Slayers is the property of Kadokawa Shoten.
XELLOS: Ah! Welcome all! Normally, Miss Lina would handle the intro, however…eh
heh heh…She's being changed…
LINA: I'm still going to kill you for this, Xellos!
XELLOS: Anyway, I, Xellos, the Mysterious Priest, have suddenly found myself…er…on
sabbatical…
NAGA: Oh, just say it! You're on the run from your old lady!
XELLOS: Er….enough truth to that, I suppose… Metallium IS rather irked by my inability
to bring back the Zarak trees…Oh well! You can't keep a good Mazoku down, and to give
myself something to do for the time being, I've banded together with an old associate of
Lina's, Naga the White Serpent.
NAGA: Side-Kick of Questionable Worth! Pay the breakfast check, would ya?
XELLOS: Um…eh heh…… Yeah, I know, but YOUR life isn't any better!
Faces: After!
Part 2
Not Quite Heroes…
Naga's New Gang!
"FREEZE ARROW!"
"FREEZE ARROW!"
"FREEZE ARROW!"
The guard ducked another icicle bolt and found that in trying to avoid all the
attacks, he had run in a complete circle.
"FREEZE ARROW!"
He cried out as he felt his legs freeze beneath him and tripped. Looking down, he
found his legs were blue and encased in ice. The wagon he had been guarding was on fire,
and the other two guards were dead.
A shadow fell over him, and he looked up into the blue eyes of a dark haired, well-
endowed woman in a skimpy outfit. Her lips curled back in a cruel smile.
He looked up as two more figures appeared next to her. Then more. Soon, he was
completely surrounded…
By the same dark haired woman.
They looked down at him and smiled. Throwing their heads back, they let out a
victory call.
"OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
Naga's fist struck the table, causing all twenty three of her breakfast plates to jump.
"What?! She has a GANG?!"
Sitting across from her at the inn's table, Xellos sipped his tea before nodding
slowly. "Exactly. Let's see…She has an expert swordsman, a chimera, a busty sorceress,
a priestess…and then there's me. Deus ex machina!" He grinned.
The scantily clad sorceress thought for a moment, then stood up. "In that case, we
will have a gang as well!"
"Um…Why?" Xellos asked.
"If I am to rival Lina Inverse, then I must rival her in all things!" Naga cried in
explanation. "It's obvious now that not having me around to curtail her excesses has given
her an even bigger ego than she had before!" She shook her head sadly. "If she is not
stopped, she could destroy the entire world!" An image of Lina with the Earth on the end
of a fork as she licked her lips hungrily popped into her head.
"Can't have that," Xellos muttered, sipping his tea.
"Therefore! To stop this red menace, I, Naga the White Serpent, shall assemble a
band of unbeatable heroes to put an end to Lina Inverse's reign of terror!
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"Check please…" Xellos asked a passing waitress.
"Come, Side-Kick of Questionable Worth!" she cried, running for the door.
"Destiny awaits!"
Xellos sighed. "Yareyare…" In a flash, he disappeared…
Leaving the check unpaid.
"Let's see," Naga mumbled, looking over her list as they walked down the road.
"I need a swordsman, a sorceress, and a monster at least…A priestess if possible…and
whatever the hell a deus ex machina is…"
"Ah, Miss Naga!" Xellos began. "A deus ex machina is a member of your party
who shows up at just the right time to prevent a calamity."
"Right…I'll underline that twice."
"So where are we going to find these unbeatable heroes?" Xellos asked her.
"Normally, I'd use the want ads…However! This is a very important matter! We
shall conduct tryouts at the next town!"
Xellos blinked. "Tryouts?"
"In the name of the Moon…."
"Next!" Naga called out, not even waiting to hear the rest of the speech.
The girl in the fuku sighed and walked off the inn's stage. A furry creature paddled
up in her place.
"And what are you?" Naga asked, looking over her list.
"I'm an otter," the creature replied.
"And what do you do?"
"I swim around and make cute little human gestures with my hands!"
"……………Next!"
The otter paddled dejectedly away.
"Rather disappointing results, don't you think?" Xellos asked.
"Despair not, Side-Kick!" Naga told him. "Patience is a virtue I must still teach
you, it seems!"
"Er…right…" Xellos agreed.
The next candidate stepped up onto the stage. "Um…hi…" she said in greeting.
Xellos blinked in shock. "But…"
Naga only smiled. "Hello there. Just a few questions. You are a sorceress,
correct?"
"Y..yes…" the girl spoke timidly. "I need a job…and well…I don't know where
else to turn."
"You're not the original." Naga said. It wasn't a question.
"No…" The girls confessed in embarrassment. "I'm a shadow."
