The Fifth Staff
By Kyle Emmerson
Slayers and all of its characters and situations are the creation and
property of Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Kadokawa Shoten, TV TOKYO,
SOFTX, and Marubeni. I use these characters and situations without
permission.
Chapter One: Amazement! A Whole New World?
****
"No, no... this won't do at all... not at all," the frantic voice
repeated. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Gourry groaned and opened one eye. He had felt like he had just been
dragged down several flights of nasty stone stairs. Come to think of it,
he probably had. Lina had knocked him out pretty good.
He managed to sit up and rub his head as he took the room in. It
reminded him of...
...well, quite frankly, it reminded him of a dungeon. Obviously one of
those magical laboratories, like the kind that Rezo guy had, except...
smaller, and much more homey.
There was a nice potted plant right next to him, several chairs, a
lovely oak table, and bookshelves stocked with tomes of magical knowledge.
Of course, all Gourry saw was a whole lot of books.
More curious than the books, however, was the greenish light emanating
from the center of the room. That Gervasse guy he saw before losing
consciousness was busily pacing back and forth around it, mumbling to
himself.
The light itself didn't seem to have a source. It just seemed to
linger in the air, almost like... a window of some sort.
Just then, a thought formed in his mind. "Hey," he said. "Where's
Lina?"
Gervasse spun to face Gourry as though he were an unwelcome alien
presence. "You--" he began. "Oh yes, you were with Miss Inverse, were you
not?"
"Miss Inverse? You mean Lina?"
"Err... yes," Gervasse replied.
"Yeah," he said, getting up and still rubbing the back of his head.
"Where's Lina?"
"It would appear that my calculations were somewhat incorrect. I
should have tested the waters, so to speak, before sending Miss Inverse
over. Or at least strengthened the tunnel. It's hard to say what happened
to her, but she did cross over at an amazingly high altitude, and...
without the magic to assist her in crossing, she may have been injured."
Gourry blinked. While what he was saying at first made absolutely no
sense to him, he did manage to pick up the last bit.
"Injured?" he asked. "What?"
"Yes, it was a mistake. The Bridge is more stable now, and should let
people off at a ground level, and the Tunnel has been set in place. Anyone
else I send should be relatively safe... in the transit, anyway."
"Yeah, but what about Lina?"
"This may have to be a double rescue mission should she be injured,"
Gervasse said, sighing. "I know not of what lies on the other end."
"Well, then let me--"
"Let us not get ahead of ourselves. She has been instructed to check
in with me in within several hours. If she does not, then and only then
should we send someone for her and Master Luo." He looked up at Gourry.
"Sir Knight, perhaps now you should go out and purchase some supplies for
the trip. By the time you return, we will either have heard from her, or
found need to send you."
Gourry blinked. From what he was able to gather, the man said
something about buying supplies and then going to get Lina. Was she really
hurt?
He didn't like it, but when Gervasse tossed a small pouch towards
Gourry, he changed his mind. There was no point in wasting time here.
Especially since there were about twenty gold pieces in the pouch.
Gourry nodded and turned to leave the room.
"Come back in about six hours," Gervasse said. "By then we should have
our answer."
****
The dawn found itself rising over the Vancouver skyline a mere three
hours after the mysterious green light descended down past the city and
into the bay. The city had continued on it's usual path, regardless of
whether the people saw the light or not.
For one family, however, the strange sighting would change many
things. The reason that they had decided to walk along the beach that
morning, after having stayed the night in a Vancouver Inn following a trip
from Alberta was completely unknown.
But they still walked the beach.
"Yeah right," Tasha, the oldest of the two children scoffed. Of
course, she was only older by about ten minutes. She was 'the better half'
of a twin pair.
Quinn stared at his sister and frowned. "I'm serious! The clerk was
talking about it, too! It started from over by Mount Seymour and landed in
the bay."
Tasha looked over the surface of the water and shook her head. "Look,
do you SEE any UFO's out there?"
"No, because it's underwater! Duh!"
"Then where are all the military ships and stuff? You'd think if a UFO
crashed into the bay, that there'd be some big stink going on about it,
right?"
"Are you guys going to fight all the way home?" Jim, the father asked.
Tasha crossed her arms. "I don't see why we just didn't drive the rest
of the way last night. It was only an hours drive."
"Because, dear," her mother, Janet, said. "We'd much rather have slept
in a hotel bed than a hospital bed."
"I wasn't tired! I could have driven!"
"Yeah, right," Quinn quipped. "Then we definitely would have ended up
in a hospital bed."
Before Tasha could reply, Quinn had made his way down to the surface
of the water, where the waves were crashing against the shore.
Tasha just frowned and looked back up at her parents. "I'm sixteen,"
she said. "I'm old enough to drive."
"Correction," Jim said. "You're old enough to get a learners permit,
and old enough to get in that graduated licensing program... Not old
enough to drive by yourself... and you STILL haven't gone for your permit
yet."
"Yeah, well... I will when we get home, okay?"
"Hey, check out this piece of driftwood!" Quinn called from the shore.
Tasha continued to ignore him.
Janet, however, looked down to the shore and frowned. "Honey," she
said. "I... Oh my God, I don't think that's driftwood."
As if on cue, Quinn reached down to the driftwood and pulled it to
shore.
And then he screamed.
"Hey, there's someone here!" he exclaimed.
Janet rushed down to the shore as fast as she could. Arriving there,
she examined the person.
It was a girl no older than her own daughter. Though the strange
clothes meant nothing to her, the very fact that she was unconscious sent
her heart into fear. This girl was someone's daughter. This girl had a
family, and she may have been--
--alive. A quick check of her pulse confirmed it. The girl was alive.
She must have grabbed a hold of that piece of driftwood that kept her from
drowning.
But that didn't mean she was out of danger.
"Honey, call the hospital!"
****
Gourry yawned as he finished off his meal. The small outside
restaurant had offered a good meal for a good price, but had the minor
disadvantage of being out in the marketplace, and Gourry had been bumped
several times by passerbys. Not on purpose, of course, but enough to
distract him from his meal.
But for a mere three pieces of gold, the meal had been filling. Gourry
did manage to get a good hold on what had happened, though. Apparently,
earlier in the day, Lina had gone into that... bridge thing, whatever that
was, and may have gotten hurt--
--but that Jerky guy didn't know for sure. Figures.
Gourry stood up and allowed the waitress to gather his dishes, which
had practically been wiped clean by Gourry. Looking around, he scanned the
area. Perhaps it would be an idea to buy a few supplies with the remaining
money. After all, he didn't know what to expect on the other side of that
Bridge thing.
He got up and walked across the marketplace, purchasing odds and ends
as he went by. A few days worth of rations, a spare blade for his sword--
just in case, and a number of other things.
But unfortunately, he picked up something he definitely hadn't
intended to.
"Gourry, is that you?!"
Gourry froze. He was in Seyruun, of course he would have to run into
HER. He slowly began to turn around.
"Gourry!" Amelia exclaimed. "I didn't know you and Lina were in
town... err... Lina IS in town, right?"
Gourry scratched his head. "Uhh... not exactly."
Amelia blinked in vague understanding as Gourry related the story of
how he came to be there that day to her. He remembered to include every
bit he could remember, including the bit about that Jerky Willmuster guy.
"Jerky Willmuster?" Amelia asked. "Who's he?"
"Some kind of servant to a guy named... uh... Loony Glowworm or
something."
"Loony Glowworm?" Amelia asked, her finger up against her chin. "Why
does that sound... Oh! Luo Glaon?!"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Then you mean Gervasse Welltessler!"
"I guess."
"And Lina has been trapped on the Fifth STAFF, not Half!"
