threaten to ground them for a week with no dessert unless they agree to get along?”
The small creature buried his head into his paws. “That depends, could you do it without worrying about Lina tackling you once she’s big again?”
The swordsmen sighed and plug his fingers into his ears to tune out the arguing.
080808080808080
Lina was exhausted but they had at last arrived. She was positive they were overdue for lunch. It was far too tempting to simply grab Gourry’s arm and drag him and ordering the other to go to the nearest restaurant and eat.
Yet, she ignored it. Even though she was hungry, her desire to return to her proper age again was far greater. She wanted to be back to normal as soon as humanely possible. Lina refused to be stuck in this state for another minute. They would eat to celebrate once they had the spring water in their hands. Of course, that is if they could find the spring water in this town.
Lina cringed at the possibility and glanced to the chimera. “Since you were exploring the shops yesterday, any notion where we can buy spring water?”
Zelgadis thought quietly as he pulled his hood up and covered his face. He got enough attention as an adult, he didn’t want to find out how people would react seeing a chimera child. “There is one shop, but I couldn’t find anything useful so I didn’t stay very long.” He folded his arms. “However, I did notice the shop keeper had a lot of imports from other countries.”
“So, they might have spring water from Mipross Island?”
Zelgadis shrugged. “I can’t guarantee it, but it seems to be the best place to start.”
“Well then, led the way Zel.”
The chimera led the group down the street, around the cornet and took a right turn at the next. Lina’s merchant senses went off as soon as she laid eyes on the shop. It wasn’t well kept. The whole building was overdue for a new coat of paint. Grim and dirt covered the outside walls. The sign itself was a mess. The chain on one side of it was broken and swung back and forth in the breeze.
“I’ve seen ruins in better condition than this place…” Pokota commented.
“Mister Pokota, it’s unjust to judge a place by its’ appearance.” As the princess said this, a roof title crashed loudly to the street. Amelia sweated. “Although, I suppose there are exceptions to the rule.”
“Actually, from what I hear this shop does earn a fair profit.” Zelgadis added.
Gourry blinked. “You’re kidding right?”
Zelgadis shook his head. “I came to this here because of rumours that this place had a unique inventory when compared to the other local shops. Although, after I explored it, I have a good suspicion the shop keeper gets a lot of his stock through crooked methods.”
“Oh, wonderful!” Lina thought. “With our luck we’ll be entering it just as the local lawmen come to arrest the shopkeeper and tear this place apart.” She sighed. Her poor tummy was so empty. “Whatever. Let’s just go in and get this over with so we can eat.”
Not letting anyone argue, she entered the shop. The inside of the shop proved to be an improvement from its’ outside appearance. Although, it was only a mild upgrade. The shelves were filled to the brim with items; however they weren’t categorized in any specific style. Lina could hear the screams of her horrified mother. Keeping a shop organized was a must follow rule in Inverse family shop. Lina imagine that keeping inventory in this place would be her mother’s worst nightmare.
“Where are we supposed to start looking?” Amelia asked, sounding overwhelmed upon the site.
“Simple,” Lina replied as she walked up to the counter. “We’ll just ask.” She slammed her hand on the counter. “Hey! Who’s ever in here, get out here and attend to your costumers!”
A curtain from the backroom was pulled back. A short plump man poked his head out. “Oh, hello there.”
Lina relaxed a little the man come rushing forward. Good, at least there’s some service she thought. When the man was an inch away from her, Lina said “We want to know-“
And the man walked right past her. Lina blinked confused as the shop keeper kept on walking right towards Gourry. The man enthusiastically rubbed his hands together. “Now then, how can the great Talus be of service to you?”
Gourry glanced around, and then pointed at himself. “Um…are you talking to me?”
“Of course Sir!” Talus continued.
Lina’s blood promptly began to boil, but she calm herself. She couldn’t blame the shop keeper, Gourry was the only present ‘adult’ so any normal person would assume he was in charge. However, that was not going to stop her.
Lina marched up and tugged on Talus’s apron.
“Hey mister, we want-“
The shop keeper turned to her with a disgusted look. “Kid, I’m busy with Daddy here. Why don’t you and the other brats go play out in the street or something?”
Lina was no longer calm. Her fingers ached to fetch her slipper. “Why you-”
Zelgadis quickly grabbed Lina from behind. “Don’t do anything foolish. You can kill him later once we’re back to normal.”
Lina growled, but the small chimera kept his grip.
Gourry sweated, but he was glad to see Zelgadis had managed to hold back Lina. He turned his attention back to the shop keeper. “Um…we’re looking for a type of spring water called um…”
“Mipross spring water,” Pokota whispered.
“Right, Mipross spring water. The kind that can makes people and animals grow older.”
Talus clapped his hands. “Ah yes, very rare and expensive. But you are in luck Sir, I have just what you need in the back.” Talus sharply turned and head back behind the curtain.
Once the man was out of the danger zone, Zelgadis let go of Lina. She glared, “You should have let me fireball the jerk.”
“But Miss Lina, that wouldn’t have solved anything,” Amelia replied.
“And he’s such a pleasant guy,” Pokota muttered sourly.
“But justice does prove to be on our side!” Amelia cheered. “How lucky for us that Mister Talus does have the spring water.”
Zelgadis said nothing, lost in his own thoughts. This was too easy. The first store they set foot in does happen to have the water they need to return to normal without having to search through the other stores for hours on end? No, this was far too easy. Something was going to happen to make this more difficult. He could feel it in his pessimistic bones.
Talus promptly returned, carrying a small glass bottle in his hands. “Here we are Sir, Mipross spring water of growth.”
Lina raised an eyebrow. “How do we know that’s the real stuff and not some cheap knock off?”
Talus scoffed. “Not that I feel I have to listen to a kid, but just to prove you wrong.” The shopkeeper took out a small jar of dirt and a small bag of seeds. He planted them into the jar and then carefully let one drop of the water drip into the jar. The jar shook, and in an eye blinks flower buds popped out from the soil.
“It looks real to me,” Gourry commented.
Talus nodded. “Exactly Sir, now may we discuss the price.”
Gourry scratched his head. He wasn’t the one to normally haggle, that was usually Lina’s job, however, Gourry would have to since the guy cleary didn’t want to deal with a kid. He glanced to Lina and said “How much do you want for it?”
“Well…” Talus stroked his mustache. “Since you are my first costumer today, I’ll give you a deal on such a rare item.” He wrote down the price on a piece of paper and shoved it across the counter. Gourry took it and his jaw dropped.
Lina snatched it from him and had a heart attack once she read it. “Are you nuts?! That’s way too expensive!”
“It’s a fair price kid,” Talus replied unfazed by the outburst.
“That’s enough to buy three castles!” Amelia cried as she looked at it. “This is unjust treatment of your costumers!”
“It’s not justice, its business,” Talus replied smirking.
Gourry recovered from his shook. “We can’t afford this.”
“That’s not my problem, Sir. That is my price, if you don’t like it you can go elsewhere.”
“Fine!” Lina snapped as she stomped out. It was clear this guy wasn’t willing to haggle or lower the price. “We’ll get it somewhere else you swindler.”
Talus grinned. “I should warn you, I’m the only shop in town that has spring water at all.”
Lina froze.
“You guys can look all you want, but I can guarantee you, there’s no other store that carries the same stock as me.”
Her grip tighten on the doorknob. Lina growled, but didn’t look back. “Let’s get out of here, before I blow up this place.”
The rest followed. Zelgadis groaned. “I knew it was too easy.”
