Portal to the Unknown

Portal to the Unknown
Chapter Five: Vivi Gone Missing?!

VVL 69: Now here's the stuff. Gomen nasai for taking so long, PLEASE don't delete me [bows low]
Vivi: . . .
VVL 69: What's the matter . . . cat got your tongue?
Vivi: [mumbling] . . . . . . . . .
VVL 69: He's not speaking to me. Oh well, here's the next chapter, brought to you by the grace of my lazy fingers. Enjoy.
Vivi: . . . help me . . .

~~~

"Ah, now this is what I'm talking about," Zidane groaned contentedly as he relaxed in the sauna, his muscles relaxing from the hot steam.

"It's too hot," Vivi complained.

"Too hot? Y'know, kid, for a black mage who absolutely loves fire, you can be a real pill sometimes."

"Maybe," Vivi considered, "but it's still too hot. I'm leaving."

"Ah, man," Zidane grumbled. "You sure know how to ruin things." He rose to leave as well, but was stopped by the approach of two young women entering the sauna. "Whoa, baby. Vivi, you can take care of yourself, right?"

"Oh, is someone here? Sorry, we'll go somewhere else . . . " The left of the girls, a shorthaired blonde, stopped in her motion of opening the curtain.

"Nah," Zidane protested. "Come on in, I won't bite."

"Zidane . . . " Vivi started to warn the genome, but thought better of it.

"Yeah?"

"Never mind." Vivi shook his head and stood from the bench, adjusting his towel. "I'm going to have a cold bath."

"Well, don't take too long. Later we'll go to the bar and get some ether."

"They sell ether in the bar?" Vivi raised an unseen eyebrow.

"Yeah, and they've got this 'turbo-ether' that I think you'd like."

"Eh," Vivi nodded, "it could be all right . . . " He turned, noting his towel had begun to slip, and tied it firmly around his waist. "But first I'm going to have that bath."

"Okay, Vivi, have a good one . . . " Zidane watched as the two girls, obviously intrigued by the presence of the black mage, walked in and turned to watch him curiously.

"Hi, precious," the blonde whispered.

"Hi . . . " Vivi waved to the girl. "That's Zidane."

"Is that tail real?" the other girl--a redhead--wondered. She reached out to touch Zidane's tail, fascinated, and gasped as he rumbled deep in his throat at the caress. "Oh, it is . . . " she giggled, the end of the genome's tail coiling around her arm.

"How precious," the blonde sighed at the sight of Vivi, who was furiously attempting to adjust his towel yet again. "How old are you, darling?"

"I'm nine," was Vivi's answer.

"Oh, my, and such a big boy you are."

"You wanna stop that?" Zidane wondered. "It can't be good for his self-esteem." He noticed Vivi's weary expression at the childlike cooing from the blonde and nodded. "Don't worry, Vivi. I'm sure she didn't mean to sound like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry . . . " The blonde turned to Vivi and knelt to face him, her towel revealing more than it was intended to. "I didn't know that I irritated you . . . "

"It happens often," Vivi said in dismissal of her earlier coddling. "And I am nine, but I'm short for my age."

"I don't think so," she denied encouragingly. "You can reach doors . . . and if things get rough all you have to do is hide under a table."

"Yeah," Vivi nodded. "Well, I'll see you later . . . I'm going to have a bath."

"Did you say his name was Zidane?" the redhead inquired.

"Yeah, and don't worry about him . . . he means well, but sometimes overdoes it . . . "

"Oh, but I think he's cute." She giggled at Zidane as his tail fuzzed a bit from the base to the tip. "It's a cat tail, right?"

"Yeah . . . " was Zidane's only response as he began to purr steadily. "Neat, huh?"

"Oh, I love it."

"Bye, Vivi," Zidane called as the black mage passed between the curtain and the wall, walking out of the sauna.

~

"Ooh," Vivi moaned at the coolness of the bathing room. "It's nice out here . . . " He walked slowly down the tiled path to a small bath and knelt beside it, inspecting it for some knowledge of how to turn the water on.

"Oh, you have to bring the water over," a voice whispered behind him.

Vivi turned around to see a woman with beautiful light blonde hair, her body clothed in a rose kimono, and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You're the woman from the bar," he noted.

"Guilty, I'm afraid . . . I came in here to have a bath. But would you like some help?" she wondered.

"All right . . . " Vivi watched as the woman moved to a nearby wall and set a bucket in front of the faucet protruding from the tiles. "Who are you?" he inquired.

"Oh, my name's Elena. I work for an organization called the Turks."

"Really? Is it fun?"

"Not really," Elena sighed. "It's way too dull." She turned the faucet on and watched as cold water immediately splashed down into the pail, showering her with icy pinpricks. "But what's your name?"

"Vivi," was the response. "Thank you for helping me."

"It's all right," Elena denied, thinking of how to deliver the black mage to Heidegger. Now if he's what I think he is, this might be hard to do . . . or it might not, if I can sedate him . . . "What sort of person are you?" she wondered.

"I'm a black mage," Vivi responded brightly. "It's kinda interesting being able to cast spells, but then there are times when it's odd . . . "