"Err," Gourry blushed. "Yeah, maybe."
"Then it's our responsibility as warriors of justice to retrieve BOTH
of them!" she said, and grabbed Gourry by the collar. "Come, Gourry! To
Master Glaon's home!"
"Urk?"
****
*Now what is this all about?* Sylphiel thought to herself. She caught
a view of Gourry only minutes before, when he was busily eating a hearty
meal. She didn't want to disturb him, but still felt the need to follow
him. She had planned to walk up to him and say hello when she spotted
Amelia.
While she had no reason to hide, she still couldn't quite think of a
good excuse. Apparently, it hadn't occurred to her to simply tell the
truth, that she had spotted him during one of her travels from Sairaag.
And now, he was being dragged along rather... roughly by Amelia, who
had that 'warrior of justice' look on her face once again.
Rather than make her presence known at this point, she decided to
follow as stealthily as she could.
****
"Well, brother?" Julian asked.
"Well, what?" his brother, Brantus replied.
"What, you are going to tell me you did not see that?"
"See what?"
Julian pointed to the young princess in the distance, pulling the
blonde swordsman along with her. "That."
"So what?" he said. "It's nothing of interest."
Julian bopped his brother on the head. "It is obvious you are one of
strength, but not of mind, brother. Did you not hear what they spoke of?"
"Wasn't listening."
"Figures," Julian huffed. "They spoke of a Fifth Staff."
"So?"
"You ARE dense. The Fifth Staff is only legend among our kind. Did you
not hear what they said?"
"I just told you I wasn't listening."
Julian shook his head. "Come, we should gather Merton," he said, then
grabbed his brother by the collar and carried him in another direction.
****
"What's her condition, Doctor?" the first voice asked.
*Who's there?* she wanted to say.
"Well, it's stable, Mrs. Pierce," the second replied. "She had a light
case of hypothermia, but she's already out of it. It's a good thing you
found her when you did. She also has a slight concussion, but we'll have
to wait until she wakes up before we can diagnose it properly."
*Hypothermia? Concussion? Are they talking about me?*
"What about her parents? Her family?"
*My... family? I...*
"Mrs. Pierce, all we can do right now is wait for her to wake up.
There's no sense in notifying the police until she wakes up and tells us
who she is."
*Police? Where am I?*
"Her clothes were weird," a third voice said. "Like she was at a
costume party or something."
*A... party... I don't think... I'm... not sure...*
"It's possible. She could have been on a yacht or a large ship for
some sort of party and fallen overboard. Perhaps they never realized she
fell over. The concussion she has could have been from striking the water
at a high speed."
*Speed... I remember... falling...*
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain those weird gems. They look...
expensive," a fourth voice said.
*Gems... I can't remember...*
"Mr. Pierce, we can only wait until she wakes up."
"I want to wake up NOW!" she exclaimed as she shot up. After a moment,
she looked around the white room. There were various devices on the white
walls and sitting on tables here and there. There was a small curtain that
separated her from the rest of the room, but the five people that stared
at her questioningly were what had her full attention.
"Where am I?" she asked.
"Miss, you're at Saint Paul's General Hospital. I'm Doctor Burns, how
do you feel?" the man wearing the white coat asked, running over to check
her out.
"I'm... my head hurts. I..." She put her hand to her forehead. "What
happened?"
"Well, we were hoping you could shed some light on that subject, Miss.
You had a nasty bump, and these people found you at the beach,
unconscious. Can you remember anything?"
"I... I'm not sure," she replied. "I... I remember falling."
"Can you tell us your name, Miss?" the doctor asked, checking her eyes
with a pen light.
"I'm..." she paused. "I... I'm not sure."
The Doctor sighed. "I see." He turned to the people standing behind
him. "Mr. Pierce, Mrs. Pierce, may I have a word with you?" He took two of
them by the shoulders and left the girl alone with the other two. A girl
and boy about her own age. The girl was brunette, wearing a blue jean
jacket and matching bellbottoms. The boy was also brown haired, wearing a
plain blue t-shirt and baggy jeans. It took her a few moments to recognize
the duo as twins.
"Hey, are you okay?" the boy asked.
"I... I don't know who I am," she said, nearly in tears. "Where is
this?"
The boy and girl looked at each other and swallowed.
****
"What's wrong with her, Doctor?" Janet asked. "Does she have Amnesia?"
The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so, Post-traumatic, Dissociative
Amnesia seems to be our culprit here."
"Well, what can we do to help?" Jim asked, sounding sincerely
concerned. "I mean, we found her... It's only right that we do something
to help."
The doctor sighed. "Well," he began, coming out of a moment of
thought. "At the moment, the hospital is amazingly overcrowded. It may be
better for her to stay in a family oriented environment, mainly for health
reasons. I fear if she stays in such an environment as this hospital, her
recovery will not be as... quick."
"Wait," Jim began. "You want us to take her in?"
"It's your choice," he said. "We will continue to keep her in the
hospital should you decline, but her recovery may be many times faster if
she is in a home-like environment."
Jim looked at his wife. He could see the range of emotions her face
was moving in. He knew that if he declined, the guilt would eat both of
them inside. But on the brighter side, why not? It's a good deed. There's
extra space in Tasha's room, and they could move the spare bed down from
the attic. Money wasn't much of a problem, especially with Janet and him
holding down very well paying jobs.
Jim bit his lip and looked over at the doctor. "Okay," he said. "We'll
take her."
"Very good," the doctor smiled. "I'll write a prescription for her,
and she should be ready to go in a few hours, just after a few more
tests."
****
Merton placed his game piece on the board before him and smiled.
"Your move, Gren," he said, his teeth bared.
Gren growled as well as a human being could. "You did it again,
Merton," he snarled. A moment later, he placed a small pouch on the table.
"All in a days work," he said. "You really should learn not to
underestimate the Survivor king."
"Blasted game," Gren shot.
"Merton!" a voice called from behind him. "News, brother!"
Merton sighed. "What is it, Jules?"
"Err... News that shouldn't be spoken around hu-- err... other living
beings."
"You'll excuse me, please, Gren," Merton said, and then stood up,
facing his brothers. After walking away for a few moment, he frowned.
"What is it, Julian? I had that mortal in the palm of my hand. He would
have challenged me to another game if you had not--"
"We may have found a way to another staff!"
Merton paused. "Truly?"
Julian nodded. "Brantus and I overheard a story about a mortal that
has been trapped on a Fifth Staff."
"The Fifth Staff is mere legend," Merton scoffed.
"But if it's TRUE brother, think of it!"
"Our kind passed to the Fifth Staff hundreds of years ago. Our magic
was weak there, and it makes no difference now."
"But we have the knowledge to STRENGTHEN it now, Brother! If we cross
over, we could very well rule the staff in the name of Ruby-Eye!"
Merton paused in thought. "Indeed it would be better than to merely...
cheat these peasant mortals out of their money..."
There was a pregnant pause before anyone said anything. "All right,"
Merton said. "Explain the details."
****
"Sir Welltessler?"
"That... voice... Lady Amelia?" Gervasse spun around, allowing himself
a moment of distraction from the Bridge and the Tunnel. A wide smile
appeared on his face. "Lady Amelia, my days have been long without your
glorious smile to brighten it up!"
Amelia, of course, smiled. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"
Gourry blinked. "Err... You two know each other?"
"Of course!" Gervasse beamed. "Before I came to serve under Master
Glaon, I was Teacher to young Lady Amelia here."
"Teacher? I thought your dad taught you all of that stuff," Gourry
said, his finger at his chin.
"Nay, I afraid Prince Philionel never found much time for magic. He
was too busily spouting off silly notions of justice," Gervasse corrected.
