Maeve tightened her grip on her sword, and tried not to worry about the amount of zenaffa bombs they were wasting as Arvi continued to hurl them at the Mazoku to get him to display the amulet and keep it out. General Ardith was rallying the remaining troops to take on the other Mazoku that had appeared, leaving Maeve, Kleialle and Arvi to face down the original. But the hallway was full of frenzied, chaotic activity as Mazoku teleported in and out and spells flew every which way and people ran in unexpected directions to avoid attacks or get into a better position to fight.
What would Sir Gourry do? Maeve asked herself after she stopped running through the empty space where the Mazoku had disappeared. Hitting the amulet was like playing one of those rigged carnival games. Her aim could be true and her form great, but as soon as she got close he would simply retreat back to the astral plane. She needed a way to catch him off guard, she needed a distraction…!
The hair on the back of Maeve's neck stood on end, and she realized that the Mazoku was about to appear behind her. She turned right as he appeared, but rather than attack her with an astral spell he moved his giant arm to club at her. Maeve brought her sword up to deflect the blow, but his other hand morphed into a sword and he used that to charge at her, keeping her on the defensive. But then he increased to speed of his attack, and it was all Maeve could do to keep up, especially as he was using both limbs to attack and she only had one sword to defend! Sweat formed on her brow as she concentrated on her footwork, but then her feet were knocked out from under her and she tumbled to the ground and her sword went flying from her hands.
The Mazoku lifted up his arm for a final blow. While the zenaffa armor protected her astral body it did little against physical attacks. In a split second Maeve knew she needed to roll away from her sword (he would anticipate her to roll in the direction of it), and as she did the wall exploded, sending dust and debris everywhere. But the amulet shone red through it as the Mazoku lifted his arm to deflect another bomb, and Maeve leapt and grabbed it and held on tight. But so did the Mazoku.
He lifted his free hand for another attack, and Maeve closed her eyes in anticipation of what would surely have been a killing blow. So she was surprised when his grip on the amulet loosened and she tumbled to the ground. Maeve looked up and saw Cuchulain standing between her and the Mazoku, sword drawn, and that where the Mazoku's arm had been there was now an inky black void. Cuchulain must have severe his arm! But wait a minute, what was Cuchulain even doing there?
Arvi threw a zenaffa bomb, which hit the Mazoku square on, and to Maeve's surprise right as Kleialle hit it with a Ra Tilt, Pippi was also there to unleash one of her own. "Hi Maeve!" she said as the Mazoku turned to white ash, "I hope we're not too late!"
A thousand questions formed on Maeve's tongue as she looked around and found that the hallway was flooded with her classmates. Somehow they had gotten wind of how desperate things were, and Maeve didn't need to know the details of how yet. She just needed to be thankful for large favors. "Everyone, be careful, they have red amulets that deflect the zenaffa bombs!"
The rain had cleansed her of the last traces of blood, and Naga took deep breaths as she stared out onto the grounds. She still couldn't move, not even to look at where Kara and Marcus were healing Moe to see how he was doing. The thought arose that she could stand up and start walking. If she started walking and kept on walking she would never have to hear that he had died. She would be able to carry the hope that he had lived forever without being crushed by the truth, and she would have the joy of their memories…
It had been what Sylphiel had said when she'd talked to her about opening herself to loving someone again after such a traumatic loss. That even if she loved someone and lost them nothing would change the joy they had experienced together. It had been a nauseating sentiment. So sweet yet empty that Naga had laughed it away as she started sleeping with Moe just to prove that she was stronger than Sylphiel. That she could love again without being shattered. But now she was broken.
Naga looked across the courtyard. The battle had not touched the garden to the north, and even though Naga had never been to Dils before she was struck by how similar the garden was to the one in her palace at Saillune. For some reason Naga felt pulled to run through the garden and she found herself getting up and moving a few steps towards it. The perfume like aroma of the pansies wafted towards her despite the storm, and Naga closed her eyes and suddenly saw herself as a young girl running through the garden in the rain.
