Later, after prying Tasuki from Tamahome’s head and interrogating him about what had become of the final three Seishi, his companions found themselves staring at three little birds who perched in a low tree branch and regarded everyone calmly, not at all concerned over the fact that they were supposed to be human. Stormlight sighed. "You just had to drink the water, didn’t you?" she grumbled, shaking her head.

"Thirsty," the bird that was colored a purplish-red, the same color as Soi’s hair, replied defensively.

"Stupid," Stormlight retorted, shaking her head. "You realize, of course, that you’re stuck like this."

Panicked chirping was her reply to that, and she grimaced. "Unless I can convince Jareth to change you back. Which, knowing him, will probably cost me my soul or something in exchange."

"What if he refuses to change them?" Hotohori asked, his concern glowing in his eyes.

Stormlight shrugged. "I don’t know," she replied regretfully. "It kind of puts a damper on this whole summoning Suzaku thing though. On the bright side, the Seiryu Seishi are as stuck as we are."

"Oh, that’s loads of comfort," Tasuki grumbled.

"Well, if you have any other pearls of wisdom to drop into our laps, we’re listening!" Stormlight snapped, glaring at him. "How’d you manage to avoid this, anyway?"

Tasuki smirked. "Simple. I just didn’t drink the water. I knew it could be dangerous," he replied.

"Fell asleep," the smallest bird, who had cat-like eyes like Miboshi, added with something that resembled a snicker.

"You shut up!" Tasuki yelled, snatching at Miboshi, who fluttered out of reach and glared at him from a higher perch.

"Well, we don’t have time to stand around and contemplate the stupidity of our companions," Tomo exclaimed in his usual bored manner. "We have a way to go yet, and this day is almost over."

"Right. Now, where were we?" Nuriko agreed, turning determinedly back to the door. "Tamahome, help me out here." He pushed up his sleeves, rubbed his hands together, and ran toward the wooden barrier, apparently deciding that velocity might give him more advantage. Tamahome ran with him, and they both hit the door head-on…which obligingly flew open without any resistance at all.

"Gyaaaaahhhh!" the startled Seishi squealed, flying through the doorway with arms flapping like a pair of demented birds, before landing spread-eagle on their stomachs. Of course Tasuki thought this was incredibly hilarious, and was rolling on the ground in uproarious laughter in moments. Which didn’t go over too well with his friends. Before anyone could blink, Nuriko had the bandit pinned by the arms with Tamahome preparing to beat his face in.

"Hey, great job, guys!" Stormlight hurriedly intervened as the others sweatdropped. "You got the door open, and look! We’re heading back into the stone maze now! I can see the castle clearer than ever! We’re really close!"

The ploy worked, and the three Seishi forgot their argument as Didymus led them through the doorway. "Follow me, my friends!" he called out gallantly. "I know of a shortcut that shall have us through in no time!"

"That’s cheating, Didymus! You can’t do that!" Deedlit immediately screeched, abandoning her perch on Hotohori’s shoulder to confront the fox, scolding him angrily. "I’ll tell Jareth! I will, I will! I’ll—YEEK!"

Stormlight smiled innocently as she snatched the surprised fairy by the wings and carelessly tossed her into the velvet bag, closing the ends tightly. "That ought to shut her up for awhile," she proclaimed cheerfully, tucking her notebook under her arm. When Deedlit screeched and let loose a barrage of curses that made even Tasuki blush, the Listian shook the bag a little. A pained "Oomph!" was the reply to that as the fairy became rather squashed between the remaining items in the bag. "Behave yourself, you little imp, or I’ll lock you in the cage with Chessie and Puck when we get home!" Stormlight threatened.

Deedlit shut up after that, apparently remembering the last run-in she’d had with her creator’s pet cockatiels. It hadn’t been pleasant, to say the least. Those birds were downright psychotic at times, and they seemed to hold a particular grudge against fairies.

Now that the truant officer was out of the way, Didymus—always pleased to be of service—eagerly led his new friends through the maze, his steed trotting along happily, obviously well-versed in where he was heading. Mitsukake rode along on Miaka’s shoulder, and she giggled as he sang a sweet song in her ear. The other two birds stuck with Yui while keeping a cautious eye on Nakago; both of them knew how bad he was with birds, after all, and they weren’t taking any chances.

Tama-neko trotted ahead, exploring the forest and climbing trees in the way only a cat could. Stormlight watched the feline suspiciously. He certainly seemed like an ordinary animal, as in he hadn’t done anything overtly strange so far. She decided that when Mitsukake was returned to normal, she’d question him about his pet’s odd fetish for prancing around in dresses.

Didymus was right; by the time full-dark had come, the group of travel-weary wayfarers stood before the rather strange-looking gates of the Goblin City, feeling rather sick to their stomachs after having to pass through the local dump. "It smells almost as bad as the Bog!" Nuriko complained as they picked their way around the piles of garbage, pinching his nose shut.

"Yeah, well, just be sure to avoid the junk people," Stormlight muttered, pointing to a hunched little figure tottering along, a pile of junk nearly three times his own height somehow attached to his back. "They’re the gatherers of broken dreams and forgotten memories, and they can lure you further from your goal if you aren’t careful, and turn you into one of them."

"Ugh," Miaka exclaimed, wrinkling her nose.

"My sentiments exactly," Stormlight replied, moving on. The others quickly followed.

Now, as they stood before the gates, Didymus rapped firmly on the dozing guard’s helmet. "Thou art on duty!" he yipped indignantly. "Wake up and let my companions and I through!"

The guard mumbled under his breath and sleepily opened the gate; apparently he was too tired—or drunk—to even think about who he was letting into the city, for which Stormlight was grateful. They hurried through and shut the gate before the guard gained enough sense to question them. "Great. Now what we should do is hightail it to the castle and get this confrontation over with," the Listian suggested.

