As obsessive as Lina could be about her chest size (and after travelling with Naga for a while, it was hard not to be), there were some possible 'cures' that she hadn't bothered looking into. Some of it was to do with pride: she was a powerful sorceress, she didn't need help to deal with a 'little' problem like this. But some of the methods she'd heard about struck her as just a little bit too dangerous.
Grief and rage can do funny things to a person, though. And so it was that, after finding out her own sister was responsible (if mostly unintentionally) for her lack of build, Lina found herself outside a rather well-to-do house with several pieces of statuary out front. She'd been given the address by Zelgadis, who'd run across the sorceror during his search for a cure to his chimeric state.
"So..." said Gourry, "Who are we here to see again?"
Lina sighed. "Zelgadis didn't give us a name. Just said to look for the place with all the weird statues." She pointed to a highly detailed statue of a troll that looked like it was about to bash someone's head in, another statue of a towering tree, as well as a couple of statues of people, one with a look of shock on his face. "I'd say this qualifies." Tossing her cape back over her shoulder, she walked up to the front door, and knocked.
The door was opened by a petite blonde woman with a build that several people would have, if not kill, at least seriously maim for. In a deep contralto voice, she asked, "And whom should I say is calling?"
Startled, Lina took a moment before replying. "Lina Inverse. Zelgadis told me about this place."
The blonde smiled, nodded, and then led Lina and Gourry into a well-appointed waiting room. "Stein will be here to see you shortly." She then walked out of the room.
Lina's first opinion was 'This guy must be loaded' as she looked around the room, mentally tallying up the total value of everything she could see in here. Gourry was doing something similar without the numbers as he looked over a couple of swords in the room. Both were so busy taking in the sights that they were startled when a voice broke into their reveries. "Ah, so you know Zelgadis Greyweirs, hmm? He had any luck with dealing with his condition?"
Lina looked over at the man who had entered. In contrast to the surroundings, the man was obviously a worker: he was wearing thick, practical clothes, covered by a badly stained and ripped apron that was losing its battle with trying to keep the rest of his clothes clean. His hands were thickly calloused, and his fingers were covered in dirt and clay. She shook her head. "Not when I last saw him a couple of weeks ago, anyway."
Stein nodded. "Too bad. We thought that my specialities would have worked well with him. Almost they did... unfortunately, some of his demon blood reacted badly to the form of magic that I used, and we had to reverse the effect or he likely would have died from it."
"What sort of work do you do, anyway?"
Stein looked uncomfortable. "First, let me ask you what you would like from me."
Lina related the story she'd heard from her aunt, about how her sister's ideas of 'discipline' had permanently stunted her growth. Stein nodded as he listened. "So you want me to build your body up to something more like what it should have been. Doable." He stood up, and waved Lina and Gourry to follow him. "Come with me."
Stein's workshop was disorganized and chaotic. Hammers and chisels were all over the place, a large potter's wheel sat near one corner not far from a stone oven, and there was dust and chips of stone everywhere. Lina looked around in mild distaste. "This doesn't look like a sorceror's workshop so much as a stonemason's studio."
"That's because it is."
"Eh?"
"You're familiar, I trust, with the legends of the basilisk?"
"Large reptilian creature, capable of turning someone to stone with its gaze or its breath. Venom is extrememly toxic, but used in some potions. Nobody's seen one of them in decades."
"My aunt was an adventuring swordswoman who was hit by the gaze of one and turned into stone by it. My uncle, a sorceror, spent most of his remaining days studying the basilisk in hopes of returning her to normal. He eventually succeeded, though the years as a statue had taken their toll on my aunt, and there wasn't a lot left of her mind. In the process, my uncle created a pair of artifacts that could be used to turn someone into stone, and then return them to flesh."
Lina nodded along, then stopped. "You don't mean..."
"Yes. I can change people by turning them into stone, carving the statue they become, then turning them back. Adding stone is a lot more difficult than removing it, but it can be done."
"Okay, I can see minor changes, maybe..."
"You remember the young woman you met at the door?"
"Yes..."
"She was originally a man. Minor noble who wanted to escape an assassination attempt. Figured nobody would be looking for a young woman." He looked down as Lina rather loudly facefaulted, sending up a cloud of dust from the floor. "That has to hurt."
Lina sat up, and muttered, "Too much information."
"Sorry."
"What about what happened to your aunt?"
"The longer you remain as a statue, the more possible it is that something might happen. But having a strong personality helps prevent problems."
"Oh, that's okay then," said Gourry, "Lina's got the biggest ego of anybody I know." This, naturally, resulted in Gourry having his legs kicked out from under him by Lina, so that he had a chance to taste the dust on the floor.
Stein tried to ignore the brewing scuffle. "I realize that this would require you to place a good deal of trust in me, especially as this could take several days. And, as I said, increasing someone in size is more difficult, as it requires adding extra clay and stone for mass. If the stone added isn't part of you, or at least other flesh turned to stone, it has to be made part of you before I can turn you back.
"So, what do you think?"
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(Posted Sat, 06 Sep 2003 03:29)
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