After noticing a stern glare from Amelia, he quickly rephrased it. "Err,
did I say silly? I meant... righteous."
Amelia let the smile return to her face. Apparently, his correction
had sated her... for now. "Sir Welltessler, I hear Miss Lina may be in
trouble. What happened?"
"You know of Lina Inverse, Lady Amelia?" Gervasse asked, his eyes wide
open.
"Of course. Don't you remember about my time in Sairaag?" she said. "I
helped Miss Lina and Gourry here to prevent the resurrection of Zannafar."
"Now that you mention it... I do recall something several months
back... something about the destruction of much of the palace," Gervasse
said, his finger at his chin.
"Err..." Amelia blushed.
"But anyway, that's beside the subject... Yes, it appears Miss Inverse
has indeed fallen prey to something, and I can blame none but myself..."
He turned towards the Bridge. "While it is easy enough to discern certain
things, like altitude or inertial force... It's impossible to see past the
Bridge. That's why Master Glaon passed over in the first place, and why I
have sent Miss Inverse to gather him... But it is also why I must send Sir
Gourry over."
Amelia clenched her fist. "Sir Welltessler, I shall go to! It is
unjust for me to just sit and wait. Who knows what could be being done to
Miss Lina right this moment?"
Gervasse turned around and raised an eyebrow. "You, Lady Amelia?"
Amelia put her hands at her hips and looked toward the sky. It was
harder than it seemed, especially since they were deep underground, and
the ceiling was made of stone. "Yes!" she said. "I, Amelia wil Tesla
Seyruun will take this quest under my arm and emerge with great success,
not for my sake, not for the sake of Miss Lina, then for the sake of
justice!"
Gervasse blinked. "Indeed," he said. "And what does Prince Philionel
say of this? Your magic training hasn't suffered, has it?"
"I've mastered the Rah Tilt! I can do it!" Amelia jumped.
Gervasse raised a speculative eyebrow. "And your father?"
"He let me go to Sairaag by myself. I can handle this."
"This isn't Sairaag, Lady Amelia. Nor is this high in the Mountains of
Tears. This isn't even past the god-sealing field," he said, sighing.
"This is another world, entirely. Things may not work the same in that
world as in this one."
"Still, to stay behind would be unjust!" Amelia insisted.
Gervasse sighed. "Very well... But if Prince Philionel should show up,
I'm telling him that it was at your insistence that you cross."
Amelia blinked. "It was at my insistence."
Gervasse smirked, then turned back toward the Bridge. "It has now
passed the agreed upon check-in time. I fear that Miss Inverse may have
been injured, or worse. It leaves me with no other choice than to launch
another rescue mission."
"How was she hurt?"
"It was my own folly. I neglected to prepare for the initial inertial
force, and forgot the altitude at which she'd be entering. I've now
repaired my former follies. You should cross over with zero inertia,
and... as far as I can tell, within five feet of the ground." He turned
around and walked toward a shelf. "You are to check in as soon as possible
after arriving. You can do so with a simple communication spell. After
that, try to check in at least once a day. If you were to get lost, or
injured, then there would be nothing I could do to prevent the entire army
of Seyruun from crossing over in order to find you."
Amelia nodded. "I won't get injured."
"And do try to take it easy on the justice bit. You don't know how
things may work on the other side of the bridge."
Amelia and Gourry nodded.
"And lastly... Please, try and blend in. I shudder to think what would
happen if one of the... people of that world were to find the Bridge.
We're still not sure if they are hostile, or not," he said, stepping back
from the shelf with something in his hand. "Here, you should use this.
Hopefully, they'll use gold on that world."
Gourry's eyes bugged out as Gervasse handed Amelia a pouch of gold
pieces... a LARGE pouch.
"Now, if you please... All you must do is step into the Bridge," he
said, gesturing toward the field of greenish light that stained the entire
room.
Amelia nodded and shut her eyes, and then she stepped through.
Gourry just followed her nonchalantly.
Gervasse closed his eyes. "I wish you both the best of luck."
****
The greenish light had filled her vision as if it were everything. It
turned into such a pure shade of the colour, that to simply call it
'green' would be an understatement. It was emerald. The colour filled
every sense she had. When she closed her eyes, it was still all she could
see.
But deeper, further ahead, there was another colour, invading the
purity of the green and degrading it. It was...
It was hard to describe, especially with the emerald hue of the
Bridge. But it seemed to be... blue? They sky?
Yes, it was a sky. A sky of another world entirely.
The source of strangeness grew in scale as she found herself drawn
nearer. Not by choice, but by mere force.
And then she heard a sound.
Within a split second, her entire view had changed. What once had been
emerald became a blinding collage of blue, grey, brown and white. She
shielded her eyes with her cloak before it had a chance to fully blind
her.
A moment later, she felt the presence of Gourry behind her, and her
vision began to settle.
Slowly, she removed her cloak and took in the view before her.
To call it a city was an understatement. The twisted spires of metal
and glass before her was... there was no word for what she saw. A bustling
metropolis. An amazing collection of steel and rubber. A rough taste in
the air made her cough, but there it was before her.
"Big..." she heard from behind her. Amelia turned to face Gourry, who
was busily staring at the city like it was the end of the world.
"Gourry," Amelia said, tugging on a piece of armour. "We've got to
contact Sir Welltessler."
Gourry nodded, and Amelia brought her hand up in front of her. "Sir
Welltessler?" she asked after a moment of meditation.
"I hear you, Lady Amelia. Things are all right?"
"Yes, sir," Amelia said. "This place is... enormous."
"We have time enough for descriptions later, Lady Amelia. Right now
out main concern is for Miss Inverse and Master Glaon."
"Right," Amelia said. "We'll start on that right away."
****
Gervasse smiled. "I wish you luck, Lady Amelia, Sir Gourry."
"Thank you, Sir Welltessler," Amelia replied, and then broke the
connection.
Gervasse lowered his hand and sighed. How long was she going to stand
there.
"You may come out of hiding now, Miss."
He heard a sharp gasp as the woman fell from behind the door. Quickly,
she stood up and brushed herself off.
"How did...?"
"I could sense your magic," he said. "For one who is finely tuned in
the White arts, it's quite easy to find another who is highly skilled."
"I..." she smiled. "I apologize, Sir Welltessler."
"Now then," he said. "Care to explain why you were hiding?"
"I... well, I saw Gourry dear in the marketplace... and then... Miss
Amelia dragged him off... I was curious."
"Ahh," Gervasse said. "Then am I to assume you are somehow linked with
Miss Inverse, as well?"
The woman nodded. "I'm... Sylphiel Nels Lada. I'm from--"
"Sairaag, yes... I knew your father," Gervasse mentioned. "He was a
good man." He looked over to the girl. "So you're Sylphiel, then? My, I
must have aged a great deal. I still remember the news of your birth."
"You knew... father?"
"Indeed. The news of his passing shocked me greatly... but let us not
dwell upon the past, young Sylphiel... Obviously you are here for some
greater reason?"
"I heard..."
"Yes, I know. I could sense you, remember?"
"Then Miss Lina is... hurt?"
"Quite possibly," he said. "Don't tell me you, too wish to--"
"No," Sylphiel said, stopping him. "I... I don't think I should... at
least, not yet."
"Then I shall respect your decision. Four from our world is quite
enough... At this time."
****
"Four? Did you hear that?" Julian said, smiling.
"He's linked the Bridge with magic," Merton sighed. "That would mean
those mortals could use it as well."
"Umm... How come he could sense her and not us?" Brantus asked.
"Because Mazoku energies are far different than a mere white mage, now
hush," Merton ordered.
