( This fanfiction is a pairing between Val, the reborn ancient dragon and an OC. In this story, I explore the possibility of Val falling in love at an older age than in TRY and with an OC, as I find it unlikely that Val would fall in love with Lina, Amelia, or even Sylphiel for obvious reasons. I do ship Slayers canon, which means Lina/Gourry, Zelgadiss/Amelia, and even the more controversial pairing of Xellos/Filia will appear in this fanfiction. If you are an AU shipper who feels strongly against any one of those shippings, please leave now and do not flame, especially if you do not believe in the semi-controversial FX pairing. Xellos/Filia is an extremely important pairing for this fanfiction, because I depict Xel as Val's father figure. Xel and Filia are in a semi-stable, long-term relationship at this time. This is a very important concept for this fanfiction.
That aside, all characters except my OC, Björk, are copyrighted to Hanjime Kazanka, the original creator of the Slayers universe. Please read & reply! )
"Maybe this world is another planet's Hell." - Aldous Huxley
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It is dark and hard to see. The room is lit only by a faint lamp which is flickering fast in the darkness, casting harsh shadows upon the walls, the shadows of nightmares, shadows that make children hide in their bed in fear, their skin prickling at the horror of the unknown. It is the scene of a hasty murder, or of a whispered sinful confession - it is a time for dark, and terrible things to be plotted out. The light throws, for a second, the features of the three people in the cave into such clarity, as would make an onlooker gasp. They are all inhumanely beautiful.
One, a male, is short. His hair is combed and cut with military precision, close to his scalp. He appears beautiful - though his face seems slightly different. It shifts in and out of the light, and in the darkness it looks as if his very flesh is sloughing off, shifting and fading strangely, because unlike his sisters he almost cannot assume a corporeal appearance. He is wearing skinny slate blue armor, layer upon layer of it, and it fits together, almost like cruelly sharp puzzle pieces, sharpened to razor edges. His dress bears no decoration. If not for the bland poetry of his features, it would be easy to pass him over for the female taking long, galumphing strides around him. His title is The Dynast, his name Grausherra.
The female, at times mincing, at times boldly stepping in circles around the cavern is the most beautiful one of the trio. She appears so recklessly gorgeous that there seems to be something wrong, something slightly off-kilter about her, something pervasive and dangerous. Her hair, dark turquoise, falls in a long, glorious wave down her back, held back by the large hairpieces that are set on both temples, perfectly framing her oval-shaped face. She wears large, gaudy jewelry - rings on all fingers, and a dress that is almost like a ballgown, if not for the heavy, old-fashioned jewelry around the collar. Her title is The Lady, but her name is Deep Sea Dolphin.
Between these two, it seems as if there is nothing else to look at; two strange creatures who would easily dominate any room they were in, but for some reason, the eye is, drawn like a magnet, unconsciously to the third figure, who moves mainly in the shadow. Even in the darkness, she is clearly curvy, with her blond hair spiking out from her forehead in waves down to her shoulders. She is not as pretty as her brother and sister, but in her features is something predatory and feral, something absent in theirs. Her eyes, large and framed by dramatic eyebrows, seem to house a burning, searching ambition. Her title is the Beasmaster, her name Zelas Metallium. There is silence, and then:
"Why are we here." Voiced like a statement. Grausherra's voice is clipped and to the point, dry and detached. He could be asking about the weather.
And then, cracking the ominous silence like a hammer blow against a sheet of ice, "Dynast, don't push her. She's obviously put thought into this, and we're here to help, not presuure Zelas, she's been under so much strain lately! You need to be more sympathetic to her needs, Graushy!" Deep Sea Dolphin shrieks. Her voice is so high-pitched and her nickname so obnoxiously over-the-top that it makes her brother wince slightly.
Zelas interrupts, cutting through their conversation. When she speaks, her voice comes out strangely, the words slightly twisted, the cadence just barely off, like musical notes played out of order, but still worth listening to nonetheless. "Brother, sister. I asked you here today for business. Business concerning the reborn ancient dragon Valteira." She pauses.
"The...the..." Deep Sea Dolphin's eloquence withers after one quick, raking glance from her sister. Her voice teeters before she's cut off by Grausherra.
"The adoptive son of your Priest-General Xellos Metallium."
Zelas utters a growl at that. "The amusement of my Priest-General Xellos Metallium." She stresses that word, 'amusement' to fullest, drawing it out.
