Chapter 1
"A Stranger in the Night"
The notorious Lina Inverse. She was well-known throughout the world for the destruction of bandits and thieves. She was even more famous for the deaths of Dark Lords throughout the land. But she was also known on other worlds. She was renowned even in the Overworld for the death of Dark Star, Duradigdo. And with most of those two worlds knowing her name and her deeds, it was only natural that word of her would spread to other worlds as well.
..::*~*::..
Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev were staying at an inn for the night, in separate rooms, of course. They'd just finished a day full of attacking bandit gangs and thieves, snatching plenty of gold, and even making money killing a small band of orcs outside a village nearby. She'd even found a new set of talismans she could use to amplify her spells. Her old ones were useless now that one of the Four Lords they called upon was dead, but her new ones called upon the power of the Lord of Nightmares. Since Lina knew how to control that power, she could use the talismans easily, if only sparingly. All in all, it was a good day.
Yawning widely, Lina stretched her arms to the sky. She quickly changed into the flannel pajamas the inn provided, and snuggled deep into her blanket. She'd gotten lots of treasure that day, and was very, very happy. Everything seemed to be going her way. She and Gourry had traveled half of everywhere, trying out the foods of the world, fighting bandits, and making money. Money which was promptly spent on food and desserts.
Zelgadis and Amelia weren't with them, though. They'd both gone to Seyruun after the Dark Star Battle. Shortly after that, however, they left again to find Zelgadis's cure. Lina had received a long letter from Amelia explaining the argument she'd had with Zelgadis before he finally agreed to let her come along. Lina wasn't worried about them, they made a great pair, even though they probably got in more trouble than they could handle
Filia wasn't along either. She'd gone back to the Outer World and went on to fulfill her dream-- opening an antique and mace shop. She called it Filia's Tea House of Maces and Vases. She was also very successful in selling her own brews of tea and coffee. Xellos had gone back to Wolfpack Island, for which Lina was very grateful. Xellos was only helpful once in a blue moon, and was definitely more trouble than he was worth. She'd heard from Filia that he stopped into the store more and more frequently to annoy Filia out of her wits. Of course, he'd been properly greeted with typical Golden Dragon hospitality. Towards mazoku, that meant a mace in the head and a hole the shape of Xellos in the wall.
Closing her eyes, Lina smiled. Yes, even though her friends were off around the world, things were good. As she drifted off to sleep, she couldn't think of any way they could be better.
Of course, there were plenty of ways for it to get worse.
..::*~*::..
A loud sound woke Lina up out of her deep sleep. She sat up bolt upright and looked around her room. "Who's there?" she asked in a strong, if quiet voice. When there was no reply, Lina took a closer look around the room. The door was still shut and locked. The dresser was undisturbed. But the window, which Lina had been sure to close because it had looked like rain, was wide open, the curtains billowing into the room.
Slowly, Lina got out of bed, and walked over to the window. She looked around outside for a moment before she closed the window slowly. She frowned for a second, staring out at the deserted street below her. Maybe that sound had just been her imagination? After all, she was on the third floor of the inn. What could possibly get up there?
Suddenly, Lina's eyes went wide. There was the reflection of a person behind her in the window. Lina turned around sharply, and the stranger's hand covered her mouth. Good thing, too, because she was about to yell for Gourry.
"Please don't scream," the stranger whispered. Lina couldn't tell whether the stranger was a man or a woman, since the cloak he or she wore covered his or her face. But the voice of this tall person was very feminine.
"Don't scream," the stranger said softly again, slowly releasing Lina. "I'm sorry if I scared--"
Lina decided she wouldn't scream, but she wouldn't just stand there and take crap like that from someone who'd just broken into her room, interrupted her sleep, and then creeped her out like that. Despite the stranger being head and shoulders taller than Lina, she gritted her teeth, and demanded, "Just who the hell do you think you are? You can't just barge into my room like this and expect me to--"
The stranger held up a gloved hand, and said quickly, "Please, Lina Inverse, I didn't mean to frighten you."
Lina broke off, confused. She blinked a few times, and tilted her head to look up at the stranger. "How do you know me?" she asked, more than a little suspicious now of this tall, hooded figure standing in her room.
"Rumors of your triumphs have spread farther than you may realize," the stranger said. Slowly, the stranger pulled back the hood of the cloak, revealing a long, female face. She had dark skin and dark red hair, and elegant charcoal-black eyes. "My name is Arimus. I am a servant of Trephied, from the Higher World."
Now Lina was stumped. "Trephied? Higher World? I've never heard of those." She crossed her arms, and glared up at Arimus. "How do I know you aren't just bluffing?"
