A/N: Here we are, on the last and longest chapter of this story! I'd like to thank Kaylove75 for supporting me, not only in this fanfiction, but in one of my others as well. Am I the only one who finds it strange that almost all of my multi-chaptered fanfictions are ending around this time? Ah, well. I think A Battle of Will still has a long way to go...Please R&R, everyone. I wonder if this'll be surprising to any of you? Oh, well.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Slayers, but this is an AU. I hope you enjoy the final chapter of this fanfiction. ^-^
The Path of Destruction: Chapter 6.
And the pleading of his voice changes to a mental scream as the hooded figure smirks and vanishes.
Lina's eyes widen as she whimpers, "No...Zelgadis."
The museum's manager, a reasonable and good man, has been called down to check out what might be wrong. All the visitors to the museum have reported that something in the exhibits caught fire, but nothing seems to be amiss.
The manager strolls slowly through each exhibit, checking for any damage. To his dismay, he has found a few things missing, which must mean they were stolen.
But the one thing that piques his curiosity most is the young redheaded girl sitting in one of the halls that the fire was said to concentrate around. She looks to be injured, probably with a broken leg or something, as there are crutches laying beside her. But when he asks if she's alright, she just shakes her head slowly, tears streaming down her face.
The manager asks her loudly, "Miss, are you alright? Do I need to call someone?"
She looks up, and her gaze is distant. "Call someone...Yes, that's what I need to do..." She pulls her phone out of her pocket and begins to scan through the contacts list. A frown appears on her face when she passes 'F,' and it deepens when she gets to the bottom of the list. Finally, she sighs, swings her crutches underneath her, and stands up, beginning to walk away. "I'm sorry to be such a bother. I'll leave now...oh, hey!" She turns back around to look at him. "Did you see someone take a phone to the lost and found?"
"Well, er, yes, but don't you have yours right here?"
"No, my friend left earlier, and I think he dropped his phone. Can you please guide me to the lost and found? Please?" Her eyes are so eager now, so full of hope and sadness at the same time. Who could possibly abandon her in her time of need, a girl who previously looked so distraught?
So the manager has to say yes. "O-of course. Come this way, please."
She beams at him, and follows quickly, possibly quicker than a girl on crutches should be able to move. When they reach the lost and found, she thanks him happily and asks the official nearby if she can look at the phone.
The manager stands by to watch and make sure she gets what she needs.
She scans through the contacts list, and upon finding someone's name, possibly her own, she says, "Yes, this is his! This is my friend's phone. Do you mind if I take it with me?"
"Make me no obstacle," the official says politely. "If it is truly your friend's, you may take it with you."
She smiles, tears welling in her eyes. "Thank you. You have no idea how important this is to me." And then her face saddens again as she presses the call button on someone's name and hurries away.
The manager exchanges a glance with the official and murmurs, "With such a pretty face, it's a shame for her to be so sad."
The woman nods, staring after her, and adds, "One moment she's sad, the next she's bubbly cheerful. She's such a peculiar girl."
Lina is upset and relieved when Filia picks up the phone and asks, "Zelgadis? This is happening too often for my liking."
"No, Filia, it's Lina. Can you meet me at the Rockin' Gemstones Museum?" She hopes that her voice doesn't betray how worried she feels.
Now Filia's voice sounds even more worried. "Y-yes, Lina, I'm on my way. I was actually heading in that direction already."
Lina doesn't like waiting, especially when you've got bad news to tell one of your closest friends—or at least, she thinks Filia is one of her closest friends. Her memory is coming back in little bits and pieces, but not nearly fast enough to know the danger of this situation. The name of whoever that was is at the tip of her tongue, but she still can't remember...
And suddenly a car horn breaks into her thoughts. Lina looks up to see Filia waving from a vivid purple Maserati. Somehow, even with her golden hair and pink dress, she fits in perfectly with it. Lina crosses over to the other side of the car. Filia presses a button, and the passenger door opens automatically. The redhead gets into the car, sliding her crutches into the back seat.
"So, Lina," Filia asks, a slight tone of worry in her voice, when they get on the road. "Why did you call me instead of Zelgadis? And speaking of whom, where is he?"
"That's exactly the reason I called you. I don't know where he is, but...someone kidnapped him."
Filia's gasps and exclamations of, "Oh, no!" are placed perfectly among Lina's recollection. When the young redhead finally finishes, Filia pulls up to the school and says, "Well, Lina, I'm afraid we've finally started."
She doesn't seem as worried as Lina thinks she should be. "Filia, what do you mean?"
"This just means that the war has finally started," the blonde replies strangely. Lina is about to ask what war, but then Filia holds up a hand and says, "Lina, do you remember what I said about the Lord of Nightmares?"