"Well....well, didn't you allow Xellos amusements?" Deep Sea Dolphin's voice is lyrical as always, even when highly confused. "Doesn't he also have that, that golden dragon? That shrine-maiden? Why is Val important? Hasn't he forgotten all of his past under our," she turns a bright blushing red, "brother?"
Clearly, deliberately, Zelas replies. "Val is coming of age in ten days. He has not lost the power he once had under Gaav," Deep Sea Dolphin flinches at the mention of the dead mazoku. "He is a wielder of both dark magic, white magic and he would still retain his full power as ancient dragon." For a moment, there is a flash of urgency and excitement in her voice.
Grausherra understands first. Calmly, cerebrally, "If he was on our side he would be an unstoppable force."
"He would be able to cast the magic of the Fire Dragon against his own supplicants. He'd be -"
And for once in his existence, ruled by rigidity and cold, hard intellect Dynast Grausherra interrupts. He cuts off Zelas, who is pleased enough to let it pass, because she can tell that her brother understands the magnitude of what she has discovered. She knows he has seen why it is so important to Zelas, to the whole of the monster race. The least volatile of all his siblings, his face starts to light with something beginning to look like anticipation. Voice still cold and methodical, he calmly machinates his way to what Zelas' quick, quixotic mind has already pieced together.
"Valgaav's resurrection was the result of Vorfeed in her death throes but some believe that his resurrection was because of intervention by the Lord of Nightmares. If that is true, and Valgaav was resurrected by the Lord of Nightmares, it must have been to maintain the equilibrium of our world. If Valgaav is intrinsic to the equilibrium of our world if he was to be brought to our side he would alter the balance in our favor."
Deep Sea Dolphin tilts her head, and finally gets it, understanding written boldly on all of her symetrical features. "So this is WONDERFUL, Zelas!" She finally breaks out, her voice breaking the silence. "You're so INTELLIGENT, this will be such a relief, SUCH a wake-up call, but I see just one small, small problem," she pinches her fingers together to illustrate. "Doesn't Val believe in Cephied? And won't Xellos be even the slightest bit angry, Zelas dear?" Her question hangs in the air, as she tilts her head to the side.
"How could he be angry at his creator." Grausherra's colorless voice cuts across Deep Sea Dolphin's euphoric shrieks.
Zelas watches her siblings with something verging on predatory interest. "He can be, Grausherra. It is tiresome, but Xellos has grown attached, too attached, to his playthings. I would rather not be tied to this directly. It could affect his...work ethic."
"If we carry this out, our priests and our generals together will not be able to hold off Xellos when he attempts to stop Val." Grausherra admits this weakness as a statement of fact, but there is a secret contempt dancing in his eyes at his sister's delicacy for the sake of her favored, and in his opinion, hideously over-glorified, priest-general. "You will need to give explicit instructions for him to stand down."
"I will, I will," Zelas prowls around the cave, and one can see that she is unconsciously less at ease in her human form than she is in her beast form. Still, she focusses her attention back on her sister and brother. "As long as you bind Val to me...after that, I'll make sure that Xellos works with Val. Together, they'd be unstoppable." She gloats silently. "As to carrying it out, it can be done by force."
"Then why are we waiting, Zelas dear, we can go and -"
"No. We have to wait until he fully realizes his powers - and that is when he comes of age."
And there is a shared understanding between these three, as Grausherra says coldly, "I've been out of the astral plane long enough. I need to return. On his coming-of-age day, I will send Sherra and Norst. You will send Huraker and Riksfalto."
"So much firepower, Graushy? Can't we just send Rikky, she'd do an excellent job of it, Graushy, you know she would."
"We can take no chances. Sisters." And he dips his head and disappears, disappearing back to the astral plane.
Deep Sea Dolphin pouts for a moment before her admiring gaze switches over to Zelas. "You've been so clever Zelas, so brilliant to think of this - I'm so impressed!"
Zelas smiles. She soaks in the praise, before stepping closer to the lip of cavern, where the moonlight illuminates the path outside faintly. She narrows her gaze and stares down the small, rocky hill, past the town, and to the cottage where her favored Priest-General is staying, with the whore Filia Ul Colpt and the boy Valgaav - now called 'Valteira'. The gnawing voice of possessive jealousy leaps in Zelas' eyes as tightens her clawlike hands around the edge of the cave and her voice, already husky, deepens in anger. "This will unbalance the world."