didn't change the fact that being told what she had to do or needed to do was getting a bit old. Jin put her hands on her hips. "And who, pray tell, said so?"
YOU DID. YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AWARE OF IT, BUT YOU DID COMMAND US. WE ARE WHAT WE ARE, AND IN THE REALM OF DOORS AND PASSAGES, WE DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES. THE ORDER CAME FROM YOU.
Jin thought about it. "Suppose I commanded you to show me the way back to Medias?"
Jin heard a creaking sounds as if the stone of the guardians themselves was trying to turn and face each other. She got a definite feeling that the two statues were discussing the matter.
WE WOULD COMPLY, they said finally.
Jin crossed her arms. "Good to know, but I sense a 'however' coming. What is it?"
SOMEONE REALLY NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW. AND THEY ARE NOT IN MEDIAS. WHY WOULD YOU NOT WISH TO GO WHERE YOU'RE NEEDED?
Offhand, Jin could think of a lot of reasons, but none that didn't make her feel a little ashamed of herself. She was coming to terms with the idea that she was, in fact, the mortal incarnation of Guan Yin, since her only other option was to come to terms with the idea that she was barking mad. That meant that she could no more ignore the responsibility that came with that knowledge than a tiger could peel off its stripes. Mortal, limited, and all, she was Guan Yin, and she would do what Guan Yin needed to do.
She did not, however, have to like it.
"Just keep your guard up for anything coming back that isn't me," she said, irritably.
THAT IS OUR SOLE PURPOSE. WE EXPLAINED THIS --
"Yeah, yeah. I remember."
Jin stomped off toward the doorway the guardians were flanking and pushed on the door itself as if daring the thing to get in her way. It did no such thing, but rippled like water to allow her to pass through without even bothering to open.
Jin found herself in a corridor very much like the one that led from Medias to the Gateway to All Hells itself. The same flaring torches, the same carved monsters in the stone. The same dust and debris of ages settling on the stone floor.
I don't suppose anyone ever sweeps up .
It was a silly thought, but no more silly than a corridor with torches that apparently never burned out and never needed to be replaced. Her curiosity aroused, Jin made a conscious effort to open her Third Eye and then an immediate and panicky effort to close it again. For what seemed like one infinite moment she had stood on nothing at all over a space so vast and black that Jin knew without question it could have swallowed the universe with appetite left over. Then her Third Eye obediently closed and she was standing back on the solid stone of the passageway, squinting to see again in the weak torchlight, the dank scent of a long-closed space back in her nose. She'd never been so grateful for mold and eyestrain in her life.
It occurred to Jin that, perhaps, illusions were not always bad things. She'd suddenly become very fond of the one that made the passageways to Hell seem like simple stone corridors that allowed her to travel infinite space in the time it took to cross Pepper Street. Jin hurried down the corridor toward the far door.
Which wasn't there. Jin simply stepped through an open arch and into a cavern not unlike that containing the Doorway to All the Hells. The main differences that Jin could see at first glance was that this one seemed more elongated than round; she couldn't even see where it ended and she was fairly certain this wasn't simply because of the dim light. The other thing she noticed was that the floor of the cavern was strewn with small rocks and looked like the bed of a dried-out river.
She frowned. "This is a hell, too?"
"I suppose it depends on your definition."
Later Jin would think that, perhaps, she should be used to people just appearing and disappearing; Teacher certainly did it enough. As it was, she jumped back two feet and landed in a fighter's crouch in full demon form. A few feet away from her there stood a strange-looking little
YOU DID. YOU MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AWARE OF IT, BUT YOU DID COMMAND US. WE ARE WHAT WE ARE, AND IN THE REALM OF DOORS AND PASSAGES, WE DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES. THE ORDER CAME FROM YOU.
Jin thought about it. "Suppose I commanded you to show me the way back to Medias?"
Jin heard a creaking sounds as if the stone of the guardians themselves was trying to turn and face each other. She got a definite feeling that the two statues were discussing the matter.
WE WOULD COMPLY, they said finally.
Jin crossed her arms. "Good to know, but I sense a 'however' coming. What is it?"
SOMEONE REALLY NEEDS YOUR HELP NOW. AND THEY ARE NOT IN MEDIAS. WHY WOULD YOU NOT WISH TO GO WHERE YOU'RE NEEDED?
Offhand, Jin could think of a lot of reasons, but none that didn't make her feel a little ashamed of herself. She was coming to terms with the idea that she was, in fact, the mortal incarnation of Guan Yin, since her only other option was to come to terms with the idea that she was barking mad. That meant that she could no more ignore the responsibility that came with that knowledge than a tiger could peel off its stripes. Mortal, limited, and all, she was Guan Yin, and she would do what Guan Yin needed to do.
She did not, however, have to like it.
"Just keep your guard up for anything coming back that isn't me," she said, irritably.
THAT IS OUR SOLE PURPOSE. WE EXPLAINED THIS --
"Yeah, yeah. I remember."
Jin stomped off toward the doorway the guardians were flanking and pushed on the door itself as if daring the thing to get in her way. It did no such thing, but rippled like water to allow her to pass through without even bothering to open.
Jin found herself in a corridor very much like the one that led from Medias to the Gateway to All Hells itself. The same flaring torches, the same carved monsters in the stone. The same dust and debris of ages settling on the stone floor.
I don't suppose anyone ever sweeps up .
It was a silly thought, but no more silly than a corridor with torches that apparently never burned out and never needed to be replaced. Her curiosity aroused, Jin made a conscious effort to open her Third Eye and then an immediate and panicky effort to close it again. For what seemed like one infinite moment she had stood on nothing at all over a space so vast and black that Jin knew without question it could have swallowed the universe with appetite left over. Then her Third Eye obediently closed and she was standing back on the solid stone of the passageway, squinting to see again in the weak torchlight, the dank scent of a long-closed space back in her nose. She'd never been so grateful for mold and eyestrain in her life.
It occurred to Jin that, perhaps, illusions were not always bad things. She'd suddenly become very fond of the one that made the passageways to Hell seem like simple stone corridors that allowed her to travel infinite space in the time it took to cross Pepper Street. Jin hurried down the corridor toward the far door.
Which wasn't there. Jin simply stepped through an open arch and into a cavern not unlike that containing the Doorway to All the Hells. The main differences that Jin could see at first glance was that this one seemed more elongated than round; she couldn't even see where it ended and she was fairly certain this wasn't simply because of the dim light. The other thing she noticed was that the floor of the cavern was strewn with small rocks and looked like the bed of a dried-out river.
She frowned. "This is a hell, too?"
"I suppose it depends on your definition."
Later Jin would think that, perhaps, she should be used to people just appearing and disappearing; Teacher certainly did it enough. As it was, she jumped back two feet and landed in a fighter's crouch in full demon form. A few feet away from her there stood a strange-looking little
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