Leo's Distress

This story is fiction. All similarity to existing persons are accidental.
It was inspired by the avatar image used by a member at Eka's Portal and was originally presented at that site.

It was just another day at the Zodiac Palace. Taurus and Leo were watching a Power Rangers rerun in the living room as Sagittarius came in.

"So, what's up?"

She asked the two directly, getting a hand full of potatoe chips the two girls on the couch have been eating while watching the show. Leo smirked a bit.

"Not much to do right now. This episode is so great, so full of energy, so please let us enjoy it - and our chips. I think Virgo is in the kitchen. Why don't you go talk to her?"

Sagittarius giggled quietly as she walked to the door connecting the living room with the kitchen. She knew that Leo just loved these action shows and could get grumpy if she seriously intervened with it.
For a moment, Sagittarius wondered whether Leo would be more upset about someone eating her food or turning off the tv right now - Leo also had a real passion for eating. But Sagittarius did not wish to trouble her friend unnecessarily, so she simply opened the door in front of her.

The white-tiled kitchen was a mediocre mess. On their quest for tv munchies, Taurus and Leo had been rather thorough in their search but less thorough in their cleaning up afterwards. Various packages and dishes were scattered on the tables. Libra would probably get a heart attack when she returned from her shopping trip.
Despite the mess in the kitchen, Sagittarius spotted Virgo right away. She was standing in front of the cooking stove, surrounded by various flasks and jars and concentrating on a steaming pot.
Virgo had not noticed Sagittarius entering the kitchen, seemingly completely oblivious to her surroundings. As she kept stirring, muttering, and occasionally adding ingredients, Sagittarius walked up to her. Seeing that her friend hadn't noticed her presence even as she stood right behind her, Sagittarius got a playful twinkle in her eyes.

"Ay, what's cooking, doc?"
"Kyaaa!"
Suddenly, she addressed Virgo, mimicking Bugs Bunny and even posing as if she was holding his trade mark carrot. Virgo was caught completely by surprise and her reaction was something to see. She virtually jumped up and threw up her arms - dropping the flasks she had been holding over the pot. As the flasks disappeared in the brew, great bubbles of foam began forming in the pot. As the glowing green mass began to grow out of the pot, the two girls looked at each other.

"This is not good, right?"

Again, it was Sagittarius who broke the silence. But this time, Virgo did not respond at all. And then, both were hit by a loud boom and knocked out.

--=====--

In the living room, Taurus and Leo heard a thud from next door and then silence. First they looked at the closed door and then at each other, the tv show forgotten for the moment.

"You heard this as well, right"
"Yep."
"Sagittarius! Virgo! Everything all right in there?"

Turning from Taurus, Leo tentatively shouted towards the kitchen door. But there was no response. Looking again at Taurus who shrugged her shoulders, Leo sighed and jumped off the couch.

"I will go over there and check on them."
"Ah, while you are going to the kitchen, you could fetch some more snacks."

Groping the last chips out of the bowl, Taurus showed the empty bowl to Leo grinning mischievously. Turning around, Leo snatched the bowl out of her hand and then started off towards the kitchen.

--=====--

Inside the kitchen, Sagittarius was coming to her senses.

"Uh, what was that? I am still dizzy. But otherwise - I am fine. Ah! Virgo!"

Standing up, Sagittarius looked around and saw Virgo lying next to her. Quickly she rushed to her side, sat down and rested Virgo's head on her lap.

"Virgo, Virgo! Are you alright? Virgo!"
"Uh, uh, I ... what..."
"Ah, I am so glad."
"What? Ah! That explosion!"

Shaking of her dizziness quickly, Virgo got up, startling even Sagittarius. Going this way and that way, she looked around, muttering "Oh no!" under her breath. Puzzled, Sagittarius walked over to her side and adressed her again.

"What is wrong, Virgo?"
"Look around! That is wrong!"

Excitedly, Virgo made a broad gesture encompassing the surroundings. For the first time, Sagittarius really looked around her surroundings. Puzzlement rose in her face, but then got overwhelmed by realization.