"So how are we to cross? He will obviously shut down the magical link
if we are seen going through, and killing him would solve nothing," Julian
said.
"That is why," Merton said, holding his hand out and summoning a small
sphere of energy. "He will not know of our crossing." He clenched his fist
and caused the ball to pop. "Come, I have an idea."
****
"Hey, check this out," Quinn said, poking around in the small wardrobe
closet where they had stuck the strange girl's things.
"Quinn, you pervert. Get out of there," Tasha said, blushing
furiously. The strange girl was asleep again, but Tasha didn't want her to
wake up finding her twin brother rooting through her things... Even if she
couldn't remember who's things they were.
"No, I'm serious... there's a knife in here," he said.
Tasha got up and stalked over to her brother, and opened her mouth to
berate him-- until she saw it.
There WAS a knife in there. She pulled it from her brothers grasp
without another thought.
"Hey!" complained Quinn.
Tasha examined the knife. It was more of a short sword, really. Why
hadn't they noticed this before?
Well, probably because she was soaking wet, and that.. cape was
wrapped all around her, probably the knife as well.
She examined the hilt. It appeared to be worn in and... well used.
That scared Tasha a bit, but she managed to keep a straight face.
"We shouldn't be looking through her stuff," she said, then looked to
her brother. "What else is in there?"
Her brother pulled out a small length of metal. "Hey, look here, it
looks like a sheath or something."
Tasha blinked. "A sheath?"
"Yeah, there's writing on it, too... Look, it says... property of...
Lina Inverse... well, what the hell kind of name is that?"
Tasha looked toward the sleeping girl. "I think it's her name," she
said.
"Okay, Lina I can understand. There's that girl in my Biology class
named Lina, but... Inverse? What kind of family has THAT for a last name?"
"Quiet, Quinn. She might hear you," Tasha said.
Quinn shrugged and passed the sheath to his sister, and then did a bit
more searching through the small wardrobe closet. "Hey, what's..."
Tasha looked over her brother's shoulder as he produced a small pouch.
He frowned.
"It's heavier than it looks," he said. He shook it and looked up at
his sister. "Sounds like spare change. If she's rich, why does she have to
carry her change around in a pouch?"
Tasha frowned at her brother as he opened the pouch and poured a few
coins out into his hand.
Both of them dropped their jaws like they were hot potatoes.
"Tash... this... this is..."
"Gold," she said, then swallowed.
Suddenly, she caught a view of her parents approaching from behind the
curtains. "Quick," she said. "Hide it!"
Quinn thought as quickly as he could, and then dropped the coins,
pouch and all, into the leather belt-pouch he was wearing. He quickly
stood up and watched for his parents.
"Guys," their mother said, moving the curtain to one side. "We've got
to talk..."
****
"I don't know about you, Gourry," Amelia said, walking down the
sidewalk. "But I feel out of place."
"Yeah, me too. It might be because we're not from here," he offered.
"No, the clothes, too."
Gourry looked around. Indeed, he hadn't noticed the fact that people
around him were wearing... strange clothes. None of them wore armour, or
had weapons by their sides.
Oh, and they rode around in those big metal contraptions. That was
weird, too.
He looked around at some of the nearby signs. He could read them well
enough, so at least that was confirmation that they spoke the same
language... But they were nowhere near the same. Gourry blinked.
"Maybe we should get some clothes, and try to blend in... people are
staring at us," Amelia said.
"Do they take gold here?"
"I don't know," Amelia said. "Let's ask."
Gourry blinked as Amelia walked up to a woman standing on the side of
the road. She tugged lightly on her shirt and asked her a question. The
woman seemed to laugh almost and replied. Amelia looked back with a
strange look on her face.
"What'd she say?"
"She said she charges extra for under-agers and same genders," Amelia
said, scratching her head. "And that it'd be sixty... bucks. What's a
buck?"
"Foreigners?" a man asked, walking up to Amelia and Gourry. "Visiting
from abroad, eh?"
"Umm... you could say that," Amelia said, her attention now divided
between Gourry and the man.
"Well, welcome to Vancouver. It's a fine city, as long as you avoid
the... well... riff-raff," the man said, pointing a thumb back at the
woman. "I'm Gerald."
"Hi," Amelia said. "I'm Amelia, this is Gourry."
"Ahh, all right... Say, have you found The Lord?" Gerald asked, a
smile on his face.
"No, we're looking for Lina," Gourry said.
"The Lord of what?" Amelia asked.
"The Lord of... The Lord. THE Lord. God, the Holy Ghost. Don't tell me
you've never heard of God?" Gerald asked, his eyes wide.
"God? Which one?"
Gerald's jaw dropped. "Which... which one?!" he stammered. "What is
that supposed to mean? Are you mocking The Lord?!"
"The Lord of what?"
Gerald threw his arms into the air. "I just EXPLAINED that!"
"No you didn't," Gourry said. "You're muttering about some god, but
won't tell us which one..."
"Gourry, maybe they only have one god on this staff," Amelia
whispered.
"We're sorry, we didn't mean any disrespect... We're just... unused to
the local customs," Amelia said.
"You mean to tell me you don't have any believers in your country?"
"Believers in what?"
Once again, Gerald threw his hands into the air.
****
"Wait... Take her HOME with us?" Tasha asked. "You're serious."
Her mother nodded. "The doctor thinks she may need a homelike
environment. Besides, the hospital is very crowded, and would probably do
the poor girl more harm than good."
"But--" Tasha began, but not before Quinn elbowed her in the side.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Oh, I don't know, sis," Quinn said. "Seems to me like a *golden*
opportunity." He practically oozed the word.
Tasha blinked, and then got the idea. "Err... Okay," she said. "I...
guess we could take her home with us."
"Good," Janet sighed. "The hospital needs to run a few more tests on
her, and prescribe something, and then we should take her home... About
four hours, and we'll be back on the road. Then we should worry about
giving her a name. She'll need one. We can't just call her, 'Hey, you.'"
"I think her name's Lina, mom," Quinn said.
"What makes you say that?" she asked.
"We found this in her clothes," he said, pointing at the metal object
his sister was holding.
Janet frowned. What was a girl her age doing with a dangerous weapon
like that? Needless to say, she would have to keep an eye on her.
But now...
"All right," she said. "Lina it is... I want you two to head back to
the car and pick out some clothes for her to wear... She can't wear those
wet things home... besides, they look bloody silly."
The kids agreed quickly, and ran out of the small enclosure, on their
way to the car.
****
Authors Notes:
Yes, I realize that Doctor Burns' idea probably wasn't the most
realistic course of action, but... look at it this way, if I had her stay
in the hospital until she got better, things would be damned boring. :P
Also, the Amnesia I used isn't what it seems, either. I have no direct
access to a book on different types of Amnesia for the one I was searching
for, so what I've got will have to do for now. :P
Anyway, I'm taking a lot of liberties here, but just bear with me. I
promise I'll make things exciting. :)
The game Merton and Gren were playing, entitled 'Survivor' is an
actual game. I've played it in one of the Zork games, and it works rather
similiar to what you may have seen on the TV series 'Survivor' (The game
where people move, and flip over tiles as they move along.) The game can
be easily adapted to suit two players, and is actually quite fun and
challenging, but is better with more players. :)
Also, you'll note that from the title of the chapter, I appear to be
using Slayers naming conventions. Fun, eh? :)
Oh, and I guess I should say this... Any resemblence between the
characters in here, and any characters, living or dead is purely
coincidental... Except for Gerald, but I ain't saying who he's based on.
:)
I'd also like to thank my prereaders... Thanks for spotting all my
errors. :)
Other than that, This is Chapter One. Enjoy and stuff. :P
By Kyle Emmerson
Slayers and all of its characters and situations are the creation and
property of Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi, Kadokawa Shoten, TV TOKYO,
SOFTX, and Marubeni. I use these characters and situations without
permission.
