Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

Previously...

"Oh, and Rikki?" He said, not turning bothering to turn around.

"Yeah?"

"You forgot something." He said, and, still facing forwards, he tossed the extra bag over his shoulder. I caught it, and immediately nearly dropped it. It was much considerably heavier than I had expected.

"Geeze, what's in here?" I whined, hoisting it up onto my hip so I could open it and look inside.

And what do you know. Sitting on the top of a wadded ball of spare clothes and what appeared to be sheathed daggers, was the Book.
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"Holy... how the HELL did I forget this?" I managed to croak after a long, dumbfounded moment of silence, during which I stared open mouthed at the Book, letting the feeling of sheer idiocy sink in.

The Book.

The God Damned Book, forgive my language. The very reason I was in this upside down fairy tale world in the first place, and I had completely forgotten about it. Admittedly, it had only been a few hours since I had woken up, and I HAD woken up from a three day long sleep, but you'd think I'd have noticed a little sooner.

But oh no, not me, Rikki the Most Observant. Nope, I hadn't even realized the thing was missing until Ezu threw it at my head.

"Yeah, I thought you might want that back." Ezu said, catching the stupefied look on my face as he turned to glance at me.

With minor effort, I managed to close my mouth before some passing bird decided to build a nest in it.

"Um... yeah. Ha ha, whoops?" I said, trying desperately to shake it off and failing miserably. Meanwhile, Jack was looking from the book to Ezu to me, more than a little confused.

"I don't get it. What's the big deal about that book?" He asked. I glanced at Jack. How much did he know? I know I hadn't mentioned anything about the Book, or the minor detail about me being from a completely different universe entirely, so unless Ezu spilled the beans, Jack knew nothing. And somehow I couldn't see Ezu divulging my deepest darkest secret to his mortal enemy, so I figured it was a safe bet to say no, Jack had no idea what he was getting into.

Of course, I had no intention of enlightening him either. I don't want to say I didn't trust him, but...

Well, in the story, Jack does steal from the giants three times even after the lady giant gives him a place to sleep , food to eat, and shields him from her evil husband. Just saying. And besides, he'd probably only think I was crazy if I did dare to tell him about the book.

"Um.. it was my... grandmother’s," I said slowly, trying to think of a good explanation. "It's um... very special to me," I finished lamely.

"Oh. Well, you can leave it here if you want so it doesn't get hurt-" Jack began good naturedly.

"No!" Both Ezu and I shouted at the same time, making Jack recoil slightly.

"Uh, what I mean is, no, I promised my... mother... that I'd never let it out of my sight. I have to... um... bring it back home, and it'd probably be safer if I just carry it around with me. I already almost forgot it once, I'd rather not risk it happening a second time." I said, trying to sound convincing. Jack looked at me suspiciously for a moment, but then shrugged and turned away, to follow Ezu out the front door.

"Whatever. It was just an offer." He said, moving past Ezu and pushing open the door. "Other than that, are we ready to head out?" He said.

"Yeah, I think so. I'm ready, at least." I replied, putting the Book tenderly back in my bag. Ezu just shrugged in response.

"Well then, let's go- Ow! Hey! What the-" Suddenly Jack was ducking low, arms shielding his head.

"Jack, what are you-" I began, but then I saw the glint of golden metal flashing in mid morning light streaming through the open doorway.

"Jinx!" Ezu cried, evidently seeing it as well.

"Jinx?" I repeated. Last I had seen him, he had ditched me in the halls of this labyrinth of an inn like the traitor her had repeatedly proved himself to be. Ezu however seemed to bare no ill feelings towards his flighty friend, and immediately gave a happy shout and bounded towards Jinx, who was still buzzing viciously around Jack's head.

"Jinx, you wicked little bugger, where've you been?" Ezu said, snatching Jinx out of Jack's hair. Jinx bussed happily and squirmed out of Ezu's hands, only to make an airborne beeline straight for me.

"Hey! No, get out of my hair! I'm not happy with you, you rotten little bug!" I scolded, pulling my hair out of Jinx's clutching legs and waving him away sourly.