"What? Oh! That... I mean... could it be?"
"Yes, we got shrunk!"

Indeed, instead of standing on the kitchen floor, the two were standing on the kitchen table, surrounded by bags and jars that Leo had carelessly left behind earlier. The cooking stove was visible in the distance separated from them by a huge gap wider than the Grand Canyon. The pot was still giving off white steam, but there was no evidence of the poison green foam that had appeared just before the explosion had knocked them out. To their right, a plate was standing with some fruits on it, and even that plate was higher than they were tall, meaning they were less than a cm in size!

"Wow ... that is something new. You do have a plan how to turn us back to normal right?"
"This wasn't supposed to happen! It was because I dropped the flasks!"
"We can return to normal, right?"
"I am not that versed in magic to have something like this readily available. If we had the spell books in the library, maybe. But here, and at this size..."
"WE ARE DOOMED!!!"
"If we could get in touch with Libra, ..."

At that moment, their discussion was disrupted by a loud squeaking sound. As the girls turned around, their breath stocked. Leo had opened the door and was walking through the kitchen, looking this way and that way. Walking over to the cooking stove, she looked at the pot, took a whiff and then cringed away.

"Ugh, what a nasty smell. Probably something Virgo was cooking up. But they seem to have left. Oh, well, as long as Virgo is with Sagittarius, no need to worry I guess."

Recovering from their initial shock over seeing Leo as a walking mountain, Sagittarius grasped Virgo's left hand and pulled her along as she ran in the general direction of Leo waving and shouting.

"Hey! Down here! Leo! We are here! Help!"

But there was no response from Leo. It seemed as if she hadn't noticed them at all. Her eyes went over the table alright, but they never stopped a second on her two friends. Grunting with frustration and dragging Virgo along, Sagittarius climbed onto a plastic bag resting nearby. She hoped to get Leo's attention from this elevated position. And Virgo was too dizzy to make any other suggestion.

"Hey! Over here! Hey!"

Sagittarius' heart made a leap as Leo's eyes stopped on the tiny pair. They had been found! But then, the joy was swept away by bitter realization as Leo picked up the bag without caring for the friends desperately trying not to fall off.

"Ah, those will do nicely. Mmmhhh, sour cream and onion."

Turning the bag around, Leo dropped its content into the bowl she was holding in her left hand. No longer being able to hang on, Virgo and Sagittarius fell down as well. Without any further delay, Leo turned around to return to the Power Rangers and Taurus.

"Virgo and Sagittarius have left, it seems. So, I guess everything is alright. And I found more sour cream and onion potatoe chips."

As she showed off the bowl triumphantly, the strange noise from the kitchen was forgotten, and she leapt back onto the couch and got into a comfortable position.

--=====--

"Virgo, are you alright?"
"Yes. A bit bruised, I think, but nothing's broken, I think. And you, Sagittarius?"
"I am fine. But we are really in a mess here. At least we won't starve."

The two of them looked around the rugged yellow landscape they were standing on. The huge, pale yellow plates they were standing on were lying around in absolute chaos, building small hills here and there, while deep rifts suddenly opened up everywhere. And on the horizon, the smooth brown walls of the bowl rose high up to the distant faces of their friends, Taurus and Leo. And not only their faces. Leo's right hand grew larger and larger as Sagittarius and Virgo watched in horror. They were petrified and couldn't do anything as the shadow fell upon them. And then they fellt the ground below them lurch and jump as a hot ceiling pressed down on them nearly crushing them.

--=====--

Returning to normal television viewing mode, Leo took a real handful of potatoe chips, threw them into her mouth and swallowed them without really chewing.

"Hey! Leave something for me as well!"

Taurus joined in and their merry tv session was completely restored.