Chapter One: Amazement! A Whole New World?
****
"No, no... this won't do at all... not at all," the frantic voice
repeated. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
Gourry groaned and opened one eye. He had felt like he had just been
dragged down several flights of nasty stone stairs. Come to think of it,
he probably had. Lina had knocked him out pretty good.
He managed to sit up and rub his head as he took the room in. It
reminded him of...
...well, quite frankly, it reminded him of a dungeon. Obviously one of
those magical laboratories, like the kind that Rezo guy had, except...
smaller, and much more homey.
There was a nice potted plant right next to him, several chairs, a
lovely oak table, and bookshelves stocked with tomes of magical knowledge.
Of course, all Gourry saw was a whole lot of books.
More curious than the books, however, was the greenish light emanating
from the center of the room. That Gervasse guy he saw before losing
consciousness was busily pacing back and forth around it, mumbling to
himself.
The light itself didn't seem to have a source. It just seemed to
linger in the air, almost like... a window of some sort.
Just then, a thought formed in his mind. "Hey," he said. "Where's
Lina?"
Gervasse spun to face Gourry as though he were an unwelcome alien
presence. "You--" he began. "Oh yes, you were with Miss Inverse, were you
not?"
"Miss Inverse? You mean Lina?"
"Err... yes," Gervasse replied.
"Yeah," he said, getting up and still rubbing the back of his head.
"Where's Lina?"
"It would appear that my calculations were somewhat incorrect. I
should have tested the waters, so to speak, before sending Miss Inverse
over. Or at least strengthened the tunnel. It's hard to say what happened
to her, but she did cross over at an amazingly high altitude, and...
without the magic to assist her in crossing, she may have been injured."
Gourry blinked. While what he was saying at first made absolutely no
sense to him, he did manage to pick up the last bit.
"Injured?" he asked. "What?"
"Yes, it was a mistake. The Bridge is more stable now, and should let
people off at a ground level, and the Tunnel has been set in place. Anyone
else I send should be relatively safe... in the transit, anyway."
"Yeah, but what about Lina?"
"This may have to be a double rescue mission should she be injured,"
Gervasse said, sighing. "I know not of what lies on the other end."
"Well, then let me--"
"Let us not get ahead of ourselves. She has been instructed to check
in with me in within several hours. If she does not, then and only then
should we send someone for her and Master Luo." He looked up at Gourry.
"Sir Knight, perhaps now you should go out and purchase some supplies for
the trip. By the time you return, we will either have heard from her, or
found need to send you."
Gourry blinked. From what he was able to gather, the man said
something about buying supplies and then going to get Lina. Was she really
hurt?
He didn't like it, but when Gervasse tossed a small pouch towards
Gourry, he changed his mind. There was no point in wasting time here.
Especially since there were about twenty gold pieces in the pouch.
Gourry nodded and turned to leave the room.
"Come back in about six hours," Gervasse said. "By then we should have
our answer."
****
The dawn found itself rising over the Vancouver skyline a mere three
hours after the mysterious green light descended down past the city and
into the bay. The city had continued on it's usual path, regardless of
whether the people saw the light or not.
For one family, however, the strange sighting would change many
things. The reason that they had decided to walk along the beach that
morning, after having stayed the night in a Vancouver Inn following a trip
from Alberta was completely unknown.
But they still walked the beach.
"Yeah right," Tasha, the oldest of the two children scoffed. Of
course, she was only older by about ten minutes. She was 'the better half'
of a twin pair.
Quinn stared at his sister and frowned. "I'm serious! The clerk was
talking about it, too! It started from over by Mount Seymour and landed in
the bay."
Tasha looked over the surface of the water and shook her head. "Look,
do you SEE any UFO's out there?"
"No, because it's underwater! Duh!"
"Then where are all the military ships and stuff? You'd think if a UFO
crashed into the bay, that there'd be some big stink going on about it,
right?"
"Are you guys going to fight all the way home?" Jim, the father asked.
Tasha crossed her arms. "I don't see why we just didn't drive the rest
of the way last night. It was only an hours drive."
"Because, dear," her mother, Janet, said. "We'd much rather have slept
in a hotel bed than a hospital bed."
"I wasn't tired! I could have driven!"
"Yeah, right," Quinn quipped. "Then we definitely would have ended up
in a hospital bed."
Before Tasha could reply, Quinn had made his way down to the surface
of the water, where the waves were crashing against the shore.
Tasha just frowned and looked back up at her parents. "I'm sixteen,"
she said. "I'm old enough to drive."
"Correction," Jim said. "You're old enough to get a learners permit,
and old enough to get in that graduated licensing program... Not old
enough to drive by yourself... and you STILL haven't gone for your permit
yet."
"Yeah, well... I will when we get home, okay?"
"Hey, check out this piece of driftwood!" Quinn called from the shore.
Tasha continued to ignore him.
Janet, however, looked down to the shore and frowned. "Honey," she
said. "I... Oh my God, I don't think that's driftwood."
As if on cue, Quinn reached down to the driftwood and pulled it to
shore.
And then he screamed.
"Hey, there's someone here!" he exclaimed.
Janet rushed down to the shore as fast as she could. Arriving there,
she examined the person.
It was a girl no older than her own daughter. Though the strange
clothes meant nothing to her, the very fact that she was unconscious sent
her heart into fear. This girl was someone's daughter. This girl had a
family, and she may have been--
--alive. A quick check of her pulse confirmed it. The girl was alive.
She must have grabbed a hold of that piece of driftwood that kept her from
drowning.
But that didn't mean she was out of danger.
"Honey, call the hospital!"
****
Gourry yawned as he finished off his meal. The small outside
restaurant had offered a good meal for a good price, but had the minor
disadvantage of being out in the marketplace, and Gourry had been bumped
several times by passerbys. Not on purpose, of course, but enough to
distract him from his meal.
But for a mere three pieces of gold, the meal had been filling. Gourry
did manage to get a good hold on what had happened, though. Apparently,
earlier in the day, Lina had gone into that... bridge thing, whatever that
was, and may have gotten hurt--
--but that Jerky guy didn't know for sure. Figures.
Gourry stood up and allowed the waitress to gather his dishes, which
had practically been wiped clean by Gourry. Looking around, he scanned the
area. Perhaps it would be an idea to buy a few supplies with the remaining
money. After all, he didn't know what to expect on the other side of that
Bridge thing.
He got up and walked across the marketplace, purchasing odds and ends
as he went by. A few days worth of rations, a spare blade for his sword--
just in case, and a number of other things.
But unfortunately, he picked up something he definitely hadn't
intended to.
"Gourry, is that you?!"
Gourry froze. He was in Seyruun, of course he would have to run into
HER. He slowly began to turn around.
"Gourry!" Amelia exclaimed. "I didn't know you and Lina were in
town... err... Lina IS in town, right?"
Gourry scratched his head. "Uhh... not exactly."
Amelia blinked in vague understanding as Gourry related the story of
how he came to be there that day to her. He remembered to include every
bit he could remember, including the bit about that Jerky Willmuster guy.
"Jerky Willmuster?" Amelia asked. "Who's he?"
"Some kind of servant to a guy named... uh... Loony Glowworm or
something."
"Loony Glowworm?" Amelia asked, her finger up against her chin. "Why
does that sound... Oh! Luo Glaon?!"
"Yeah, I think so."
"Then you mean Gervasse Welltessler!"
"I guess."
"And Lina has been trapped on the Fifth STAFF, not Half!"
"Err," Gourry blushed. "Yeah, maybe."