"W-well, no...wait, I think..." Lina tries to concentrate on that little sliver of memory. "Yes, you said that a reincarnation of the Lord of Nightmares came here in order to stop the conflicts between...something. But I don't think you were right."
"What do you mean, Lina?"
"I mean that I don't think the Lord of Nightmares has actually ever come here. I believe that she sent just a small amount of her power here in order to help out."
Filia smiles. "Yes, Lina, you're right. I said that to test you. After all, that job was given to me by the Lord of Nightmares' shell, which came here. She really seems to like that form you've got there, Lina."
Lina doesn't quite understand it at first, and then it feels like her head explodes. The pain in her legs quickly retracts, her memory sweeps back...except it's much more vast than it should be. She knows Filia's first and last name, where she lives, and what Filia does for a living. If she wanted to, she could list the numbers in Filia's bank account.
Finally the splitting headache itself calms, and so does Lina. She realizes that she's standing in the school parking lot, but it doesn't really surprise her.
She looks around to see Filia, Xellos, Gourry, Amelia, Sylphiel, and hundreds of others standing around her, men at their knees and women curtsying.
"Rise," she says, and somehow, her voice echoes all throughout the enormous parking lot. They stand, and Xellos crosses over to kneel and kiss her hand.
"You're back," he says, and his voice sounds relieved, and almost strained. "Thank the Gods, you're back!"
Sudden cheering replaces the silence in the parking lot. Everyone seems to be happy for her to be back...back...
"What's going on?" the curious part of Lina manages to whisper.
Filia wipes tears from her eyes. "Lina, you don't seem to understand, although your form does. You are the Lord of Nightmares."
Finally She notices the wind rippling around her, and Her change in attire, from casual to formal battle armor all in black and gold. A hint of a smile appears on Her lips, but no one seems to be looking. Finally, Lina says, "Of course...you knew the whole time."
"You were the one to tell us, L-sama," Xellos replies. "It came yesterday. We heard your voice telling us, 'I am Lina, Lina is me. You must prepare for battle.'"
L-sama's smile appears once again. "Yes, I do seem to remember that. How did you prepare?"
"We've been preparing for years now." Gourry is the one to reply this time, and She can't help but stare for a few seconds. She remembers him. He was the one to free the sorceress Lina from Her, thousands and maybe tens of thousands of years ago. That is how L-sama adopted the name 'Lina,' and how this new world came to be. "Filia and Xellos came to us all one day and told us that the Lord of Nightmares was coming back. They told us that She wanted to engage in battle against the Mazoku race. None of us quite knew how they knew that, but we started training and gathering up an army. Is this enough?"
"Yes, quite," L-sama replies, Her smile growing. She had forgotten how entertaining the human race could be. Gourry had loved Lina, so long ago, and she had loved him back. But L-sama enjoyed Zelgadis most, the one with the story, the one who no one quite understood. So when it was his time to die, She pulled him away from the edge of the Sea of Chaos and asked him if he would rule with Her. He agreed, as long as he got his human body back, and they had ruled together ever since. So when they came back...
~FLASHBACK~
"Lina, are you sure?"
L-sama had insisted that they go down to Earth in order to destroy the Mazoku, because it was the only way to truly destroy them, without leaving a trace. Zelgadis, on the other hand, had protested.
"Yes, Zelgadis. I'm absolutely certain. We must go down to Earth in order to destroy the Mazoku once and for all. It was a huge mistake on my part to create them in the first place, as you know firsthand."
He sighs, "Yes, of course you're right, but if we went down there as ourselves, we would surely destroy the planet."
"That is why we won't. I will put protection spells down on the Earth so that it won't explode, because even in human forms it would overwhelm those already cracked bonds holding it together. Do you want to go down as yourself?" Lina turns Her head slightly sideways in curiosity, looking very much like the former Lina that Zelgadis had previously fallen in love with.
"Of course." Zelgadis smiles at the sight, but the expression fades, replaced by a worried look. "What will happen if one of us is to die?"
"Well, we just won't let that happen, will we?" Her cute smile fades away as his worry pollutes Her bright and cheerful spirit. "I don't want to lose you, Zelgadis."
"I don't want to lose you, either, Lina."
His nickname for Her always makes Her smile. He had started calling Her by the same name as that redheaded sorceress from so many years ago. It appears he's fallen for L-sama more than for Lina Inverse. Maybe it's because L-sama actually loves him back, and not just as a pawn, or a Knight, like Lina Inverse.
The one and only reason the Lord of Nightmares could possibly hate Lina Inverse is because she didn't see what she was losing. She didn't see that Zelgadis loved her and wanted to care for her more than Gourry ever had. Gourry just didn't truly comprehend the word 'love'. He was too thick-skulled, and that wasn't L-sama's fault. She caused the birth. She did not choose how they acted. However, She did choose whether or not they were reborn, and even then they weren't exactly the same. Filia no longer chases Xellos around in a mad rage whenever he appears. Amelia no longer spouts Justice speeches, and she isn't as clumsy. Gourry is no longer as stupid as he was before. Sylphiel isn't as shy, and that's why she and Gourry are currently dating...