"Oh God, it's that thing?" Jack groaned, watching Jinx warily.

"What do you mean, 'that thing'?" Ezu growled, turning to Jack. Jack's frown deepened.

"Every time that thing comes near me, it tries to kill me!" Jack said defensively.

"Oh come on Jack, surely you're over reacting." I said, sticking up for Jinx. "Sure, he's annoying and can't be trusted within an inch of his life, but he wouldn't try to kill you."

"Oh yes he would," Jack frowned. "You just wait. You'll wake up one morning and find me dead. That bug'll have pushed me down a flight of stairs, or lured me into a bears cave or a patch of quicksand! And then you'll regret not listening to me!" Jack delivered his over dramatic little speech with many emphasizing flourishes in a very "woe is me" tone, and I couldn't help reply in kind.

"Yes, I will regret it. But until that day comes, I'm afraid you're going to have to fight off Jinx yourself. I know he's tough, but you have to be tougher." I said in all seriousness.

"The both of you are insane. Positively insane." Ezu muttered, turning his back on me and Jack while shaking his head. As he walked out the front door, Jack glared at his back and fell in step with me.

"Someone needs to pull the stick out of his ass." Jack muttered to me. I snorted in an unlady-like fashion.

"You're telling me." I giggled. "Ouch! Stop that Jinx! It's true, and you know it!" I hissed at the mechanical insect as he tugged sharply on my hair. Jinx only buzzed disapprovingly and whizzed off ahead to catch up with his beloved master.

Speaking of whom, was no where to be seen when Jack and I exited the Inn and made our way into the bright early afternoon sunlight.

"What? Where did he go?" I said, bewildered. Jack said nothing, but tapped me on my shoulder and pointed to our left. I spun around and saw Ezu standing some fifty feet away in the shade of a tall, dying oak tree with-

"Mary?"I said, peering at the other figure. Jack clamped his hand over my mouth before I could say anymore however and motioned for me to stay silent.

It didn't matter though, Ezu and Mary were talking in hushed tones, and I couldn't even make out a whisper. However, their body language was far more revealing. Ezu stood hunched over, with his shoulder drawn in and hands shoved in pockets, as if he wanted to fold in on himself. Mary on the contrary stood tall and defiant, with her shoulder backs, arms crossed, and feet firmly planted.

It wasn't hard to tell who wore the pants in this relationship.

"What do you think their saying?" I whispered to Jack after a few seconds of baited breath.

"I think I have a good idea-- but look, here Ezu comes, I guess we'll find out from himself." Jack hissed back. Ezu had detached himself from Mary and was walking back towards us. His expression was a blank mask, and it was impossible to tell whether his little discussion had gone one way or the other.

"So? What was that all about?" I asked him tactlessly as he drew up to us.

"It's over." He said in a monotone, not even pausing. He walked right past us, Jinx trailing along behind, laving Jack and I staring after him, dumbfounded.

"What?" I said, running to catch up with him.

"It's done. Mary and I are over." Ezu repeated with a shrug.

"That's all?" I asked, incredulously.

"That's all." Ezu confirmed, not looking too shook up, though still somewhat out of sorts. I fell back, falling in step with Jack again.

"That's it? They're not together anymore?" Jack hissed to me, looking almost as nonplussed as I felt.

"That's it!" I verified.

"What? No tears? No anger? Nothing?" Jack pressed.

"No! He doesn't even seem all that upset!" I added.

"What did they say to each other?" Jack asked.

"I don't know, he didn't say."

And he never did. Although Jack and I kept discussing Ezu's break up under our breaths for the next twenty minutes as we left the town and made our way into the depths of the woods, Ezu never spoke another word about what went on between him and Mary, except to tell us it was "none of your God damned business, you nosy fishwives! Just shut up, would you?"

And that was the last said on the subject.

The next hour or so was progressed in silence. We had long since left the town far behind us, and the forest was growing denser. Despite the fact that it was the middle of the day, almost no light at all made it through the thick overgrowth or leaves above our heads, casting our surroundings into dark, cool shadows.

