Mythical
Chapter 1
With every heavy step, the two strangers walked down the path. With the stars leading them, the smaller companion stopped in the middle of the dirt road, staring at the small bright light up ahead.
"We're close…" She whispered to the tall fellow besides her. He nodded slowly and followed his cohort with a hand on the hilt of his sword. Leading them through the surrounding mist, the redheaded woman headed straight to the light, the man close behind. As the light developed, the strangers came across a cottage, brighter lights shining through the windows. The woman lifted her white gloved hand and slowly reached for the doorknob. She gripped the bulb and carefully turned until she felt a click. Looking back to her blonde companion and nodding for approval, she swung the door open.
"8 ORDERS OF EVERYTHING ON THE MENU AND 4 GALLONS OF BEER!" Lina Inverse screamed at the waiter with red burning hungry eyes, the waiter yelped and quickly ran back to the kitchen.
"And some bread!" Gourry Gabriev cheerfully ordered with a goofy smile. He gave Lina a big smile, making her roll her eyes for the lack of common sense that Gourry did not have. Lina pretended to listen to Gourry as he explained with great enlightenment about his newborn likeness with Jellyfish. Lina stared out the window, tired from the tedious journey. It started raining heavily outside and Lina thanked the gods she found the restaurant in time. How long has she been on this miserable world? More than 200 years, Lina answered herself. She leaned her hand against her face and sighed lightly. 200 years since Dragon God Cepheid threw Gourry and herself down to Red Orb. Lina had to admit, she would have given up searching the first week if Gourry was not there with her, always reminding her purpose on Red Orb. Lina turned her view to her blonde companion. He was happily talking to her without noticing that she was not paying any attention to him. 200 years and still a big dumb goofball, Lina smirked. Gourry could not be any dumber.
"And Jellyfishes love to float like I-"
"Gourry, do you regret coming down to Red Orb?" Lina interrupted him. He tilted his head in a puzzled way.
"Not really… It is our job, isn't it? We have to serve under the Old Man for all eternity since we're Arch Angels, right?" Gourry scratched behind his head with a more perplex look than before. Lina sighed and broke out a half smile.
"His name is Cepheid, not Old Man, Gourry." She corrected him with a soft chuckle. Gourry shrugged his shoulders and watched Lina pout. "Sometimes, Gourry… I would rather be in the clouds, flying around with my wings exposed, than on this idiotic planet where we have to hide our wings from these stupid gullible human beings." Lina grumbled, she folded her arms across her chest and continued to grumble. Gourry chuckled softly at the sight of her anger. He had eventually come to love the sight of her angry face.
"But if the Old Man didn't appoint us the job, we wouldn't have met each other and I wouldn't have gotten to know you, Lina!" Gourry grinned, Lina blushed with an annoyed pout. She hated it when Gourry embarrasses her with compliments. But it was true. If Cepheid did not order the hunt, she would not have ever met Gourry.
"I guess…" Lina muttered while looking away nervously. Gourry smiled at her causing her to blush. "But we would've met each other in the battlefield!" Lina argued, she ignored Gourry's big smile and looked away with irritation. She blinked when she noticed many waiters carrying four trays walking carefully towards their table.
"Time to eat!" Gourry and Lina grabbed their utensils and waited patiently as each waiter placed the trays in front of their faces. "LET'S EAT!"
Standing in a dark clearing with the moonlight shining through the trees, a dark silhouette slowly walked out of the dark trees, the rain splashing against his black cloak. He watched as the two Arch Angels fought over their dinner. He rolled his eyes and paid no attention to the soft footsteps behind him.
"When are you going to learn how to sneak up to people, you Idiot?" He cursed softly from under the black hood over his head. He turned around and glared at the dark shadow in the trees.
"Watch your mouth, Val, or I'm going to tell on you." Two amethyst eyes glowed in the dark. The hooded creature scoffed. He pulled off his black cloak and dumped it on the wet grass. Brushing his turquoise hair back and shaking off the light rain, Val glared at the dark shadow behind him. He could hear the snickering coming from the creature's mouth. Val looked away and continued to watch the two Arch Angels.
"What the fuck do you want? I'm busy." Val folded his arms. The dark silhouette chuckled softly.