"Princess Gracia!" her nanny screamed, her face red and her fists bunched as she stood under the porch, not wanting to get into the downpour, "Come back here at once!"
"You're going to have to catch me!" Naga teased as she ran, knowing full well that nanny wouldn't dare get wet. Naga laughed as she raced across the grounds, her bare feet sinking into the grass with a satisfying slop as she abandoned all caution and closed her eyes, only to snap them open when she ran into something and fell upon the ground.
She looked up and saw the tall, imposing figure of her mother, completely unperturbed by the downpour. "Naga." She said sternly.
Naga took a deep breath as she got up to her feet, unsure of what Tesla would do. Ever since Amelia had been born she'd been unpredictable. Naga wiped the rain from her face as she shivered. But then Tesla grinned as she laughed for a moment before she warned, "You'd better run."
"Huh?" Naga said.
And then Tesla reached her arms out, and Naga jumped back, "Here I come!" Tesla called, her eyes alight with mirth, and then Naga laughed as she ran as Tesla chased her through the gardens. Naga ran swiftly through the downpour, diving through bushes in an attempt to lose Tesla or slow her down. She'd not even noticed that Phil had come out until her grabbed her, ambushing her from some bushes. Naga squealed with laughter as Tesla caught up and tickled her, and the three of them fell to the ground, breathless and happy. The rain fell down upon them as they looked at the sky, and Naga felt happier than she'd felt since Amelia had been born.
"I know the new baby has been taking a lot of our time." Tesla said as she reached out to hold Naga's hand. "But you're still our precious girl."
The sound of horses trotting through the mud drew Naga back to the present. The grief and loss rose within her, but for once she didn't fight against it, because it was tempered with the warmth of the love and joy of that moment. She'd not thought about that time since Tesla had died. It had hurt too much to think about how they would never have times like that again. For so long the memory of witnessing Tesla's brutal assassination had ensnared her. She couldn't move forward. And she also couldn't look back at the good memories before that day. Ironically, the fear of feeling the pain of Tesla's death had created a chain that kept her caged to the day her mother died. But now for the first time a sense of peace settled over her. That moment happened, and nothing could take that away.
Feeling more grounded than she had in years, Naga turned to see a battalion from Xoana approach. Naga walked up to Susan as they stopped and the leader, a regal looking woman dressed in armor that was more ornamental than practical stopped. "My name is Duchess Orianna. Do you require assistance?" she asked.
"One of ours was badly wounded." Naga said.
"He's starting to stir," one of the soldiers observed, and Naga felt herself grow light as she turned to look at Moe and saw his eyes flit open.
"It will still be awhile before it is safe to move him." Someone else observed. "But troops have successfully retaken the city and there is a medical tent he can rest at in the main agora."
"We'll see that he gets there." Marcus said.
"What's the status of the battle in the castle?" Orianna asked.
"Unknown." Naga said, "But we were able to successfully breached their walls."
Naga said "we" so casually that it betrayed little of the guilt she felt. Lina had sent her on this mission to protect the students. And instead she had become a liability. It wasn't right for her to take credit for their achievement.
"Right then." Orianna said as she dismounted and the rest of the battalion followed suit, "Charge!"
Naga watched them go for a moment, and then turned to find Moe awake and watching. She knelt down beside him and grabbed his hand, "How are you feeling?"
"He can't talk right now." Marcus said.
But Moe smiled at her, and Naga closed her eyes in relief as she started to let herself believe that it would be okay. Her worst fear would not be realized today. "Marcus and Kara will take good care of you. I'll meet you at the medical tent, after I help them win the war."
He nodded his understanding, and Naga reached down to give him a quick peck on the lips before she stood up and walked to the castle.