Naga began to chuckle under her breath. Thirty seconds later, people outside the
inn were running in fear of the noise.
"OOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
Xellos could only blink in confusion.
"Tell me, dear girl!" Naga started again. "If you join my band of heroes, will you
swear unswerving loyalty to me, me alone, and do whatever I say!?"
The girl nodded quickly. She looked incredibly nervous.
"Then I accept you into my service in the position of 'Goody Two-Shoes
Sorceress.'"
"Um…" Xellos began.
The girl's eyes lit up. "You mean…I passed?"
"That's right!" Naga told her.
"Excuse me," the Mazoku tried again.
Up on stage, Shadow Lina, the double of Lina Inverse created by the Dark Mirror,
began jumping up and down. "I DID IT! I MADE IT! I MADE IT!"
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
Xellos shook his head and gave up.
"Well! I think we should find a restaurant and allow our newest member to buy us
dinner to celebrate her being accepted into my band of heroes!" Naga announced as they
left the inn.
"I…I would, Miss Naga, but I have no money at all," Shadow Lina told her sadly.
"Very well! We'll simply deduct the cost of dinner from your first cut of loot!"
"Oh, thank you, Miss Naga!" the copy replied enthusiastically.
"Oh, I'm going to love this," Naga muttered with a grin.
"Halt!"
The three "heroes" stopped and turned to find about a dozen men in uniforms
holding swords and shields standing there.
"There she is!" one of them cried, pointing at Naga with his sword.
"Ah," Naga sighed, her hands folded over her chest. "My adoring fans…"
"You," their leader growled. "You're under arrest. Charged with multiple counts
of banditry."
"What nonsense!" Naga cried, furious. "I haven't stolen anything in more than two
months!"
"Oh please!" Shadow Lina cried, dropping to her knees before the guards. "I
know Miss Naga has done some awful things in the past…"
"Now wait a second!" the sorceress began in her defense.
"But she's not a bad person!" Shadow Lina went on. "She has a pure heart and
only wants to protect the innocent! Like bunnies!"
"Enough!" the guard captain yelled. Shadow Lina sniffled. "Naga the White
Serpent! Either come with us now or prepare yourself for battle!"
Naga arched an eyebrow. "VU VRAIMER!!" The rocks beneath her feet rose out
of the ground, hoisting her into the air as they reformed into the shape of a shirtless
gladiator thirty feet tall. She looked down at them. "Okay! I'm prepared for battle now!"
"RUN!!" one of the soldiers in the back yelled. The remaining troops dropped their
weapons and took off down the road…
All except for one.
The thin man stood before the golem and pointed his sword up at the monstrosity.
"I will not allow this injustice against mankind to continue!" he announced. "Naga the
White Serpent! I CHOOSE YOU!"
Off to the side, Xellos and Shadow Lina watched this exchange in
awe….or…boredom, depending on whether you're talking about Shadow Lina or Xellos…
Naga, however, paused and blinked. "I know that voice…"
"KI-YAH!" the guard yelled, hacking at the golem's stone foot with his sword.
"YAH! HAH! TAKE THAT! AND THAT!"
The golem sweatdropped.
"WITH MY INVINCIBLE RAZOR BLADE, YOU SHALL BE STOPPED,
MONSTER!"
Naga sighed. "Jeffrey, is that you?"
The guard paused for a moment. "Hi, Miss Naga!" he said with a wave. "I'm
sorry. I know we're old comrades and all, but I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO FLEE
FROM JUSTICE ANY LONGER!"
"Who's fleeing?" Naga asked. "And why would I?"
"Miss Naga, it pains me to have to arrest you, but your bandit raids must be
stopped!"
"Hey! I haven't robbed anyone!….lately…" Naga told him. "This must be some
kind of mistake!"
"You think so?" Jeffrey asked. "I mean, there was only one survivor and he
described you perfectly!"
"He must be a liar! World's full of them!" Naga told him haughtily.
"Maybe….He must have been lying about the other nine you's too…"
Naga blinked. "Other nine me's?"
"Yeah. He said you and nine women who looked exactly like you attacked their
wagon full of gold bound for Boralis."
Naga felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She gave a command, and the golem
began to disperse beneath her, returning to the earth. "And the reward for my capture?"
she asked.
Jeffrey posed theatrically. "A member of the royal guard does not expect
rewards!"
"For me, moron!" Naga growled.
*ka-POW!!*
Naga suddenly found herself under a one ton mallet.
"DID YOU CALL MY JEFFREY A MORON?!" she heard above her.
"I…Itai…"
"Well?!" the voice asked.