"Okay, let's just tweak a few things here and there...First off, I'll insert you into that little family there, with the two parents and the little girl who all died in a car crash. Is that okay with you?" L-sama inquires.
He shrugs. "It depends. I won't die along with them, will I?"
"No, of course not! I'll arrange that they die during a different time...see, there. You'll be at school. Better?"
"Very well. Let's put up the necessary precautions, and I'll be on my way. See you soon?" Zelgadis asks, beginning to chant under his breath.
L-sama gives him a big hug and gently tweaks his barriers in order to make them stronger. "There you go, Zel. I'll be born a few years after you, and we'll meet in high school. Bye!" With a small push, he disappears, and She reverses time in order to watch his birth. After a few minutes of silently watching his first two years go by, She places the necessary spells on Herself and picks a tiny little family, the family which Lina Inverse once belonged to. She finds it amusing to stick Herself in Lina's past, therefore erasing the redhead from existence and replacing her.
"Ah, that's better," She purrs as Lina's small image vanishes. She looks around at the Sea of Chaos which She calls home, blowing it a kiss goodbye and stepping into Her new home...
~END OF FLASHBACK~
L-sama sighs at the memory and finally says, "Are we all ready?"
A chorus of 'yeah's and 'hurrah's follow Her question, and spears, swords, magical fireworks, and the like are stabbed up into the air.
"I'll take that as a yes," She murmurs with a small smile. She turns to them and orders, "White magic users, gather there. Swords and spearsmen, gather over there. Black magic users, group in the middle here. Now, you five." L-sama gestures to Filia, Xellos, Gourry, Amelia, and Sylphiel. "I'll list specific leaders you will challenge. Wait...actually, Sylphiel, you should help out the white magic users. Encourage them and heal whoever you need to. Xellos, you will battle against Beast Master Zelas. If I recall, she is your former master, and you betrayed her for Filia, around a hundred thousand years ago. It should be easy for you to hold your own against her now. Gourry, you will fight Dynast Grausherra. I believe he is about the same level of skill with a sword as you are, and you wield the Sword of Light. As a warning, he wields Wind magic. You will do best to engage in melee combat instead of ranged. Remember, speed is your greatest ally." The two men nod, and finally the Lord of Nightmares turns towards her most loyal female subjects. "Filia, I will have you face Deep Sea Dolphin. No matter how she may act, do not be deceived. She is very quick-witted and has fast reflexes. You should use magic instead of melee. Chaotic Disintegrate will work well, as she doesn't have far to dodge. Maybe try a Lighting spell every once in a while.
"And finally, Amelia. I am sorry, but I have left you one of your greatest foes in the past. Demon Dragon King Gaav is much higher than your skill level, and you should just dodge, but I trust that you can use your quick wits to think of something. Whatever you do, do not get close enough for him to hit you with his sword. That almost caused your death, many years ago, and it may yet. While I am here, I cannot control what happens to all of you, and I cannot control what happens to myself." L-sama raises Her voice just slightly for the others in the back to be able to hear Her. "The rest of you, together, will attack the rest of the Mazoku race. I trust that these five have trained you well. Now, listen." She says this as though they weren't. "Some of us will certainly die, and I do not know who that will be. Any one of you may die, and it is highly likely that most of you shall die unless we end this quickly. However, I will make sure you are reborn. Are all of you sure that you will fight this war with us?"
At first there is utter silence, as though each and every one of them is still making up their mind, but then a swordsman calls out, "What loser would give up the chance to fight beside the creator of our entire universe? I will fight!"
Loud roars of agreement follow his words, and when no one backs out, the Lord of Nightmares flicks Her hand. An enormous black door, speckled occasionally with gold, appears hundreds of yards ahead of them, and the world around them fades to a long, empty green plain with no obstacle in view.
And Her last instructions are never said aloud, but whispered in everyone's ears. "I shall start preparing a spell in order to erase them from this world. When the time comes, and you hear my voice over the plain, it will be a good idea to duck."
The black doors open slowly—excruciatingly so—and the Mazoku army charges out from it. L-sama wonders idly why their leader, Shabranigdo, didn't bother to exchange conversation, as he usually would. She really doesn't care, however, and casts a singular spell in order to talk only to Her own army.
"I will be behind you, clearly visible. You must keep any attacks from hitting me, as it will destroy not only your world, but possibly the entire universe, myself included. The world, and something even more than that, is in each of your hands. Being in both the physical and Astral planes leaves me just as exposed as every single one of you, only possibly more so because I also have an Astral form. A few sorcerers should constantly keep their eyes on the Astral plane around me for attacks, and a few others should hold up shields. This spell will take a long time."