Maeve gave Adora and Adam a signal, and they released their double Ra Tilt to hit right after the one that Jean-Luc and Clark had released. The Mazoku shrieked as he disintegrated into white sand, and Maeve heaved a sigh of relief as she looked around. The remaining fighters had been divided among Owen, General Ardith and herself, with each group confronting two Mazoku.
Maeve's group had just defeated their second Mazoku, and she looked around to see how the other groups were doing. The good news was that it appeared that General Ardith's group had already merged with Owen's as they combined forces to take down the remaining one. The bad news was that the remaining Mazoku was powerful and was not holding back.
Ra Tilts flew through the air, but he could move in and out of the astral plane so nimbly that few actually hit him, and those that did had little effect. The swordfighters did their best to corner him, but they had their hands full with defending against his attacks. He seemed to be everywhere and nowhere as he materialized in and out so quickly, and every so often someone would fall and not get up. It quickly became apparent that the longer this battle drew on, the more likely it would become that he would pick them off one by one.
"Arvi, the zenaffa bombs." Maeve said.
"We're out." Arvi said.
Sometimes, I really feel like giving swearing a try, Maeve thought to herself as Cuchulain let out some doozies for her. She ended up taking a deep breath, "Right. Well, there's a way to do this without the zenaffa bombs, and we just have to find it!"
But right then the Mazoku gave a swing of his tail, knocking out a good third of their fighters. Adora's Ra Tilt managed to hit him dead on with no effect before he sank back to the astral plane. "Is there any way we can pin him on the earthly world?"
But then the Mazoku unleashed another attack, and screams rang through the hallway as people fell. Dust and debris flew through the air and for a moment it was difficult to see anything that was happening as he laughed at their despair.
Maeve tightened her grip on her sword and was ready to go in for a suicidal run if need be, but when the dust cleared she was stunned to see that a zenaffa bomb had attached itself to him! But how? Had someone found one that hadn't been set off somehow? "Impossible!" the Mazoku cried as people started to stand up. But then he turned to look at the fallen wall and found a battalion of soldiers there, led by a woman that Maeve had met just once.
"Now!" Duchess Orianna ordered, and a group of sorcerers cast, "Ra Tilt!"
The Mazoku screamed as he burned into blue ash, and then just like that it was over. For a moment the only sound in the hallway was that of people moaning as they looked around, alert for signs of another attack.
"Do you think there are other Mazoku?" Pippi asked.
"Not according to our sources, but we need to check and secure the castle." Maeve said as a sense of unease settled into her stomach. How many people had been killed under her command?
"Ah, victory." Orianna said as she puffed her chest out and smiled, "And I didn't lose a single person! But what am I doing bragging when there are wounded to attend to? So many wounded."
Maeve desperately wished she had been one of them. And buried under a rock somewhere as several medics came forward and started searching for wounded. "Heal them here, take them to the agora to recover." Orianna ordered.
"General Ardith, organize some people to search and secure the castle." Maeve said, "Owen, start organizing students to check the collapsed tunnel. If there are any survivors it will be a miracle. But we have to try."
"Right." Owen said, "Nerys, Jean-Luc…"
Duchess Orianna strutted up to Maeve and wrapped an arm around her, "Well it looks like we got here just in time! You were really getting your ass handed to you!"
"Only because I was brave enough to charge in first." Maeve snapped, "Now are you going to gloat, or are you going to do something useful?"
Duchess Orianna laughed, "I was already useful! But rest assured, I will help to secure the castle."
Maeve took a deep breath and nodded, thankful when Orianna moved to leave. She wasn't sure how much longer she would be able to hold it together. She was sure that the people of Dils would choose Orianna to be their queen over her. And they would have every right too! Her plan had been flawed and had cost too many lives. She should have known better than to try to get in via a tunnel where they would be trapped like rats if attacked. She did not yet know how great the death count was, but she knew it would be too much. When this was over she would be returning to Maninstit…to withdraw and go home.