"Then it's our responsibility as warriors of justice to retrieve BOTH
of them!" she said, and grabbed Gourry by the collar. "Come, Gourry! To
Master Glaon's home!"
"Urk?"
****
*Now what is this all about?* Sylphiel thought to herself. She caught
a view of Gourry only minutes before, when he was busily eating a hearty
meal. She didn't want to disturb him, but still felt the need to follow
him. She had planned to walk up to him and say hello when she spotted
Amelia.
While she had no reason to hide, she still couldn't quite think of a
good excuse. Apparently, it hadn't occurred to her to simply tell the
truth, that she had spotted him during one of her travels from Sairaag.
And now, he was being dragged along rather... roughly by Amelia, who
had that 'warrior of justice' look on her face once again.
Rather than make her presence known at this point, she decided to
follow as stealthily as she could.
****
"Well, brother?" Julian asked.
"Well, what?" his brother, Brantus replied.
"What, you are going to tell me you did not see that?"
"See what?"
Julian pointed to the young princess in the distance, pulling the
blonde swordsman along with her. "That."
"So what?" he said. "It's nothing of interest."
Julian bopped his brother on the head. "It is obvious you are one of
strength, but not of mind, brother. Did you not hear what they spoke of?"
"Wasn't listening."
"Figures," Julian huffed. "They spoke of a Fifth Staff."
"So?"
"You ARE dense. The Fifth Staff is only legend among our kind. Did you
not hear what they said?"
"I just told you I wasn't listening."
Julian shook his head. "Come, we should gather Merton," he said, then
grabbed his brother by the collar and carried him in another direction.
****
"What's her condition, Doctor?" the first voice asked.
*Who's there?* she wanted to say.
"Well, it's stable, Mrs. Pierce," the second replied. "She had a light
case of hypothermia, but she's already out of it. It's a good thing you
found her when you did. She also has a slight concussion, but we'll have
to wait until she wakes up before we can diagnose it properly."
*Hypothermia? Concussion? Are they talking about me?*
"What about her parents? Her family?"
*My... family? I...*
"Mrs. Pierce, all we can do right now is wait for her to wake up.
There's no sense in notifying the police until she wakes up and tells us
who she is."
*Police? Where am I?*
"Her clothes were weird," a third voice said. "Like she was at a
costume party or something."
*A... party... I don't think... I'm... not sure...*
"It's possible. She could have been on a yacht or a large ship for
some sort of party and fallen overboard. Perhaps they never realized she
fell over. The concussion she has could have been from striking the water
at a high speed."
*Speed... I remember... falling...*
"Yeah, but that doesn't explain those weird gems. They look...
expensive," a fourth voice said.
*Gems... I can't remember...*
"Mr. Pierce, we can only wait until she wakes up."
"I want to wake up NOW!" she exclaimed as she shot up. After a moment,
she looked around the white room. There were various devices on the white
walls and sitting on tables here and there. There was a small curtain that
separated her from the rest of the room, but the five people that stared
at her questioningly were what had her full attention.
"Where am I?" she asked.
"Miss, you're at Saint Paul's General Hospital. I'm Doctor Burns, how
do you feel?" the man wearing the white coat asked, running over to check
her out.
"I'm... my head hurts. I..." She put her hand to her forehead. "What
happened?"
"Well, we were hoping you could shed some light on that subject, Miss.
You had a nasty bump, and these people found you at the beach,
unconscious. Can you remember anything?"
"I... I'm not sure," she replied. "I... I remember falling."
"Can you tell us your name, Miss?" the doctor asked, checking her eyes
with a pen light.
"I'm..." she paused. "I... I'm not sure."
The Doctor sighed. "I see." He turned to the people standing behind
him. "Mr. Pierce, Mrs. Pierce, may I have a word with you?" He took two of
them by the shoulders and left the girl alone with the other two. A girl
and boy about her own age. The girl was brunette, wearing a blue jean
jacket and matching bellbottoms. The boy was also brown haired, wearing a
plain blue t-shirt and baggy jeans. It took her a few moments to recognize
the duo as twins.
"Hey, are you okay?" the boy asked.
"I... I don't know who I am," she said, nearly in tears. "Where is
this?"
The boy and girl looked at each other and swallowed.
****
"What's wrong with her, Doctor?" Janet asked. "Does she have Amnesia?"
The doctor nodded. "I'm afraid so, Post-traumatic, Dissociative
Amnesia seems to be our culprit here."
"Well, what can we do to help?" Jim asked, sounding sincerely
concerned. "I mean, we found her... It's only right that we do something
to help."
The doctor sighed. "Well," he began, coming out of a moment of
thought. "At the moment, the hospital is amazingly overcrowded. It may be
better for her to stay in a family oriented environment, mainly for health
reasons. I fear if she stays in such an environment as this hospital, her
recovery will not be as... quick."
"Wait," Jim began. "You want us to take her in?"
"It's your choice," he said. "We will continue to keep her in the
hospital should you decline, but her recovery may be many times faster if
she is in a home-like environment."
Jim looked at his wife. He could see the range of emotions her face
was moving in. He knew that if he declined, the guilt would eat both of
them inside. But on the brighter side, why not? It's a good deed. There's
extra space in Tasha's room, and they could move the spare bed down from
the attic. Money wasn't much of a problem, especially with Janet and him
holding down very well paying jobs.
Jim bit his lip and looked over at the doctor. "Okay," he said. "We'll
take her."
"Very good," the doctor smiled. "I'll write a prescription for her,
and she should be ready to go in a few hours, just after a few more
tests."
****
Merton placed his game piece on the board before him and smiled.
"Your move, Gren," he said, his teeth bared.
Gren growled as well as a human being could. "You did it again,
Merton," he snarled. A moment later, he placed a small pouch on the table.
"All in a days work," he said. "You really should learn not to
underestimate the Survivor king."
"Blasted game," Gren shot.
"Merton!" a voice called from behind him. "News, brother!"
Merton sighed. "What is it, Jules?"
"Err... News that shouldn't be spoken around hu-- err... other living
beings."
"You'll excuse me, please, Gren," Merton said, and then stood up,
facing his brothers. After walking away for a few moment, he frowned.
"What is it, Julian? I had that mortal in the palm of my hand. He would
have challenged me to another game if you had not--"
"We may have found a way to another staff!"
Merton paused. "Truly?"
Julian nodded. "Brantus and I overheard a story about a mortal that
has been trapped on a Fifth Staff."
"The Fifth Staff is mere legend," Merton scoffed.
"But if it's TRUE brother, think of it!"
"Our kind passed to the Fifth Staff hundreds of years ago. Our magic
was weak there, and it makes no difference now."
"But we have the knowledge to STRENGTHEN it now, Brother! If we cross
over, we could very well rule the staff in the name of Ruby-Eye!"
Merton paused in thought. "Indeed it would be better than to merely...
cheat these peasant mortals out of their money..."
There was a pregnant pause before anyone said anything. "All right,"
Merton said. "Explain the details."
****
"Sir Welltessler?"
"That... voice... Lady Amelia?" Gervasse spun around, allowing himself
a moment of distraction from the Bridge and the Tunnel. A wide smile
appeared on his face. "Lady Amelia, my days have been long without your
glorious smile to brighten it up!"
Amelia, of course, smiled. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"
Gourry blinked. "Err... You two know each other?"
"Of course!" Gervasse beamed. "Before I came to serve under Master
Glaon, I was Teacher to young Lady Amelia here."
"Teacher? I thought your dad taught you all of that stuff," Gourry
said, his finger at his chin.
"Nay, I afraid Prince Philionel never found much time for magic. He
was too busily spouting off silly notions of justice," Gervasse corrected.