"I was just worried about my little Val, that's all."
"Stop talking through your ass and tell me what you want." Val scowled. He turned to face the mysterious dark creature in the shadows. It flashed a sinister grin across its pale face.
"You know me so well…" Val rolled his eyes and watched closely as the being leaned against a nearby tree trunk. "I wanted to remind you about our accord, Val."
"I know what needs to be done." Val told him, his red eyes squinted with annoyance at the creature. "Rather, do you know you're part of the agreement?" The being in the shadows let out a soft chuckle. Val caught the small token that was thrown at him and cautiously looked at it.
"A Demon will never go against its word, even if it is with an uptight angel like you." The creature snickered. Val glared at the Demon.
"Shut the fuck up." Val stuffed his reward into his pocket and stepped into the heavy rain. His eyes glinted in fury as he watched the two Arch Angels fighting for the last piece of bread through the window. "I'll do what I need to do. You just follow your end of the bargain."
"I think the problem is how you're going to follow YOUR end of the bargain." The Demon whispered into the wind as he vanishes into the shadows. Val stood in silence, his clothes getting drenched in rain as every second pass.
"Gravos. Jiras." Val murmur softly. Two Demons materialized from the dark shadows behind him. The Demons knelt down to one knee and kept their head low. "Where are these Idiots going to go next?"
"To Saillune, Val-Sama." The bigger Demon answered.
"They are going to meet one of Cepheid's messengers tomorrow in the Saillune capital city." The Fox-like Demon squeaked out. Val turned away from the window view and faced the two lesser Demons. They gulped and lowered their heads.
"Gravos, gather the Demons. Jiras, go to Saillune and report to me when the messenger comes. Tell the Freak to be there."
"Yes Sir!" The Two Demons vanished to do their duties. Val slicked his wet bangs out of his face and allowed the heavy raindrops to splash on his pale face.
Lina blinked and turned her view to the window besides her. She scanned the darkness with her red eyes. Her eyes squinted to see a figure of a man in the heavy rain.
"Lina?" Gourry tilted his head. He waved his hand in front of her. Lina snapped out of it and met Gourry's gentle blue eyes. "Are you alright? You just stopped talking in the middle of the conversation."
"Oh, I'm alright, Gourry. I just thought I saw something…" Lina looked back to the window. She sighed lightly and smiled at him. "Let's get back to business. Let me see the scroll that Cepheid gave us." Gourry nodded and began looking through his travel bag. He pulled out an old battered scroll and unraveled it on the table in front of them. It was a map of Red Orb and there were pinpoint locations on the map that were crossed out.
"We're outside of the Saillune border. Filia wants us to meet her there for information." Lina pointed to a city in the map, Gourry scratched the back of his head.
"I thought we were on this world to look for Ame-"
"Gourry, Shhhh!" Lina hushed him loudly. She looked around the restaurant at the human bystanders. "You are supposed to keep quiet, remember?" Lina sighed, Gourry pouted.
"Why?"
"Oh my Cepheid, I told you MILLIONS of times! Just saying her name aloud can make gullible human beings start looking for her again. You remember that epidemic that took place a few years before we arrived on Red Orb? Some Idiotic Demon spread the rumor of the legend and human beings started looking for her just to have their wishes granted or some shit like that..." Lina rolled her eyes. "Filia and I had to come down to Red Orb and stop the outbreak by doing a mass memory erase to every gullible human that believed the legend. I don't want to do that again." Lina groaned. Gourry tilted his head.
"But if the legend is true-"
"And that's why Cepheid doesn't want the news to go around Red Orb so we don't have to kill the humans who are after her too." Lina cleared her throat and pointed at Saillune on the map. "Now, we are going to meet up with Filia at Saillune. She wrote in her letter that she found information and she's going to help US for a change." Lina placed an open letter on the table, Gourry blinked in a bewildered state.
"What kind of information?" Gourry asked, Lina sighed and reached over for the dessert menu.
"Probably some more useless crap that she given us over the years." Lina grumbled while she scanned through the many selections for dessert.
"We got close last time with Filia's help, remember?" Gourry smiled bright, Lina rolled her eyes.