Even before her mother's assassination, Naga had never been comfortable with the healer role that was expected of her as a princess of Saillune and a powerful shrine maiden. She's never liked being with the sick and injured and seeing their vulnerability. She didn't like the grossness of the fluids, the pus, the snot, the vomit, the piss and god knows what else. The fear of seeing blood she'd developed after being covered in her mother's blood after she was cut in two in front of her made it worse.
But Naga felt detached as she quietly walked through the hallway and found Bruce, laying on the ground with his face turned away from her. Healing the injured gave her something to focus on, something to do. While it might not be her first pick of activities, this was not a situation to be choosy. Naga knelt down beside him and felt for a pulse. It was present. She quickly assessed for his injuries and whether or not his spine was damaged. Somehow the knowledge of what to do returned from the murky depths of her mind. And then she started chanting a Resurrection spell as Pippi came around. "Will he make it?" she asked.
"Yes." Naga replied.
Pippi smiled, and wrote something down on a list, and Naga surmised that she must have been tasked with finding who had survived and who had not. Pippi moved on, and Naga continued to chant, focusing only on healing Bruce. Around her other people with medical training assisted the injured, and occasionally someone would be moved out on a stretcher.
Naga wasn't sure how long it was after she'd started healing that she heard Pippi walk up to Maeve and say, "Everyone from the Luke and Milina school is expected to survive. Many had severe injuries but fortunately were able to get treatment in time. There are four confirmed fatalities from General Ardith's troops. Fifteen have survived."
"And we don't even know how many have died in the tunnels." Maeve said quietly. And then she sighed, "Thank you Pippi. Can you cast a Vision spell to Dame Lina's office?"
"Right!" Pippi said as she started chanting.
After a moment Naga heard Maeve say, "Yes, I'm fine." She paused as she listened to Lina and then said, "It was a close call. If you'd not sent the troops I'm not sure we would have survived much longer. How did you know?"
It was strange hearing just one end of the conversation, but it was easy enough for Naga to fill in the gaps as Maeve said, "I guess it will wait until I return home. No…I don't think they'll want me to be Queen of Dils after this. I…I blew it."
Maeve nearly chocked on her words, but she continued, "Everyone from the school is accounted for and alive. Some are injured, but none mortally so. But I lost too many troops breaching the castle, too many people died under my command…"
Naga could imagine the stern bucking up that Lina was likely giving Maeve at that moment even if she couldn't hear it, but suddenly Jean-Luc said, "There are survivors!"
"What?" Maeve said as Jean-Luc came running up, covered in grey dust.
"One of the sorcerers managed to burrow a hole in the floor with a Damu Brass spell, and saved himself and several people." Jean-Luc reported, "But there's a lot of big heavy rocks and debris over them. We have to move fast before they lose air."
"Dame Lina, I will contact you shortly." Maeve said, and then she turned and said, "Alright, let's start organizing people to move the rocks. Should we use a spell?"
"Another Damu Brass would just cause more debris to become projectiles." Jean-Luc said, "And it would make the area even more unsteady."
Naga finished her healing spell and squeezed Bruce's shoulder, "You're good now."
And then she stood up and walked over to Maeve. "Rock golems." Naga said simply.
"Huh?" Maeve said, and Naga noted that several of the students looked at her dubiously.
"Trust me." Naga said, doing all that she could to summon her bravado.
Maeve looked at her for a moment, and then nodded. "Do it."
Naga took a deep breath, and then she started chanting a spell that she had perfected after she'd met Lina when she'd helped some miners who were trapped by a cave in. Sure, it had gone a bit awry then, but Naga was fairly sure that she knew where it had gone wrong and had fixed the flaws. Then she started chanting, and a bunch of pebbles came together to form tiny rock golems.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Indiana said, but Naga remained silent as the rock golems marched into the tunnel like an army of ants. And soon any disbelief the students felt was replaced with awe as they crawled under the rocks en masse and lifted them up and started moving them out of the way.