"Wait, I thought we were all gonna split up now into our own groups," Suboshi complained.

Stormlight paused, nodding thoughtfully. "Yeah, well, I’ve been thinking about that," she replied. "What if we all went in together, at exactly the same time?"

After a moment of silence, Yui spoke up. "Then…nobody would win," she replied. "It’d be a draw."

"Exactly! Nobody would get the Shinzaho, you’ll all be sent home to your world, and things’ll be back to the way they were before Jareth took you. Doesn’t that make sense?" the Listian explained eagerly.

"Jareth won’t like that at all, no da," Chichiri proclaimed.

Stormlight giggled. "I know. Ain’t it great?" she replied impishly. "No need to let him win by continuing to play by his rules. Besides, there is no rule that says we can’t get there at the same time. He didn’t mention anything about that!"

"It does make sense," Hotohori put in, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "But to pass up the chance to win the Shinzaho…"

"You aren’t gonna agree to this, are you, Lady Yui?!" Suboshi cried, outraged. "You aren’t gonna walk in there with our enemies and give up our chance!"

"Actually, I’m seriously considering it," Yui replied grimly. "I’m not going to leave Miaka again if I can help it!" Suboshi started to protest, but was silenced by a glance from Nakago.

"I have a suggestion!" Nuriko exclaimed suddenly. "How about we worry about all this tomorrow and find an inn to spend the night at? I want a hot bath, a good meal, and a clean bed tonight!"

Stormlight snorted. "Nuriko, we’re in the Goblin City. There is nothing clean about this place," she replied dryly.

"But that place looks nice enough," Tomo jumped in, taking Nuriko’s defense as he pointed to a small, surprisingly nice-looking building just across the way. The sign above the door read, "Goblin’s Head Inn".

"Ooh! Can’t we stay there?!" Miaka pleaded, gripping Stormlight’s arm. "Please? I’m so hungry, and I feel like I haven’t taken a bath in weeks!"

"You smell like it, too," Tasuki snickered, to which Miaka responded with a clean uppercut to his jaw that left him sprawled in the dust.

"You don’t smell so sweet yourself, Sunshine," the Miko growled as her Seishi sweatdropped.

"I vote for the inn!" Nuriko proclaimed, grabbing Stormlight by the arms and hoisting the startled Listian over his head as he proceeded to bodily drag her across the street.

"Hey!" Stormlight yelped, struggling in Nuriko’s strong grasp. "Put me down, you dingbat! Who’s gonna pay for this, huh? Are you listening to me?! HEY!"

Her yelling was ignored, and shortly thereafter she found herself standing at the front desk of the inn as the Seishi surrounded her, making escape impossible. A cute little Fae maiden stood behind the counter, watching them curiously through glowing green eyes and a cloud of wintry-blond curls—taking particular interest in a certain emperor—before she slid a registry across the counter and politely asked that they sign in.

"Er…the problem is that we don’t have any money," Stormlight explained, glaring at her companions. "At least no money that would be accepted here, I’m sure."

"Would you take jewels in replacement of coinage?" Hotohori asked, sliding a ring off his little finger and handing it to the maid with the smile that never failed to make women swoon.

The maiden barely glanced at the sapphire ring before pointing to a little wooden sign that clearly stated, "Credit cards only, please. Visa preferred."

"WHAT?!" Stormlight yelped. "Since when does a place like this take credit cards?!"

"We’re modernizing," the maid stated simply. Stormlight facefaulted.

"Visa. Preferred everywhere," Miaka whispered, as she and Yui giggled behind their hands.

"I’m so glad you find this amusing," Stormlight growled. "I don’t suppose either of you have credit cards on you?"

"Don’t be silly. We’re too young," Miaka replied, grinning. "How about you?"

"No way. I only have a check card, and no way am I running up a such a huge charge on it!" the Listian shrieked. "I’ll go bankrupt!"

"But we really want to spend the night in nice rooms for a change," Nuriko cut in, smiling rather maniacally at the Listian, who gulped and stepped back right into Hotohori.

Tomo and the two Mikos apparently agreed, for they started advancing on her, obviously ready to snatch her bag and dig the card out themselves. "Maybe this can make up for all the trouble we’ve gone through," the Seiryu Seishi added coldly.

"Don’t worry, Stormlight," Yui added in a whisper. "Probably the charge won’t even register at your bank since we’re in two separate worlds. I don’t see how it could be possible. We’re separated by magic, after all, and technology is nonexistent in this world!"

"Anything’s possible where this place is concerned," Stormlight grumbled, clutching her bag protectively. Deedlit grunted from inside as she again found herself becoming rather squashed.

"Stormlight, I trust Yui’s judgment," Hotohori said softly. His hand came up to gently stroke her cheek. "We’re all rather tired, and hungry, and we do need some place to stay tonight. I doubt the streets would be very pleasant." He gazed into her eyes, his own eyes gentle and pleading, and she felt herself beginning to melt.

"Stop that!" she complained, blinking and stepping away from him. "That’s not very fair of you to use your charm on me like that! You know I can’t resist it."

He merely smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with affectionate humor. She pursed her lips, then huffed a sigh. "Fine! I’ll give, but we’re getting only three rooms, got it? One for me and the girls, and the other two for you guys to split up. And no arguing about it!"

"Thank-you, Stormlight!" Miaka and Yui squealed, throwing their arms around the grumbling Listian as she reluctantly handed over her precious card. The maid, with a gleam of delight in her eyes, eagerly rang up the sale, and soon the tired group found themselves being escorted to their quarters.