--=====--

For Virgo and Sagittarius, the sensation of being nearly crushed while being inside an elevator ended swiftly as they and the chips got dropped into the large cavern of Leo's mouth. Somehow, relying on their instincts, they were able to stay on top of the heap, avoiding to get crushed by the shift and tumbling plates. But while the direct pressure of the hand had disappeared, the air was now warm and humid and nearly as oppressive as the experience they had suffered just moments ago. And they didn't get a chance to really catch their breath either as the ground moved around and the walls of white boulders surrounding the entrance to their prison came down time and time again, smashing parts of the ground into a yellow, sticky mass. With no time to talk, the two ran just to keep away from that menace. And then, they got caught. Not by the descending teeth, but by the rising of the tongue. The breath got knocked out of them as they hit the roof of the mouth and then they felt themselves sliding forward. Within moments, they were kneading and surrounded by warm flesh that was pushing them and the partially crushed chips ever downwards.

--=====--

When Sagittarius next came to again, Virgo was looking down on her, smiling.

"Sorry, I wasn't fast enough to cast the protective spell on you before you passed out."
"What ... Oh ... It was not a dream ... "

Sagittarius looked around. They were sitting on a yellow disc floating in the middle of a brownish mass. Similar discs and other objects stuck out of the irregular mass here and there and thick, slow waves travelled back and forth. That ghastly swamp was surrounded by fleshy, pink walls which curved up to form a relatively round ceiling. A small ball of yellowish light was floating above them. The scent of potatoe chips and chocolate mixed with an unpleasant acidic smell. Noticing this smell, Sagittarius turned towards her friend.

"Ah, it is alright. I have cast a protection spell on us, so we will be save. But we have to find a way to get out of here and get noticed."
"Do you have any ideas? I mean, I was shouting like mad, but Leo never noticed anything. And now we are inside her stomach..."
"Actually, yes. It is kind of risky and unpleasant, but this is an emergency."
"Yes?"
"You have the power to summon your bow, right? Even in this situation, it should follow your call. With it, you could attack Leo's stomach walls. Hopefully, she will notice that."
"But isn't that dangerous? Wouldn't Leo get ill?"
"I don't think we can really cause any harm to her at our current size. I think she will be alright."
"But, but she will have pain."
"Yes, but do you have an alternative?"
"..."
"Then that is settled. Now, concentrate on the bow!"

Still with a doubtful expression, Sagittarius nodded. Closing her eyes, she concentrated. First, nothing happened, but then a blue light appeared at her right hand and quickly turned into a glowing arch. As its light faded, it became apparant that Sagittarius was now holding a long bow.

"You really think we should do this?"
"We have no other choice. And it will be alright."
"I am sorry, Leo!"

As Sagittarius pulled the string, an arrow appeared out of thin air, held tightly by her fingers. And as she released the string, the arrow travelled in a bold arch and squarely hit the somewhat slimy walls. Sagittarius cringed as she saw the wall twitch as it got impaled by the arrow.

"Another one, quickly!"

With a sigh, Sagittarius pulled the string again.

--=====--

"OUCH!"
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know. All of a sudden, my belly has begun aching. Ouch. Again as if I got stabbed by a needle."

Taurus was worried and troubled as Leo had suddenly doubled over for no obvious reason. Clutching her belly, Leo explained her situation when the door to the hall opened, just as Taurus was about to ask for details.

"Hi! I am back!"
"Oooh! Libra! You have come just in time, help me! OUCH!"
"What is it?"

Dropping her shopping bags, Libra immediately rushed to the side of her friend.

--=====--

A little while later. Leo was lying on a table in Libra's laboratory next to the library. The bare stone walls of that room were a complete contrast to the warm and friendly atmosphere of the rest of the house. Attracted by the commotion, the Gemini twins, Scorpio, and Cancer have joined Libra, Leo, and Taurus. Holding a small book in her left and reciting some spell, Libra turned to look intensely at Leo.

"Mmmmhhh. Mmmmhhh. Mmmmhhh. Mmmmhhhhmm?"

Suddenly her eyes widened and surprise was clearly written across her face.