"And that's the only closest we have ever been." Lina pouted. "I have a feeling that we're going to be chasing after this Halfling until the end of time." Lina sighed sadly. As the waiter came by to get their orders again, her eyes averted to the side. Her memories started flashing beyond her sight.
Flash Back
Lina burst out of the double doors of her house. Her wide feathered wings released behind her as she leaped into the sky. Flying swiftly through the white clouds, she finally spotted the wreckage near the golden gates. She gasped to see destruction. The great gate appeared dented in from the outside and a large burning hole blown away in the middle as if something got in. Lina noticed a big crowd near the gate and landed gently on the clouds.
"Get out of my way! Cepheid's top Arch Angel coming through!" Lina pushed through the angels. She squeezed through the tight crowd and reached the middle. Lina froze to see a big puddle of blood. In the middle of the puddle, there was a large man with a great beard.
"Phil!" Lina rushed over. The older man choked out blood as he chuckled harshly at the red head. Lina knelt beside him. Her mentor, the leader of Heaven's army, the man who took her under his wing was choking out blood for the first time. "W-What… What the hell happen-"
"Swear word, Lina." The man muttered softly. Lina growled loudly at him, overwhelming tears falling from her eyes.
"FORGET THE SWEAR WORDS! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED HERE?"
"Calm down, Lina." Lina looked up. She gasped to see a young woman with long blonde hair. The woman kneeled down besides Phil, she met his eyes and sighed. "Saillune-Sama, how many times have I told you? You are getting older. You can't fight demons alone anymore."
"DEMONS DID THIS TO YOU? WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE ME WITH YOU? I AM YOUR BEST WARRIOR! I COULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS FROM FUCKING HAPPENING-"
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" The man roared loudly. Lina gasped and shut her mouth. He coughed out more blood and glared at her. "I knew this was going to happen and I didn't want to risk your life."
"But-"
"Do not worry." The man grumbled. He shut his eyes and sighed. "I am going to live." Lina sighed in relief. She wiped away her tears and noticed his fingers were turning into stone slowly.
"Phil… what's happening?" She asked. She looked up to his face. He smiled wearily and chuckled.
"A curse was placed on me by a lessor Demon. I am not strong enough to fight it." Both his hands suddenly turned into stone. "In a few moments, I will be turned into stone." Phil opened his bright blue gentle eyes and looked upon her face.
"Filia will fill you in on everything you need to know. Besides the limited time we have… Lina, do me a favor." His arms were becoming stone. "Find Gourry Gabriev, he's a superb swordsman with an extraordinary brain. Get him and go down to Red Orb-"
"I am NOT going to Red Orb AGAIN!" Lina complained. She sweat dropped when he glared at her. "O-Okay, I-I'll go."
"Good."
"Why do you want me to go down there?" She watched as the stone flesh crept closer to his shoulders.
"Find my daughter." He whispered. Lina's eyes widen.
"I didn't know you had a daughter, Phil."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me, Lina." He chuckled. "Find my daughter and bring her back to heaven."
"Why? Is she strong? Do I have to kick her ass, Phil? Is she the one who did this to you?"
"Lina…"
"Alright, I'll look for her." Lina rolled her eyes. Phil shut his eyes and as the stone overcame his throat, he sighed.
"When I'm in this state, I will not be able to move and heaven will be unprotected."
"Then why am I going down to Red Orb? Send someone else, I can protect heaven-"
"Powerful Demons will be looking for my daughter as well… Nothing you battled with before." He opened his eyes and met hers. "Find her, Lina. Find her and bring her back home."
"I will." Lina grabbed his stone hand. "I'm going to find your daughter, Phil." Her eyes started to water to see his face slowly trounce with stone. The leader of the angels smirked and lifted his stone hand. He placed his hand on her cheek and wiped the developing tears with his thumb.
"Lina… Tell her I said… I'm sorry I couldn't protect her and… tell her… and tell her that I always loved her... Despite... Despite her past... and future decisions..." He muttered and with a soft sigh, his face froze into stone.
Flash back end
"Don't worry, Lina! I'll still travel around with you!" Gourry suddenly broke the silence. Lina stared at his cheerful smile and smirked.
"I know you will, Gourry."