"Hi, wandering tourist lady!" Jeffrey greeted her. "Boy! You turn up in some of
the oddest places!"
"Hi…Josephine…" Naga ground out.
"I have no idea what's going on," Xellos confessed. He blinked. "That's never
happened to me before…"
Shadow Lina just watched, amazed.
"You mean you've been framed?!" Jeffrey asked in amazement.
Naga sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with the napkin that came with her dinner.
"That's right," she sniffed. "A horrible band of copiis have obviously taken up a life of
crime, and are using me to cover their tracks!" She buried her face in the napkin and began
to cry in earnest.
"Oh! Miss Naga!" Shadow Lina exclaimed from across the restaurant booth.
"That's horrible!"
Naga nodded as she cried. "I…I was trying to assemble a band of unbeatable
heroes to stop their awful reign of terror…" She sniffled again. "But…But now I have the
Royal Guard after me…"
"You poor woman," Jeffrey breathed sympathetically.
Sitting next to Naga, Xellos could only blink in shock…and just a touch of
admiration.
The sorceress peeked out from over the napkin and saw the masked face of
Josephine sitting at a table not far away, straining to listen. She smiled.
"I'm so unfortunate!" Naga wailed.
"This is an injustice of the lowest low!" Jeffrey declared. "Those evil copiis must
pay for their crimes against the world and against the pure-hearted Miss Naga!"
"I think I'm going to be sick," Xellos mumbled.
Naga clasped her hands in front of her and beamed. "You mean…you'll help me?!"
"I'll do whatever I can to assist you in your fight against evil, Miss Naga," Jeffrey
said with a heroic smile and a sagely nod. "By my sword, Razor Blade, I swear it."
"Then….Will you join my band of unbeatable heroes?!" Naga asked, pouring the
sugar on.
Xellos nearly spit up a mouthful of tea.
Jeffrey nodded. "I will!"
Shadow Lina clasped her hands in front of her and gasped in joyful admiration.
Naga smiled.
"OOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"Eh…Miss Naga?" Xellos began as they walked down the road towards the next
town. "While I do understand the world is facing a labor shortage at the moment, I don't
see how our young Jeffrey counts as an 'unbeatable hero.'"
Naga sniffed. "Once again, you refuse to look beyond the moment, Side-Kick," she
said condescendingly. Xellos let it slide for the sake of getting an answer. "Jeffrey has…"
She paused suddenly and looked from side to side fearfully. "Um….Perfectly normal and
justifiable weaknesses," she finished, cringing. A second passed, and nothing happened,
so she went on. "But with the acquisition of Jeffrey, we can scratch both 'swordsman' and
'horrific monster' off our shopping list."
"We can?" the Mazoku asked.
"Indeed, for where ever young Jeffrey goes, a certain tourist lady is always sure to
follow." She winked.
Xellos sighed and wondered how long he'd have to wait before he could be
reasonably sure that Metallium would be over him allowing the trees of Zarak Tor to slip
through his fingers.
A century, maybe?
Not long at all….
Behind the two leaders of their band, Jeffrey walked proudly, head held high and
one hand on the hilt of his sword as every warrior should. Walking next to him, Shadow
Lina kept glancing between him and the ground and back again.
He saw her do this again and turned, smiling at her. "Hi," he said. "My name's
Jeffrey."
Shadow Lina blushed. "Um…I'm…I'm Lina…."
"Yeah, I know. But you're not the actual, Lina, right?" he asked curiously.
"I'm…I'm a shadow…Like a copii…only I'm her exact opposite."
"Wow!" Jeffrey breathed. "I could sort of tell. I met Miss Lina and Miss Naga
before, and she's nothing like you are. She was kind of mean, you know?"
Shadow Lina blushed again. "Um…I just wanted to tell you…"
Jeffrey blinked and waited.
Finally, the shadow sorceress turned to him. "I think what you did back in town
was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life!" she suddenly cried. She turned away
again and went back to fidgeting nervously.
Jeffrey smiled. "All in a day's work for a hero like me!" he bragged.
"And…And then…when you heard Miss Naga's horrible story…" she said
quietly, "The way you…you rushed forward to help her….I…I think that was very brave
and noble…"
It was Jeffrey's turn to blush. "Thanks," he said.
"Ugh!" Naga cried, throwing a look back at the two newest members of her band.
"If Lina were here, she'd kill herself," she muttered.
"And probably commit suicide right afterwards!" Xellos threw in with a smile.
The White Serpent went back to checking her list. "All we need now is a deus ex
machina and a priestess." She clenched a fist. "Then we can go back, beat those copii
me's, and claim the reward for myself…er…ourselves! OOOOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
"How is it that ten copiis of you were made, anyway?" