For Disclaimers, see Chapters 1 and 2.
Now, on with the story!
*********************************************************************
A tall, thin, and rather busty woman sat in an elegant throne in a dimly lit room. She had silver hair and was surrounded by a pair of wolves. The wolves, however, seemed rather nervous.
"Where the HELL is Xellos?!" the Dark Lord Beastmaster Zelas Metallium yelled out to no one in particular. "I've been calling out to him mentally for the past four hours now! Why hasn't he responded?!"
She sat and thought for a minute. A servant came by with some tiramisu for her, which she declined. Suddenly, a thought came to her, hitting her like the proverbial "ton of bricks."
"Dammit, I'll bet that damned Lina Inverse did something to him! Well, I'm going to see her personally and get my favorite toy back right now! Orbius!"
A monster came out in a black cloak. All that could be seen of him was a pair of crimson eyes.
"Yes, milady?" said Orbius in a deep voice.
"Locate Lina Inverse for me."
"Yes, milady." He went into a trance-like state for about a minute, then spoke again. "She is six miles due north of Kalaran."
"Good. I'll be leaving for a short while. You and Deathwing are in charge until my return. Oh, and do remember not to destroy anything." With that, she disappeared.
Zelgadis stared at the pile of rubble that had once been Rezo's ruins, probably a gateway, wondering how it worked.
Filia stared at it, both praying that Xellos truly was stuck there forever and hoping for his safe return at once.
Amelia stared at it, praying to see her sister again.
Sylphiel stared at Lina holding Gourry in a headlock, praying that Lina didn't tear his head off.
"Gourry you jelly-fish-brained idiot!" Lina was screaming. You destroyed that thing in a single move!"
"Hey, I didn't know it was going to do that!" Gourry responded in a physically pained voice.
Lina released him. "Oh well, I guess Naga and Xellos are gone for good."
"MISS LINA!" exclaimed Amelia, "We have to rescue my sister and Mr. Xellos!"
"Wait Amelia," responded Lina, "how do you know that Naga Whiesnake is really your sister?"
"Well," began Amelia, "a few years ago, there was a very powerful sorceress duo: Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent. Pictures of them were sent throughout all of the kingdoms. I walked in on my father looking at them, and noticed that the one of 'Naga Whitesnake' seemed very familiar. When my father wasn't looking, I took it to where we had all of my sister's portraits and noticed that, except for the smug look on Naga's face, they were exactly alike. Then I remembered that Whitesnake was my mother's maiden name, like I've already said, and Naga was her third given name."
"Well, that's all well and good," said Zelgadis, "but what do we do now?"
At that moment, Zelas chose to appear. At first, no one recognized her, but after a few seconds, Filia panicked. "It's Beastmaster!"
Everyone had a panicked look on their faces with that statement, with the exception of Gourry.
"Hey, she's not bad lookin' for a Dark Lord!"
Two seconds later he found himself on the ground.
"You're getting slow, Lina," said Zelgadis.
"WHERE"S XELLOS" Zelas yelled. "Tell me what you did with him, or I swear I'll-"
"Now hold on a minute!" Lina responded. "We didn't do anything with Xellos on purpose!"
"What do you mean 'on purpose'?" Zelas asked. Lina then proceded to explain what had happened.
"Miss Beastmaster," said Sylphiel, "You wouldn't happen to know how to fix this, would you?"
"No," Zelas replied, "but I'll have my servants look into it. I suggest you do the same." With that, she left.
"Hmm, the Claire Bible might be able to tell us something," stated Zelgadis.
"All right then," said Lina, "next stop: Katato Mountains!"
"Let me see if I understand this correctly," said Big Mamma. "You have offered your help in finding a way to send a sorceress and a monster priest to another world. Correct?"
"Yes, Big Mamma," replied Marron.
"And in return they will help you on your missions?"
Xellos chose that time to speak up. "Well, a certain number of missions, anyway."
"How many?"
"Oh, say about... five."
Big Mamma thought about this for a moment, then consented. "All right, here's your first assignment." A large map appeared behind her, showing a village and a forest, with a castle in the center. "Children have been disappearing from the village of Stratholme. We believe that this man is responsible." A man's face appeared. He was in his early fifties, with gray hair, beard and mustache. Neither the Slayers nor the Sorcerer Hunters would know this, but he resembled Sean Connery. He had the triangle on his forehead. "He is the sorcerer Medivh. He lives in a castle in the nearby forest of Quel 'Thalas. You must kill him and find the missing children."
"Good luck,"said Dota. "Bye!" With that, Dota and Big Mamma disappeared from view.
"Well, it lookas as though we have another assignment," stated Marron.
"Hey, maybe we should split up into groups for this one," suggested Carrot.
"Hey, that's a good idea," replied Tira. "How about... Marron, Gateau, and Chocolate be responsible for finding the children, while Carrot, Naga, Xellos, and I take out Medivh?"
"Sounds good to me!" said Carrot, eyeing Naga.
"Well, this sounds like fun!" stated Xellos.
"Hrmph! That weak little 'sorcerer' will fall before the might of the great Naga the Serpent! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHHOH!"
By this point, Naga had been laughing enough that they all had Lina's reaction towards it and simply groaned.
"Well, let's get going," said Gateau. With that, they made theit way to Stratholme.
Zelas sat in her decorative throne and thought.
'Hmn, a way to transport between worlds other than this one and the Astral Plane. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage...' She called out to a pair of her servants. "Orbius! Deathwing!"
Orbius appeared, followed by a creature that looked to be Half-human, half-dragon, and covered from head to toe in steel, with crimson eyes.
"Yes, milady?" they said in unison.
"Orbius, I want you to find all of the research done by a human called 'Rezo the Red Priest' pertaining to interdimensional travel."
"It shall be done."
"Deathwing."
"Yes?" said the draconum monster, in a voice similar to Gaav's, just an octave lower.
"I have a very special assignment for you."
"What is it?"
"I want you to follow Lina Inverse and her companions and gather any information that they find on the subject. And do TRY to be stealthy. I understand that it's hard for a warrior such as yourself to be stealthy, but do make an attempt this time."
"Yes, milady. As you command." He disappeared.
'Now, all I have to do is wait. Then Xellos and this amazing power will be mine.'
Xellos, Naga, Tira, and Carrot all stared at the large black castle.Inside was their target.
"Any idea what this guy's strengths are?" asked Naga.
"He loves using people's own worst fears against them," said Tira. "He uses his magic to make them a reality."
"Is this gonna be like those damn Crystal Magicians?" said Carrot.
"No, these won't be illusions," she responded.
"Well, then, I suggest we get going," said Xellos. "From what I understand, Gateau, Chocolate, and Maron are already inside looking for the missing children."
They headed towards the castle. It was surrounded by a moat 15 feet deep and 15 feet across.
"Great, now how do we get in?" Carrot complained.
"Allow me," said Xellos. "Everyone, grab on." They all touched his shoulders. Then they disappeared and reappeared in the castle's throne room, decorated with gargoyles and empty armor.
"W-what the hell?! How did you get in here?!"
They all looked up at the voice to see Medivh. He was pissed.
"No matter, I'll let your own fears consume you!" Everyone looked away, with the exception of Xellos. He simply walked up to Medivh so that they were face to face.
"W-why isn't my magic working on you?!"
"Those of my race are actually immune to mental magics." Xellos yanked the amulet from around Medivh's neck. "So, THIS is how you create peoples' fears." Xellos dropped it on the floor and smashed it with his staff. "Tira, you may finish him now."
"Right!" Tira was all ready in her battle outfit at this point, and whipped him enough so that he could barely move while Carrot ran him through with his sword, blood dripping from the blade and pouring from Medivh.
"B-blood?" Naga watched as the blood flowed from Medivh. Tira noticed this.
"Hey, Naga, you all right?"
"I... I can't handle the... the sight of blood..." She promptly fainted.
"Oh, boy, looks like we'll have to carry her back," stated Xellos.
"I'll do it!"Carrot was promptly whipped for that statement.
"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS!"
"XELLOS will carry her back!"
They met back up with Marron, Gateau, and Chocolate, who had rescued the children with great ease, and decided to rest at the local inn before reporting back to Big Mamma due to Naga's lack of consciousness. Marron and Xellos waited by her while she slept. About an hour later, Naga awoke to Xellos and Marron.
"Oh, what happened?" she asked.
"Well, as we killed the sorcerer, you passed out," Xellos responded.
She groaned. "There was blood, wasn't there?"
"Yes," said Xellos. "Any... particular reason you do that?"
She cringed. "I'd... rather not talk about it." "It would probably help you to," suggested Marron. "How did it all start?"
"For you, explaining would be simple, yet painful. However, Xellos would probably need more of an explanation." She readied herself to tell them her life's story. "My real name is Gracia Ul Naga Seyruun."
"Wait," said Xellos. "Is your sister Pincess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun?"
"Yes. Before she was born, my mother wanted me to become a priestess and my father wanted me to rule after him. When Amelia was born, I went to the priesthood and my father took her under his wing.
"I learned all of my white magic in the priesthood, including a spell that takes great patience and dexterity to master and perform: The Chaos Strings. It's a spell where you create deadly chords similar to Chocolate's and Tira's, but made of magic energy instead. Also, the spell can control normal strings.
"I mastered it when I was only sixteen. Immediately after, I ran to my mother's room to show her. I knew she would be proud. But, when I entered the room, I could only stand there in pure shock and horror.
"My mother laid there on the bed... and on the dresser... and the window sill... and all over the floor..." Naga fought to hold back her tears. "When I finally came back to reality, all I could do was scream.
"I finally calmed down after I learned exactly what had happened. An assasin who uses techniques similar to Chocolate's killed my mother. His name was Booley. Fearing his return, my father had guards surround Amelia and myself.
"I knocked out one of the guards and waited for Booley to arrive. He came, and I asked him why he killed my mother. 'Stupid girl,' he said. 'I was supposed to kill you and your sister, not her.' That greatly upset me, and I demanded to know who wanted us dead. He refused to say, and launched his strings at me. However, I turned them back at him using the Chaos Strings.
"After it was over, I was covered from head to toe in his blood. I passed out, and when I came to, I was in one of the temples to be purified. That night, I snuck into my mother's room, took my mother's battle outfit, changed my name, and left. That was four years ago now.
"About two and a half years ago, I met Lina Inverse. She and I became great partners, killing off bandits where ever we found them. I had already learned Shamanist Water magics, but I secretly picked up on the fire spells Lina used, including the Flare Arrow, Fireball, Explosion Array, Gaav Flare, Mega Brand, Bram Brazer, and the Dragon Slave. For the past year I've been trying to find her again. I'd never tell her this, but... I consider her the greatest friend that I've ever had."
Naga finally relaxed, and Marron decided to speak. "Well, It looks like you feel better now. Wait here, I'll get you something to eat."
"Thanks for listening," she said. After Marron had walked out the door, she yelled, "Bring me some tiramisu!"
"What do you want?!" yelled Tira.
****************************************************************
Man, what a long chapter. Well, Beastmaster's involved now, and don't worry, none of the other Dark Lords will be. Uh, in one of the first couple of episodes of Sorcerer Hunters, what are the flowers called that were meant to create the perfect soldier/man? Many of the town names I'm gonna use are towns from Warcraft II. Deathwing is a reference to one of the Orc Hero units in the Warcraft II Expansion set, Beyond the Dark Portal. (WarCraft is copyright Blizzard Entertainment.) And don't hesitate to review either through FF.Net or e-mail me at bishamonfett@aol.com. Reviews, suggestions, even flames are welcome.
Also, let me know what you think of another story idea of mine. Imagine the Slayers in 1940's USA, with Zelgadis as the main character. Sort of a Sam Spade or Dick Tracey Kind of thing, with Zelgadis as the Private I. Well? what do you think? Let me know.
Now, on with the story!
*********************************************************************
A tall, thin, and rather busty woman sat in an elegant throne in a dimly lit room. She had silver hair and was surrounded by a pair of wolves. The wolves, however, seemed rather nervous.
"Where the HELL is Xellos?!" the Dark Lord Beastmaster Zelas Metallium yelled out to no one in particular. "I've been calling out to him mentally for the past four hours now! Why hasn't he responded?!"
She sat and thought for a minute. A servant came by with some tiramisu for her, which she declined. Suddenly, a thought came to her, hitting her like the proverbial "ton of bricks."
"Dammit, I'll bet that damned Lina Inverse did something to him! Well, I'm going to see her personally and get my favorite toy back right now! Orbius!"
A monster came out in a black cloak. All that could be seen of him was a pair of crimson eyes.
"Yes, milady?" said Orbius in a deep voice.
"Locate Lina Inverse for me."
"Yes, milady." He went into a trance-like state for about a minute, then spoke again. "She is six miles due north of Kalaran."
"Good. I'll be leaving for a short while. You and Deathwing are in charge until my return. Oh, and do remember not to destroy anything." With that, she disappeared.
Zelgadis stared at the pile of rubble that had once been Rezo's ruins, probably a gateway, wondering how it worked.
Filia stared at it, both praying that Xellos truly was stuck there forever and hoping for his safe return at once.
Amelia stared at it, praying to see her sister again.
Sylphiel stared at Lina holding Gourry in a headlock, praying that Lina didn't tear his head off.
"Gourry you jelly-fish-brained idiot!" Lina was screaming. You destroyed that thing in a single move!"
"Hey, I didn't know it was going to do that!" Gourry responded in a physically pained voice.
Lina released him. "Oh well, I guess Naga and Xellos are gone for good."
"MISS LINA!" exclaimed Amelia, "We have to rescue my sister and Mr. Xellos!"
"Wait Amelia," responded Lina, "how do you know that Naga Whiesnake is really your sister?"
"Well," began Amelia, "a few years ago, there was a very powerful sorceress duo: Lina Inverse and Naga the Serpent. Pictures of them were sent throughout all of the kingdoms. I walked in on my father looking at them, and noticed that the one of 'Naga Whitesnake' seemed very familiar. When my father wasn't looking, I took it to where we had all of my sister's portraits and noticed that, except for the smug look on Naga's face, they were exactly alike. Then I remembered that Whitesnake was my mother's maiden name, like I've already said, and Naga was her third given name."
"Well, that's all well and good," said Zelgadis, "but what do we do now?"
At that moment, Zelas chose to appear. At first, no one recognized her, but after a few seconds, Filia panicked. "It's Beastmaster!"
Everyone had a panicked look on their faces with that statement, with the exception of Gourry.
"Hey, she's not bad lookin' for a Dark Lord!"
Two seconds later he found himself on the ground.
"You're getting slow, Lina," said Zelgadis.
"WHERE"S XELLOS" Zelas yelled. "Tell me what you did with him, or I swear I'll-"
"Now hold on a minute!" Lina responded. "We didn't do anything with Xellos on purpose!"
"What do you mean 'on purpose'?" Zelas asked. Lina then proceded to explain what had happened.
"Miss Beastmaster," said Sylphiel, "You wouldn't happen to know how to fix this, would you?"
"No," Zelas replied, "but I'll have my servants look into it. I suggest you do the same." With that, she left.
"Hmm, the Claire Bible might be able to tell us something," stated Zelgadis.
"All right then," said Lina, "next stop: Katato Mountains!"
"Let me see if I understand this correctly," said Big Mamma. "You have offered your help in finding a way to send a sorceress and a monster priest to another world. Correct?"
"Yes, Big Mamma," replied Marron.
"And in return they will help you on your missions?"
Xellos chose that time to speak up. "Well, a certain number of missions, anyway."
"How many?"
"Oh, say about... five."