Although both Jack and Ezu looked perfectly at home in the woods, making their way over the treacherous forest floor with the ease of one born into this life, I was having considerable problems. I kept stumbling on awkwardly placed rocks and getting the hem of my pants caught on protruding roots or vines. It was only with Jack's aid that I hadn't fallen at all, and even then there had been a few narrow misses.

Of course, my sudden extreme clumsiness was due in part to my normal lack of equilibrium, but was also aided by my nerves, which had been on end during the entire trek. Every little noise, every bird call or snap of a twig, made me jump out of my skin, and every prick of a branch or thorn made me gasp in something akin to terror.

Now you can think I am lame or wussy or as girly as you please, but remember, the memory of both the Giant's attacks and my meeting with Rumpelstiltskin were fresh on my mind; and the feeling of the Book as is bounced in my bag on my back kept all the other horrors that lurked in this forest in the front of my mind as well.

Wolves, witches, orges, oh my...

"Um, Ezu? Are we likely to run into anything... unpleasant in here?" I finally asked, poking Ezu in the back with my free hand (as my other was clutching onto Jack's arm for dear life while I tripped over my own feet).

"Unpleasant? You mean like wolves, witches or ogres?" Ezu replied, without looking back at me.

"Or any combination of the three, among others, yes."

"Oh yes. In fact, we'll be incredibly lucky if we don't." He said with a shrug.

"Oh." I said, my voice a few octaves higher than normal.

"But you don't need to worry, nothing bad will happen, I promise. It's only the Giants we have to worry about."

I had let out a sigh of relief at the first part of this statement, but I sucked it back in in double quick time when he mentioned 'giants'.

"Oh geeze, them again?" I squeaked, clutching onto Jack again, though not because I was falling. Jack-- who had held me to him perhaps a little too eagerly-- frowned as well.

"What do you mean Giants?" He said, addressing Ezu's back.

"Oh, Rikki and I had a little run in with a few earlier. It's nothing to worry about." Ezu said lightly, attempting to brush it off.

"You liar! It definitely was something to worry about! They wanted to turn us into bread!" I shot back.

"Why were you meeting with Giants, Ezu?" Jack pressed, not sounding too happy.

"It's a long story." Ezu replied shortly, sounding heavily displeased himself.

"We have time." Jack shot back. Ezu sighed a little too theatrically.

"Fine. Whatever. You know the town of Hamelin?" Ezu began, throughly annoyed.

"Who doesn't?" Jack retorted.

"I don't." I cut in, but I was ignored, as usual.

"For some years, they've had a pretty severe rat problem. Well, there was this deal with getting some magic flute or something for some guy, who was going to use it to get rid of the rats or something. I was hired to get a hold of these pipes, because, well, it's my job to do that sort of thing. Of course, as anyone knows, if you want a magical object, you go to a Giant, since they always have that sort of stuff. Magic harps, geese that lay golden eggs, magic flutes, whatever."

"A goose that lays golden eggs. Would I like to get my hands on one of those!" Jack said wistfully.

"Anyways, I went to one of the Giants who has done me some favors before. That was Gurtok, Rikki. Well, he didn't want to give me the flute for free, so I agreed to get him some magic beans, since it's such a pain for Giants to have to get down from their castles in the sky on a regular basis without them. But, like a stupid Giant, he gave me the flute first and just trusted me. So I got the flute to the town, they took care of their rat problem, and in return, the Mayor got a hold of some magic beans for me from some witch. And believe me, I was going to give the beans to Gurtok, I really was!
"But, on my way back to find him, I ran into this old man. Literally. I dropped my bag, he dropped his. The same damned bag. What were the odds? Anyways, we switched bags. I get home, look inside, and see a couple of rocks. What the hell was he doing with a bag of rocks, I'll never know. But the point is, I lost the beans. And now Gurtok is after me because he thinks I gypped him." Ezu finished in huff. "The end."