After noticing a stern glare from Amelia, he quickly rephrased it. "Err,
did I say silly? I meant... righteous."
Amelia let the smile return to her face. Apparently, his correction
had sated her... for now. "Sir Welltessler, I hear Miss Lina may be in
trouble. What happened?"
"You know of Lina Inverse, Lady Amelia?" Gervasse asked, his eyes wide
open.
"Of course. Don't you remember about my time in Sairaag?" she said. "I
helped Miss Lina and Gourry here to prevent the resurrection of Zannafar."
"Now that you mention it... I do recall something several months
back... something about the destruction of much of the palace," Gervasse
said, his finger at his chin.
"Err..." Amelia blushed.
"But anyway, that's beside the subject... Yes, it appears Miss Inverse
has indeed fallen prey to something, and I can blame none but myself..."
He turned towards the Bridge. "While it is easy enough to discern certain
things, like altitude or inertial force... It's impossible to see past the
Bridge. That's why Master Glaon passed over in the first place, and why I
have sent Miss Inverse to gather him... But it is also why I must send Sir
Gourry over."
Amelia clenched her fist. "Sir Welltessler, I shall go to! It is
unjust for me to just sit and wait. Who knows what could be being done to
Miss Lina right this moment?"
Gervasse turned around and raised an eyebrow. "You, Lady Amelia?"
Amelia put her hands at her hips and looked toward the sky. It was
harder than it seemed, especially since they were deep underground, and
the ceiling was made of stone. "Yes!" she said. "I, Amelia wil Tesla
Seyruun will take this quest under my arm and emerge with great success,
not for my sake, not for the sake of Miss Lina, then for the sake of
justice!"
Gervasse blinked. "Indeed," he said. "And what does Prince Philionel
say of this? Your magic training hasn't suffered, has it?"
"I've mastered the Rah Tilt! I can do it!" Amelia jumped.
Gervasse raised a speculative eyebrow. "And your father?"
"He let me go to Sairaag by myself. I can handle this."
"This isn't Sairaag, Lady Amelia. Nor is this high in the Mountains of
Tears. This isn't even past the god-sealing field," he said, sighing.
"This is another world, entirely. Things may not work the same in that
world as in this one."
"Still, to stay behind would be unjust!" Amelia insisted.
Gervasse sighed. "Very well... But if Prince Philionel should show up,
I'm telling him that it was at your insistence that you cross."
Amelia blinked. "It was at my insistence."
Gervasse smirked, then turned back toward the Bridge. "It has now
passed the agreed upon check-in time. I fear that Miss Inverse may have
been injured, or worse. It leaves me with no other choice than to launch
another rescue mission."
"How was she hurt?"
"It was my own folly. I neglected to prepare for the initial inertial
force, and forgot the altitude at which she'd be entering. I've now
repaired my former follies. You should cross over with zero inertia,
and... as far as I can tell, within five feet of the ground." He turned
around and walked toward a shelf. "You are to check in as soon as possible
after arriving. You can do so with a simple communication spell. After
that, try to check in at least once a day. If you were to get lost, or
injured, then there would be nothing I could do to prevent the entire army
of Seyruun from crossing over in order to find you."
Amelia nodded. "I won't get injured."
"And do try to take it easy on the justice bit. You don't know how
things may work on the other side of the bridge."
Amelia and Gourry nodded.
"And lastly... Please, try and blend in. I shudder to think what would
happen if one of the... people of that world were to find the Bridge.
We're still not sure if they are hostile, or not," he said, stepping back
from the shelf with something in his hand. "Here, you should use this.
Hopefully, they'll use gold on that world."
Gourry's eyes bugged out as Gervasse handed Amelia a pouch of gold
pieces... a LARGE pouch.
"Now, if you please... All you must do is step into the Bridge," he
said, gesturing toward the field of greenish light that stained the entire
room.
Amelia nodded and shut her eyes, and then she stepped through.
Gourry just followed her nonchalantly.
Gervasse closed his eyes. "I wish you both the best of luck."
****
The greenish light had filled her vision as if it were everything. It
turned into such a pure shade of the colour, that to simply call it
'green' would be an understatement. It was emerald. The colour filled
every sense she had. When she closed her eyes, it was still all she could
see.
But deeper, further ahead, there was another colour, invading the
purity of the green and degrading it. It was...
It was hard to describe, especially with the emerald hue of the
Bridge. But it seemed to be... blue? They sky?
Yes, it was a sky. A sky of another world entirely.
The source of strangeness grew in scale as she found herself drawn
nearer. Not by choice, but by mere force.
And then she heard a sound.
Within a split second, her entire view had changed. What once had been
emerald became a blinding collage of blue, grey, brown and white. She
shielded her eyes with her cloak before it had a chance to fully blind
her.
A moment later, she felt the presence of Gourry behind her, and her
vision began to settle.
Slowly, she removed her cloak and took in the view before her.
To call it a city was an understatement. The twisted spires of metal
and glass before her was... there was no word for what she saw. A bustling
metropolis. An amazing collection of steel and rubber. A rough taste in
the air made her cough, but there it was before her.
"Big..." she heard from behind her. Amelia turned to face Gourry, who
was busily staring at the city like it was the end of the world.
"Gourry," Amelia said, tugging on a piece of armour. "We've got to
contact Sir Welltessler."
Gourry nodded, and Amelia brought her hand up in front of her. "Sir
Welltessler?" she asked after a moment of meditation.
"I hear you, Lady Amelia. Things are all right?"
"Yes, sir," Amelia said. "This place is... enormous."
"We have time enough for descriptions later, Lady Amelia. Right now
out main concern is for Miss Inverse and Master Glaon."
"Right," Amelia said. "We'll start on that right away."
****
Gervasse smiled. "I wish you luck, Lady Amelia, Sir Gourry."
"Thank you, Sir Welltessler," Amelia replied, and then broke the
connection.
Gervasse lowered his hand and sighed. How long was she going to stand
there.
"You may come out of hiding now, Miss."
He heard a sharp gasp as the woman fell from behind the door. Quickly,
she stood up and brushed herself off.
"How did...?"
"I could sense your magic," he said. "For one who is finely tuned in
the White arts, it's quite easy to find another who is highly skilled."
"I..." she smiled. "I apologize, Sir Welltessler."
"Now then," he said. "Care to explain why you were hiding?"
"I... well, I saw Gourry dear in the marketplace... and then... Miss
Amelia dragged him off... I was curious."
"Ahh," Gervasse said. "Then am I to assume you are somehow linked with
Miss Inverse, as well?"
The woman nodded. "I'm... Sylphiel Nels Lada. I'm from--"
"Sairaag, yes... I knew your father," Gervasse mentioned. "He was a
good man." He looked over to the girl. "So you're Sylphiel, then? My, I
must have aged a great deal. I still remember the news of your birth."
"You knew... father?"
"Indeed. The news of his passing shocked me greatly... but let us not
dwell upon the past, young Sylphiel... Obviously you are here for some
greater reason?"
"I heard..."
"Yes, I know. I could sense you, remember?"
"Then Miss Lina is... hurt?"
"Quite possibly," he said. "Don't tell me you, too wish to--"
"No," Sylphiel said, stopping him. "I... I don't think I should... at
least, not yet."
"Then I shall respect your decision. Four from our world is quite
enough... At this time."
****
"Four? Did you hear that?" Julian said, smiling.
"He's linked the Bridge with magic," Merton sighed. "That would mean
those mortals could use it as well."
"Umm... How come he could sense her and not us?" Brantus asked.
"Because Mazoku energies are far different than a mere white mage, now
hush," Merton ordered.