Big Mamma thought about this for a moment, then consented. "All right, here's your first assignment." A large map appeared behind her, showing a village and a forest, with a castle in the center. "Children have been disappearing from the village of Stratholme. We believe that this man is responsible." A man's face appeared. He was in his early fifties, with gray hair, beard and mustache. Neither the Slayers nor the Sorcerer Hunters would know this, but he resembled Sean Connery. He had the triangle on his forehead. "He is the sorcerer Medivh. He lives in a castle in the nearby forest of Quel 'Thalas. You must kill him and find the missing children."
"Good luck,"said Dota. "Bye!" With that, Dota and Big Mamma disappeared from view.
"Well, it lookas as though we have another assignment," stated Marron.
"Hey, maybe we should split up into groups for this one," suggested Carrot.
"Hey, that's a good idea," replied Tira. "How about... Marron, Gateau, and Chocolate be responsible for finding the children, while Carrot, Naga, Xellos, and I take out Medivh?"
"Sounds good to me!" said Carrot, eyeing Naga.
"Well, this sounds like fun!" stated Xellos.
"Hrmph! That weak little 'sorcerer' will fall before the might of the great Naga the Serpent! OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHHOH!"
By this point, Naga had been laughing enough that they all had Lina's reaction towards it and simply groaned.
"Well, let's get going," said Gateau. With that, they made theit way to Stratholme.
Zelas sat in her decorative throne and thought.
'Hmn, a way to transport between worlds other than this one and the Astral Plane. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage...' She called out to a pair of her servants. "Orbius! Deathwing!"
Orbius appeared, followed by a creature that looked to be Half-human, half-dragon, and covered from head to toe in steel, with crimson eyes.
"Yes, milady?" they said in unison.
"Orbius, I want you to find all of the research done by a human called 'Rezo the Red Priest' pertaining to interdimensional travel."
"It shall be done."
"Deathwing."
"Yes?" said the draconum monster, in a voice similar to Gaav's, just an octave lower.
"I have a very special assignment for you."
"What is it?"
"I want you to follow Lina Inverse and her companions and gather any information that they find on the subject. And do TRY to be stealthy. I understand that it's hard for a warrior such as yourself to be stealthy, but do make an attempt this time."
"Yes, milady. As you command." He disappeared.
'Now, all I have to do is wait. Then Xellos and this amazing power will be mine.'
Xellos, Naga, Tira, and Carrot all stared at the large black castle.Inside was their target.
"Any idea what this guy's strengths are?" asked Naga.
"He loves using people's own worst fears against them," said Tira. "He uses his magic to make them a reality."
"Is this gonna be like those damn Crystal Magicians?" said Carrot.
"No, these won't be illusions," she responded.
"Well, then, I suggest we get going," said Xellos. "From what I understand, Gateau, Chocolate, and Maron are already inside looking for the missing children."
They headed towards the castle. It was surrounded by a moat 15 feet deep and 15 feet across.
"Great, now how do we get in?" Carrot complained.
"Allow me," said Xellos. "Everyone, grab on." They all touched his shoulders. Then they disappeared and reappeared in the castle's throne room, decorated with gargoyles and empty armor.
"W-what the hell?! How did you get in here?!"
They all looked up at the voice to see Medivh. He was pissed.
"No matter, I'll let your own fears consume you!" Everyone looked away, with the exception of Xellos. He simply walked up to Medivh so that they were face to face.
"W-why isn't my magic working on you?!"
"Those of my race are actually immune to mental magics." Xellos yanked the amulet from around Medivh's neck. "So, THIS is how you create peoples' fears." Xellos dropped it on the floor and smashed it with his staff. "Tira, you may finish him now."
"Right!" Tira was all ready in her battle outfit at this point, and whipped him enough so that he could barely move while Carrot ran him through with his sword, blood dripping from the blade and pouring from Medivh.
"B-blood?" Naga watched as the blood flowed from Medivh. Tira noticed this.
"Hey, Naga, you all right?"
"I... I can't handle the... the sight of blood..." She promptly fainted.
"Oh, boy, looks like we'll have to carry her back," stated Xellos.
