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Styx watched the Darkness beyond
the portal opened by the Jewel of Trans
cendance. She loved the mayhem and mischief caused with her ability
to bring
creatures from the Darkness to this world. She planned to use
these methods
until the Ronins were severely weakened. Then she and her siblings
would launch
themselves into the fray.
She could hear voices rambling from the Darkness of the Abyss.
"Fetrilmyn, what do yer think yer doin'?"
"That's Fetrilmyn-the-Slayer-of-a-Thousand-Humans-Most-Highest-Of-All-St
eam-Mephits to you, Garblufink!!"
Styx stifled her laughter at the outrageous name.
The other growled deeply.
Then they stepped out of the Darkness, becoming completely visible
to the
Children of Hell, gathered silently around the eldest and the
sorceress. Both
were barely five feet tall, thin as sticks, with transparent,
membraneous wings.
Their features were grossly exaggerated. One had a tremendously
large and
hooked nose and protruding chin; the other with ears much too
large and widely
spaced large eyes. Their clothes were outrageously comical, brilliant
purples
and reds, rimmed with golden threads and orange and green hats.
The garish
outfits hung loosely on the thin frames supporting them.
One was a angular body, with translucent ice blue skin. Three
long fingers
ended in vicious, icicle-like claws. Spiking all over it's body
and poking
through the garish, vulgar costume, were long jagged icicles.
The other was a
gray form from which rose hissing steam, escaping from its pores.
The
footprints that it left behind were filled with nearly boiling,
steaming water.
Phlegethon couldn't help it. He chuckled. The scene was too
funny.
Both mephits looked up sharply.
"Do you find something so comical so as to laugh at?"
the ice-blue one asked,
jutting his already ample chin at the grown child.
"Yeah! You!" Plegethon nearly laughed.
Before he had managed to utter a syllable, Diamond spun and threw
a spell at
him. Phlegethon felt a massive force slam into his mouth, and
when he tried to
speak, found a steel plate riveted to his face. The two mephits
looked to the
sorceress then at each other. Styx then acquired their view,
dominating the
scene as the Jewel flared to life.
The large-eared mephit suddenly bowed, scraping the ground with
its steaming
head.
"Mistress," it grovled in a weasly tone. "I am
Fetrilmyn-the-Slayer-of-
a-Thousand-Humans-Most-Highest-Of-All-Steam-Mephits. At your
beck and call,
mistress."
The other mimicked its poise, almost getting its proboscis stuck
in the soft
ground.
"And I am Garblufink-Faery-Torturer-Sprite-Slayer-Destroyer-Ice-Mephit-E
xtrodaniare!"
Styx smiled, looking from the groveling steam mephit to the craven
ice mephit.
"I am Styx, Empress of the NetherRealm."
This caused the two mephits to bow even further to the ground.
They groveled
to her, but cast nasty little grins at each other. Styx looked
down upon the
two.
"I have some tasks for you.." she smiled ruefully.
*****
Mia's
*****
"Shaddap, Garblufink!"
Fetrilmyn hissed, pushing himself up onto his toes to
see into the small, high window.
"I ain't saying nothin', big-ears!" the other returned.
"Than what is??"
Both mephits scurried for cover as the sound of footsteps came
around the
corner of the house.
"Mia, see!" Sage laughed. "It's only your imagination;
there's nothing out
here!"
Mia furrowed her brow and peeked around Sage's shoulder. "Nothing?
I could
have sworn that there was someone looking in the window.."
Sage laughed at his female companion. "Dais is probably
just playing some
tricks! Come on back inside." He tried to take her by the
arm, but she avoided
his grip. However she did follow him away.
Fetrilmyn and Garblufink ventured out of thier cover after a
few moments. The
steam mephit let out a laugh of roiling superheated steam. The
ice mephit
giggled maniacally, doubling over and cackling.
Together they bounced around the house, doing a macabre dance,
mimicking the
motions of a snake, being as stealthy as they could. The front
door to the
house was guarded by a big, white tiger. Glancing at its counterpart,
the ice
mephit, Garblufink, inhaled sharply. With a great gusting of
breath, it exhaled
a volley of ice shards at the tiger.
Sharp and stinging, the ice shards stuck in Whiteblaze's muzzle
and ears.
Shaking his head violently, the tiger rose to his feet, snarling.
Fetrilmyn
chuckles and inhaled as its companion had done. But, instead
of a volley of ice
shards, a sheet of scalding water erupted from the steam mephit.
Whiteblaze was
struck full in the face with the boiling liquid, and roared in
pain, retreating
within the doorway. The scalding water melted the ice shards
and the heat of
the water caused all liquid to evaporate. The two mephits scattered.
Ryo appeared behind the tiger, reaching down to calm the raging
beast. Both
man and tiger looked about for the cause of the trouble, but Ryo,
seeing
nothing, laughed.
"Were you dreaming, boy?" he asked the tiger. "There's
nothing out there."
Whiteblaze tried to communicate to his friend that there was
something terribly
wrong out there. Growling, the tiger backed into the house and
lay down just
inside the doorway, watching for the raucous little imps.
Sekhmet knocked on the door
to Liza's room one last time. He was rapidly
running out of patience, but was determined not to scare her any
more than she
already was. He was worried that she would never forgive him
for keeping the
secret, worried that she would never forgive him for his past
transgressions.
Sekhmet rubbed his temples in weariness, and waited.
This time, the door cracked open slightly. One of Liza's shadowy
violet-blue
eyes peered up at him through the crack. Then the door shut completely.
"Go away, I need time to think." he heard her say.
"Liza, please," Sekhmet pleaded, leaning against the
door. "Please, talk to
me."
She repeated herself quietly. Then added, "I will; I just
need some time."
"Liz-" Sekhmet stopped and looked over at the man
that just joined him. With
a wan smile at Cye, Sekhmet greeted the littlest Ronin.
"She won't talk to me," Sekhmet explained, now standing
across the hall from
Liza's door. "I wanna know what's wrong, but she's not speaking."
Cye smiled. "Think about this, Sekhmet," he offered.
"If you were in her
shoes, knowing nothing about us Ronins or the Dynasty, how would
you feel? How
would you react?"
Sekhmet looked down at him wondering for the Ronin's sanity.
"I would take it
like a man, head on, and I would accept it. There would be no
other way to take
it."
Cye chuckled. "Come on downstairs, Sekhmet, we'll talk
about this some more,
away from her door."
Mia was sure this time that
she saw faces in the kitchen window. Faces that
were thin with large features and overexaggerated expressions.
One was OPENING
the window into the kitchen and pulling itself through!!
Mia screamed, backing away from the window. The thin monster
was joined by its
icicle-skinned companion and they proceeded to box her against
the wall.
Mia's scream brought the Overlords running, and Cye, who reached
the kitchen
first, shouted and waved his arms hoping to scare the things off.
One look at
Cye, and a glance at each other, and the two imps burst out laughing.
They
pointed at the three Overlords as they crowded in, and motioned
to the little
Ronin and the woman. The large-eared one, steam hissing from
its skin, raised
its arms to the ceiling and began to dance, its purple and red
clothes flapping
comically in the air.
The Overlords exchanged looks. Cale grunted as Dais pushed past
him, the one
ice blue eye steely and cold. Dais jumped, reaching for the dancing
imp, but
the creature jumped and spun away, knocking Dais on his head.
The other
laughed.
From the steam that gathered over the head of the steaming imp,
a cloud formed,
full of boiling hot rain. It floated to the ceiling continuing
to be fed by the
steam rolling off the imp. Suddenly, the cloud broke, and the
boiling rain
began to fall.