"Wow." Jean-Luc said. "I'd never heard of anyone doing this."
"We've learned practically nothing about golems at Maninstit." Ace said wondrously. "I know Duke Zel doesn't like them but I've always felt it was a deficit."
Naga smiled to herself and allowed herself to think that perhaps she hadn't blown it as a few other students murmured in agreement. But then, Lina hadn't heard yet how she'd fallen apart when Moe was attacked. But for now she needed to focus on keeping control of the golem army as it cleared the debris from the tunnel with a swiftness that human muscle power would not have been able to replicate.
As they got closer to where the survivors were it became more perilous to move the debris because the rocks and dirt from above would fill the void left by the removal of one rock. And this was where the tiny golems did their magic as they wedged themselves under the rocks and then grew themselves taller by drawing other pebbles too them, gradually raising the stones so that a pathway was formed, just big enough for a human to crawl through. Finally a massive stone was lifted, and Naga could see the convex lens of a spell being used to protect the people within the hole from the rocks above. The people within quickly canceled it as they started to climb out, and a few students rushed forward to help them. Naga watched as five people were rescued and taken to the main hall for treatment, but then she looked forward and had to resist the urge to faint as she saw the bloodied and broken body of someone who had not made it mangled within the debris.
"The least we can do is return their bodies to their families." Maeve said as she squared her shoulders and started to move to retrieve the corpses.
Naga took deep breaths as she focused on controlling the golems and looked at the ground as the students moved through the cleared tunnels to retrieve the fallen. Naga wasn't sure how long it took to clear the tunnels, she simply knew she was exhausted when it was agreed that it was time to end the spell.
Naga turned to look at the people in the hallway. A lot of the wounded had been moved to the agora, but there were still plenty of people waiting. Naga decided to find someone to transport so she could check on Moe, but stopped in her tracks as Duchess Orianna's troops returned, many of them holding up mangled and starved prisoners.
"What…" Pippi said as her eyes widened in horror as she took in their weakened and skeletal bodies, some of whom had missing limbs or broken fingers and toes. And the stench of rot and decay was overpowering!
"We found them in the dungeons." One of the soldiers said. "The Mazoku have to get food somehow."
"Their torture must have been a real treat." Someone else said, their voice filled with disgust.
Maeve covered her mouth with her hand in revulsion as Orianna stepped forward, "We're sure that the castle is clear. The Mazoku wouldn't have let us rescue them otherwise."
"If that's the case, then there are bedrooms and kitchens here. We will use them." Maeve said, and Naga had to agree. It would take more than a Resurrection spell to stabilize them. Resurrections spells couldn't put food in their bellies or hydrate them. Many of them simply looked too frail to make the trip to the agora.
Duchess Orianna wrinkled her nose, "But many of them must be commoners or servants! And right now we have no way of telling which is which! We can't put a princess in a maid's bed and a maid in a princess's!"
Maeve's eyes narrowed as she snapped, "This is not the time to worry about such things! Find rooms for them in the castle, as well as someone to start preparing food in the kitchen!"
"But…"
"I outrank you." Maeve said.
Orianna smirked as she glared at Maeve, but she said plainly, "You heard Princess Maeve."
Maeve rushed forward to grab one of the rescued, and Naga moved to help her. As they walked, trying to find a bedroom in a strange palace, Naga said, "After witnessing this horror, I do believe anyone who gave their lives today would say it was for a worthy cause."
"But…"
"And sometimes worthy causes have a steep price." Naga continued as she found a room and opened the door and felt relief that there were several beds within. "I don't think you did as bad as you think you did."
But as they started to settle people into the bedroom, Maeve did not look convinced. And as they were busy caring for the survivors, the matter was quickly dropped.
AN: Used the lyrics for "I'm Gonna Catch You" from the Laurie Berkner band for the scene with Naga and her parents. And there's nothing official about what her mother's name was, I went with Tesla in "Naga's Story" because it is one of Amelia's middle names.