"I'll do it!"Carrot was promptly whipped for that statement.
"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS!"
"XELLOS will carry her back!"
They met back up with Marron, Gateau, and Chocolate, who had rescued the children with great ease, and decided to rest at the local inn before reporting back to Big Mamma due to Naga's lack of consciousness. Marron and Xellos waited by her while she slept. About an hour later, Naga awoke to Xellos and Marron.
"Oh, what happened?" she asked.
"Well, as we killed the sorcerer, you passed out," Xellos responded.
She groaned. "There was blood, wasn't there?"
"Yes," said Xellos. "Any... particular reason you do that?"
She cringed. "I'd... rather not talk about it." "It would probably help you to," suggested Marron. "How did it all start?"
"For you, explaining would be simple, yet painful. However, Xellos would probably need more of an explanation." She readied herself to tell them her life's story. "My real name is Gracia Ul Naga Seyruun."
"Wait," said Xellos. "Is your sister Pincess Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun?"
"Yes. Before she was born, my mother wanted me to become a priestess and my father wanted me to rule after him. When Amelia was born, I went to the priesthood and my father took her under his wing.
"I learned all of my white magic in the priesthood, including a spell that takes great patience and dexterity to master and perform: The Chaos Strings. It's a spell where you create deadly chords similar to Chocolate's and Tira's, but made of magic energy instead. Also, the spell can control normal strings.
"I mastered it when I was only sixteen. Immediately after, I ran to my mother's room to show her. I knew she would be proud. But, when I entered the room, I could only stand there in pure shock and horror.
"My mother laid there on the bed... and on the dresser... and the window sill... and all over the floor..." Naga fought to hold back her tears. "When I finally came back to reality, all I could do was scream.
"I finally calmed down after I learned exactly what had happened. An assasin who uses techniques similar to Chocolate's killed my mother. His name was Booley. Fearing his return, my father had guards surround Amelia and myself.
"I knocked out one of the guards and waited for Booley to arrive. He came, and I asked him why he killed my mother. 'Stupid girl,' he said. 'I was supposed to kill you and your sister, not her.' That greatly upset me, and I demanded to know who wanted us dead. He refused to say, and launched his strings at me. However, I turned them back at him using the Chaos Strings.
"After it was over, I was covered from head to toe in his blood. I passed out, and when I came to, I was in one of the temples to be purified. That night, I snuck into my mother's room, took my mother's battle outfit, changed my name, and left. That was four years ago now.
"About two and a half years ago, I met Lina Inverse. She and I became great partners, killing off bandits where ever we found them. I had already learned Shamanist Water magics, but I secretly picked up on the fire spells Lina used, including the Flare Arrow, Fireball, Explosion Array, Gaav Flare, Mega Brand, Bram Brazer, and the Dragon Slave. For the past year I've been trying to find her again. I'd never tell her this, but... I consider her the greatest friend that I've ever had."
Naga finally relaxed, and Marron decided to speak. "Well, It looks like you feel better now. Wait here, I'll get you something to eat."
"Thanks for listening," she said. After Marron had walked out the door, she yelled, "Bring me some tiramisu!"
"What do you want?!" yelled Tira.
****************************************************************
Man, what a long chapter. Well, Beastmaster's involved now, and don't worry, none of the other Dark Lords will be. Uh, in one of the first couple of episodes of Sorcerer Hunters, what are the flowers called that were meant to create the perfect soldier/man? Many of the town names I'm gonna use are towns from Warcraft II. Deathwing is a reference to one of the Orc Hero units in the Warcraft II Expansion set, Beyond the Dark Portal. (WarCraft is copyright Blizzard Entertainment.) And don't hesitate to review either through FF.Net or e-mail me at bishamonfett@aol.com. Reviews, suggestions, even flames are welcome.
Also, let me know what you think of another story idea of mine. Imagine the Slayers in 1940's USA, with Zelgadis as the main character. Sort of a Sam Spade or Dick Tracey Kind of thing, with Zelgadis as the Private I. Well? what do you think? Let me know.