"Can I bring you anything?"

"Ether," Vivi whispered. "I'm too low on energy to cast anything at the moment."

Ah, Elena thought, this may be easier than I thought . . . She nodded and lifted the pail into her arms, walking over to the bath. "I'll be right back . . . did you see how I did that?"

"I did," Vivi confirmed.

"Then would you like to finish, or will you wait until I've returned?"

"I can do it," Vivi nodded. "It won't be difficult."

"All right." Elena turned to leave, considering how many syringes of trazodone it would take to lower him. "I'll be right back," she said again as she passed through the doorway.

When she had gone, Vivi sighed to himself. "There's something odd about this . . . " He considered going back into the sauna and rose to his feet, but stopped as he heard a sound. From his experiences in Zidane's company, he knew just what it had to be and sighed again. "Why can't he get a room if he wants to do that?" Not wishing to disturb Zidane, he sat down and reached for the pail. "But if my senses are right, there's something not quite right about her."

The sounds from the sauna increased, Vivi's ears now picking up distinct statements.

"You like that, huh?" Zidane.

"Oooohhh, yes . . . " The blonde--or maybe the redhead . . . ?

"Your tail is so useful . . . " Now that had to be the redhead.

"Ah," Vivi sighed, "he's got them both. I didn't know there was a way to do that." He shook his head and lifted the pail, watching as the water splashed into the small, wooden bath tub. "This almost reminds me of the Black Mage Village . . . " He missed his friends, and had no idea of how to get back to them.

"I'm here," Elena called as she walked into the room, holding a bottle of something. "Is turbo ether all right?"

"Never had it," Vivi whispered.

Good, then he won't know that there isn't ether in that bottle. Elena sighed to herself as she thought of the mix she had prepared of various alcohols. Hopefully he's never tasted vodka.

"Something wrong?" Vivi wondered at Elena's sigh.

"No, nothing," Elena denied and set the bottle in front of him. "Now you be careful drinking that . . . it's very strong."

"I will," Vivi sighed and lifted the bottle to his mouth, but found himself smelling it instead. "Hm . . . this smells funny."

"Everyone says that about turbo ether."

"All right . . . " Vivi tipped the bottle, tasting a bit of the substance. "Mmm, this is good . . . how is it made?"

"Turbo ether is fermented elixir."

"Really? Interesting . . . " Vivi leaned back and downed the contents of the bottle swiftly, watching Elena's expression flicker. "Wow," he declared, the bottle empty. "That was great." For some reason, however, he felt no rush of energy to his body . . . "But does it take a while to work?"

"A day," Elena lied.

"Oh . . . well, I guess I won't need magic for a while anyway . . . " Vivi rose and seated himself in the bath, removing the towel from his waist discreetly. "I'm tired . . . "

"Don't worry," Elena whispered. "I'll make sure you're safe." Lifting the pail, she stepped over to the faucet and poured hot water into the pail, turning to watch the black mage. I might not need the trazodone, but I'll use it just in case . . . She despised the thought of him somehow escaping from the room.

"Um, can you bring hot water instead? This bath is too cold."

"I have some here," she nodded and walked over to the bath, noticing that Vivi had closed his eyes and was resting placidly in the tub. "Hold on, this might be a bit too hot . . . " She poured the water slowly, gradually into the bath, Vivi's sigh of contentment clearly noted, and caught sight of the mage's small arm leaning over the edge of the bath. "All right," she whispered, reaching slowly into the folds of her kimono to withdraw a syringe, "just relax."

Vivi nodded and was about to fall asleep when a small pinprick in his arm startled him. "Ouch!" He rose slightly in the bath to see what had happened, but only found a miniature puncture mark in his arm.

"Oh, dear," Elena sighed, covertly hiding the syringe. "I pinned my kimono today . . . I must have forgotten to remove one of the pins before I took my break . . . " She reached into the waist of her kimono to reveal a small sewing pin. "There it is."

"Uh . . . " Vivi found himself dizzying. "I don't feel so good . . . "

Of course not, Elena thought. I just injected you with 10cc of trazodone. She watched sympathetically as Vivi's head lolled to the side, the black mage murmuring something to himself as he gradually lost consciousness. Didn't think it'd work so fast . . . "Oh well," she mumbled softly, "I guess it doesn't matter." Lifting the mage into her arms, she covered him with a long towel and walked out of the room.

And Zidane, having seen the entire proceeding from the corner of his vision, gasped and pushed the redhead off his lap. "Oh shit," he gasped. "Vivi!"

~~~

Vivi: You call that a chapter?
VVL 69: Ah, shut up. You're becoming a real pain in my ass.
Vivi: But your writing needs improvement.
VVL 69: I haven't updated in months. Gimme a break. And the next chapter will come as soon as I think of how to get it up.

VVL 69