"So how are we to cross? He will obviously shut down the magical link
if we are seen going through, and killing him would solve nothing," Julian
said.
"That is why," Merton said, holding his hand out and summoning a small
sphere of energy. "He will not know of our crossing." He clenched his fist
and caused the ball to pop. "Come, I have an idea."
****
"Hey, check this out," Quinn said, poking around in the small wardrobe
closet where they had stuck the strange girl's things.
"Quinn, you pervert. Get out of there," Tasha said, blushing
furiously. The strange girl was asleep again, but Tasha didn't want her to
wake up finding her twin brother rooting through her things... Even if she
couldn't remember who's things they were.
"No, I'm serious... there's a knife in here," he said.
Tasha got up and stalked over to her brother, and opened her mouth to
berate him-- until she saw it.
There WAS a knife in there. She pulled it from her brothers grasp
without another thought.
"Hey!" complained Quinn.
Tasha examined the knife. It was more of a short sword, really. Why
hadn't they noticed this before?
Well, probably because she was soaking wet, and that.. cape was
wrapped all around her, probably the knife as well.
She examined the hilt. It appeared to be worn in and... well used.
That scared Tasha a bit, but she managed to keep a straight face.
"We shouldn't be looking through her stuff," she said, then looked to
her brother. "What else is in there?"
Her brother pulled out a small length of metal. "Hey, look here, it
looks like a sheath or something."
Tasha blinked. "A sheath?"
"Yeah, there's writing on it, too... Look, it says... property of...
Lina Inverse... well, what the hell kind of name is that?"
Tasha looked toward the sleeping girl. "I think it's her name," she
said.
"Okay, Lina I can understand. There's that girl in my Biology class
named Lina, but... Inverse? What kind of family has THAT for a last name?"
"Quiet, Quinn. She might hear you," Tasha said.
Quinn shrugged and passed the sheath to his sister, and then did a bit
more searching through the small wardrobe closet. "Hey, what's..."
Tasha looked over her brother's shoulder as he produced a small pouch.
He frowned.
"It's heavier than it looks," he said. He shook it and looked up at
his sister. "Sounds like spare change. If she's rich, why does she have to
carry her change around in a pouch?"
Tasha frowned at her brother as he opened the pouch and poured a few
coins out into his hand.
Both of them dropped their jaws like they were hot potatoes.
"Tash... this... this is..."
"Gold," she said, then swallowed.
Suddenly, she caught a view of her parents approaching from behind the
curtains. "Quick," she said. "Hide it!"
Quinn thought as quickly as he could, and then dropped the coins,
pouch and all, into the leather belt-pouch he was wearing. He quickly
stood up and watched for his parents.
"Guys," their mother said, moving the curtain to one side. "We've got
to talk..."
****
"I don't know about you, Gourry," Amelia said, walking down the
sidewalk. "But I feel out of place."
"Yeah, me too. It might be because we're not from here," he offered.
"No, the clothes, too."
Gourry looked around. Indeed, he hadn't noticed the fact that people
around him were wearing... strange clothes. None of them wore armour, or
had weapons by their sides.
Oh, and they rode around in those big metal contraptions. That was
weird, too.
He looked around at some of the nearby signs. He could read them well
enough, so at least that was confirmation that they spoke the same
language... But they were nowhere near the same. Gourry blinked.
"Maybe we should get some clothes, and try to blend in... people are
staring at us," Amelia said.
"Do they take gold here?"
"I don't know," Amelia said. "Let's ask."
Gourry blinked as Amelia walked up to a woman standing on the side of
the road. She tugged lightly on her shirt and asked her a question. The
woman seemed to laugh almost and replied. Amelia looked back with a
strange look on her face.
"What'd she say?"
"She said she charges extra for under-agers and same genders," Amelia
said, scratching her head. "And that it'd be sixty... bucks. What's a
buck?"
"Foreigners?" a man asked, walking up to Amelia and Gourry. "Visiting
from abroad, eh?"
"Umm... you could say that," Amelia said, her attention now divided
between Gourry and the man.
"Well, welcome to Vancouver. It's a fine city, as long as you avoid
the... well... riff-raff," the man said, pointing a thumb back at the
woman. "I'm Gerald."
"Hi," Amelia said. "I'm Amelia, this is Gourry."
"Ahh, all right... Say, have you found The Lord?" Gerald asked, a
smile on his face.
"No, we're looking for Lina," Gourry said.
"The Lord of what?" Amelia asked.
"The Lord of... The Lord. THE Lord. God, the Holy Ghost. Don't tell me
you've never heard of God?" Gerald asked, his eyes wide.
"God? Which one?"
Gerald's jaw dropped. "Which... which one?!" he stammered. "What is
that supposed to mean? Are you mocking The Lord?!"
"The Lord of what?"
Gerald threw his arms into the air. "I just EXPLAINED that!"
"No you didn't," Gourry said. "You're muttering about some god, but
won't tell us which one..."
"Gourry, maybe they only have one god on this staff," Amelia
whispered.
"We're sorry, we didn't mean any disrespect... We're just... unused to
the local customs," Amelia said.
"You mean to tell me you don't have any believers in your country?"
"Believers in what?"
Once again, Gerald threw his hands into the air.
****
"Wait... Take her HOME with us?" Tasha asked. "You're serious."
Her mother nodded. "The doctor thinks she may need a homelike
environment. Besides, the hospital is very crowded, and would probably do
the poor girl more harm than good."
"But--" Tasha began, but not before Quinn elbowed her in the side.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Oh, I don't know, sis," Quinn said. "Seems to me like a *golden*
opportunity." He practically oozed the word.
Tasha blinked, and then got the idea. "Err... Okay," she said. "I...
guess we could take her home with us."
"Good," Janet sighed. "The hospital needs to run a few more tests on
her, and prescribe something, and then we should take her home... About
four hours, and we'll be back on the road. Then we should worry about
giving her a name. She'll need one. We can't just call her, 'Hey, you.'"
"I think her name's Lina, mom," Quinn said.
"What makes you say that?" she asked.
"We found this in her clothes," he said, pointing at the metal object
his sister was holding.
Janet frowned. What was a girl her age doing with a dangerous weapon
like that? Needless to say, she would have to keep an eye on her.
But now...
"All right," she said. "Lina it is... I want you two to head back to
the car and pick out some clothes for her to wear... She can't wear those
wet things home... besides, they look bloody silly."
The kids agreed quickly, and ran out of the small enclosure, on their
way to the car.
****
Authors Notes:
Yes, I realize that Doctor Burns' idea probably wasn't the most
realistic course of action, but... look at it this way, if I had her stay
in the hospital until she got better, things would be damned boring. :P
Also, the Amnesia I used isn't what it seems, either. I have no direct
access to a book on different types of Amnesia for the one I was searching
for, so what I've got will have to do for now. :P
Anyway, I'm taking a lot of liberties here, but just bear with me. I
promise I'll make things exciting. :)
The game Merton and Gren were playing, entitled 'Survivor' is an
actual game. I've played it in one of the Zork games, and it works rather
similiar to what you may have seen on the TV series 'Survivor' (The game
where people move, and flip over tiles as they move along.) The game can
be easily adapted to suit two players, and is actually quite fun and
challenging, but is better with more players. :)
Also, you'll note that from the title of the chapter, I appear to be
using Slayers naming conventions. Fun, eh? :)
Oh, and I guess I should say this... Any resemblence between the
characters in here, and any characters, living or dead is purely
coincidental... Except for Gerald, but I ain't saying who he's based on.
:)
I'd also like to thank my prereaders... Thanks for spotting all my
errors. :)
Other than that, This is Chapter One. Enjoy and stuff. :P