"Please, Lina Inverse," Arimus begged. "Please believe me! Trephied is our God, much like the Ciepheed of this world! Death Fog, Voradigdo, is our world's equivalent of your Shabranigdo, Ruby Eye."
Lina frowned, and bit the inside of her lip while she thought about this. It did make sense. Death Fog was in another world, and the names sounded possible. But, still... "What would someone from the Higher World want with me?" Lina asked, still doubting whether to believe this woman.
"Our God, Trephied, sealed Death Fog beneath a temple many years ago," Arimus told her. "But now Trephied is very, very weak. He cannot maintain the seal much longer. We need you, Lina Inverse, to help us strengthen the seal. With you, we can bind Death Fog strongly enough that he cannot escape and wreak destruction upon our world once again."
Lina snorted. "You really expect me to believe that?" she asked incredulously. Arimus just stared at her in shock. "You seriously think I'm going to come with you over a load of farce like that? Even Gourry could make up a more convincing story than that."
Arimus dropped to her knees, and grabbed Lina's hand in both of hers. "Please, Lina Inverse," she pleaded, hers springing to her eyes. "Please, believe me! We need your help! You must help us save our world!"
As Lina looked down at Arimus dubiously, she had to admit that the woman was a good actor. She looked the part, too. No one Lina had ever seen had dark skin and red hair before. It was a very unusual combination. Maybe she was telling the truth? But, why would they need her to help out? Surely there was someone in the Higher World (if it even existed) with enough power to strengthen the seal? But then again, she was Lina Inverse, the beautiful sorcery genius. She was famous, after all.
"Okay, let's say I believe you," Lina said after a while. "What would you want me to do?"
Arimus got to her feet and hugged Lina tightly. "Oh, thank you Lina Inverse! Thank you so very much!" she cried.
Lina shoved her off, and told her sternly, "I'm still not saying I believe you. I'll go along with this for a while, but only on two conditions." She held up two fingers to emphasize her point.
"Of course, anything."
"First off," Lina said, putting one finger down. "Gourry comes too."
Arimus nodded wildly. "Yes, of course."
"Second," she continued, putting down her second finger. "I want a reward."
Arimus stopped, and blinked. "A... A reward?" she asked.
"Yes, reward," Lina echoed. "If this is all a hoax, or even if it is by some chance true, I want something in return for my efforts. I don't do charity work."
Puzzled, Arimus rubbed the back of her head, and said, "I suppose we could get you a reward for your services. Um... what would you like?"
"What would I like?" Lina repeated incredulously. "Gold, of course! Lots of it!"
"Gold?" Arimus sounded very confused.
Lina sighed in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air. "Yes, gold!" She held up a gold coin in front of Arimus's face. "Gold! See? Shiny! Yellow! Money!"
Arimus got an even more perplexed look on her face. "You want... that... as a reward?" she asked as if she wanted to make absolutely certain.
"Yes, I said that, didn't I?" Lina nearly shouted. Boy, this girl was thick once you got past the crying and the begging.
"Okay," the dark-skinned woman said slowly. "I guess if that's what you really want..."
Lina pumped her fist, and yelled, "All right! Now, you wait here while I go wake up the jellyfish!" Lina jogged out of the room, thinking about all the gold she'd get from saving a whole world! Again...
Back in the room, Arimus looked after Lina, more confused than ever. "Pavement... Why would she want to be rewarded with pavement?" she asked herself.
Authoress Note
This has been SO overdone, wouldn't you agree? Another sequel to Slayers TRY.... *sigh* I wish I could be more original sometimes. That thing about gold being pavement came from a joke I heard at church. It's said that the streets of Heaven are paved with gold, and one man insisted upon bringing his gold treasures into Heaven with him. The angel at the gate told him he wouldn't need it, but the man kept insisting. The angel shrugged, and let the guy through. When the guy passed, the angel said to himself, "Pavement... Why would he want pavement?" ^____^ I thought it was funny. Now, concerning the God and Dark Lord's names..... I figured that since there was Ciepheed and Volphied, then the God along with Death Fog should sound about the same too, which led me to Trephied. Same goes for Shabranigdo, Duradigdo (Dark Star), Voradigdo. Get it? Okay. Now, not many people may have realized this, but Lina's talismans from NEXT and TRY called upon the power of the four Dark Lords. "Lords of Darkness of the Four Worlds..." That's how the chant starts out. But, check this! She defeated Dark Star! Meaning there are only THREE Dark Lords now!! So her talismans can't work!! I'm actually surprised not many people paid attention to that major detail.