"What is it? Will I die?"
"It ... it ... it's Virgo and Sagittarius!"
"Hah?"
"Virgo and Sagittarius ... they are inside your stomach!"
"Inside ... my stomach? But how? When? Why?"
"Considering how you are always stuffing yourself with sweets and food, it was only a question of when rather than if. I sure am glad that I was not among those you gobbled up."

Not losing her cool even in this situation, Scorpio disrupted Leo's confused questions. While it did somewhat calm down Leo, it also made her and everyone else turn angry stares at Scorpio.

"I didn't gobble up anyone! I don't do something like that!"
"But fact is that they are inside your stomach."
"I ... No ... I ... I didn't eat them. I don't know how they got there!"
"But they are still in there. And I am not really surprised ..."
"Hush, hush. You can discuss this all once we have gotten them out of there and figured out what has happened."

Finally, Libra stepped forward to interrupt the ensuing argument. In the background, the Gemini twins were giggling and whispering things to each other while Cancer quite obviously wished she was somewhere else, somewhere far, far away. With a sigh, Libra continued.

"Fortunately, I know a good aportation spell, and I am sure I saw a size changing spell in the great tome of Bulark. Cancer, dear, please be so kind and fetch that book. Ah, and Scorpio, could you help Cancer? It's a really heavy book, you know."

Once Cancer and Scorpio had left the room, Libra started chanting again, holding her left hand palm up. A red glow appeared over it, then a sudden flash, and two small specks were there where there had been a spotless, pale pink surface.

"Welcome back."

Libra spoke softly so as not to blow her tiny friends of her hand. She saw that they were gesticulating, but she couldn't hear anything they might have been saying.

"Don't worry, Cancer and Scorpio are fetching a spell book with a spell that will restore you to normal. Just wait a little longer."

--=====--

After firing many arrows, Sagittarius was growing tired. Not only was there the strain of repeatedly firing her bow. Each hit made the stomach walls twitch and jerk which caused ever growing waves to cross the swamp, eventually making the small chip raft they were standing on jump up and down. Even though she trusted in Virgo's spell, Sagittarius was definitely not eager to fall into that mass of mushed food.

"Don't you think it's enough now?"
"Mmmhhh, we definitely got noticed. But you know Leo. Once the crisis is over, she will pretend it never happened. She does not like showing weakness. So, we have to make a stand here."
"..."
"Don't worry, she will be fine."

Virgo calmed Sagittarius' concerns over the ever darkening hue of red the stomach walls were showing where the arrows had hit them. They were not bleeding, but it was obvious that they were irritated, and just looking at them made Sagittarius (and actually also Virgo) feel a pain in her gut.

As Sagittarius pulled the string again, a fierce red light suddenly engulfed the two. Sagittarius lowered the bow and looked at Virgo, a question in her eye. And as Virgo shrugged her shoulders all turned suddenly white.

It didn't take long for their eyes to recover from the flash, and what they saw made them cry out for joy. No longer were they inside the round chamber formed by the fleshy walls of Leo's stomach, but there were stone walls in the far distance. The ground below them was warm and soft, but in front of them was the huge face of Libra.

"Welcome back!"

Libra was probably just whispering, but it was deafeningly loud to Sagittarius and Virgo. Still, all they could do was embrace each other and shout out in joy.

"We are found!"
"We are saved!"
"All will be fine!"

--=====--

That evening.

Using her arcane knowledge and the spell book from the library, Libra had successfully restored Sagittarius and Virgo to their normal size. Libra found that besides Sagittarius, a lot of blame was to be found with Leo being so messy a person and she insisted that Leo cleaned up the kitchen before being allowed to watch any tv. Now, all the girls were sitting in the living room, enjoying some funny cartoons and even the incident of this morning was something they could joke about.

"But I am sure glad Sagittarius and I got out of this alive. That was one freak accident."
"Yes, but it was actually interesting. With the right preparations, that could be turned into a really nice adventure."
"No! Definitely not! I will not go through this again!"

All the girls broke out in laughter as Sagittarius teased Virgo - or was she serious about it?