She can see that they all heard, and they all react to it. Around two dozen sorcerers make a half-moon around Her, and She begins to chant not out loud, but in the plane which she lives on, in between the Astral and physical planes.
"Thou who art darker than even darkness...Thou who art deeper than even the night..."
At first only silence fills the plain, but after a few seconds the sounds of war are the only things audible aside from L-sama's own chanting.
"Thou, the Sea of Chaos, who drifts upon it, Golden Lord of Darkness..."
Vaguely, She notices that She is speaking of Herself, all of Her qualities among the stories and texts of the people. However, they do not know her true nature.
"Hereby I call to thee...Hereby I swear before thee..."
The end is coming soon. She can tell by the sudden quietude. Her army and Shabranigdo's alike are both tiring out, beginning to drop, one by one, almost an equal amount from each side. And still She continues to chant.
"Those who would stand against us...All those who are fools..."
Someone cries out, and for a moment the Lord of Nightmares is Lina, and She almost loses control of Her near-completed spell. However, She isn't called the Lord of Nightmares for no reason. Her strength surpasses anyone's, and Her control is rivaled only by Zelgadis'.
"By the power you and I possess...Grant destruction equally upon them all..."
In the corner of Her eye, She sees a pale blue attack shooting in Her direction...surely one of the sorcerers will get it...no need for panic...
But She risks a glance downwards to see that all of them are focusing on multiple other attacks, and She only has time to widen Her eyes and look back at the attack before it hits.
And true silence, the kind that hurts your ears, finally overcomes the sounds of battle, because Her cry is heard throughout the entire battlefield.
Shabranigdo's booming laugh replaces it as all the Mazoku turn to look around and see who cast the spell.
But L-sama's army realizes, just in time, the real reason She told them about Her weaknesses.
A quiet, almost silent whisper follows Shabranigdo's booming voice.
"Giga Slave..."
Golden-black light is all anyone can see, shooting out from one particular point where the Lord of Nightmares had just been standing. The molten Chaos shoots just above the ground, just high enough to avoid the ones who know what's happening.
Birds twitter, the wind brushes gently across the living faces of those who served the Lord of Nightmares, and everyone is calm as the white magic users do their work, helping out those who were previously wounded. However, there is unease among them, for although the Mazoku are gone now, there is still no sign of L-sama Herself. Surely a Ra-Tilt as pathetic as that could not slay Her...
Finally, Amelia whispers, "It's over...but...where's Miss Lina? And what happened to Mister Zelgadis?"
"He's...right over here," Sylphiel whispers as, from the person she is kneeling before, a silvery mist rises into the air. It takes the shape of a man with bangs covering his right eye...
"Mister Zelgadis!" Amelia exclaims, tears in her eyes. "You're alive!"
His eyes narrow in her direction. "Be quiet, and listen. Do you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Listen!"
Silence floods the clearing once again, and they hear someone's voice humming a lovely tune. The five who had previously spoken to the Lord of Nightmares stand and follow Zelgadis' spirit towards the sound.
There, on the other side of a hill, they find a woman picking flowers and beginning to sing. Her hair is molten gold, her eyes, skin, and clothing being of the same color. She looks up as they approach, and runs to greet Zelgadis, ceasing her song.
"I was beginning to think you'd never come," she says, taking him by the hand and giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Are you ready to go?"
"Of course I am," he replies with a relieved smile on his face. "Your voice is lovely, by the way."
"Yes, I know. I did create music, after all. Now, come on. We can go now. They can find their way back home, given all the magic they have at their disposal."
Amelia's wail is the one thing that interrupts this happy reunion. The two unmistakably powerful beings looks back at her as she exclaims, "You can't go! We...we'll miss you! Miss Lina, Mister Zelgadis! You can't leave us!"
"Can't we?" Zelgadis asks, turning back towards her with a hint of a frown on his face. His voice is cold and emotionless, just like his former exterior. "And just what gives you the right to tell us what we can and can't do?"
Amelia's pleading eyes turn to Lina, and the goddess sighs. "Very well, come here." She spreads her arms out, and the young woman races over to give her a hug, tears streaming down her face.
"Please, Miss Lina..."
"Amelia, I'm sorry. But we can't keep this shabby old world up forever. With both of us here, we can only use so much power to keep it together...and can only stay for so long. I'm afraid we've already stayed long past our welcome. I didn't foresee that this would take so long," the entity whispers in the raven-haired woman's ear. "This is the longest goodbye we can afford. I am so, so sorry." She releases Amelia and looks back up at the others. "Farewell. May luck be with you."
Zelgadis glances around at the others and gives a subtle nod to the blonde swordsman. "Gourry, you won't understand this, but...I forgive you..."
With that, the two disappear with a crackle of lightning, gone from sight, but surely watching over them from high above...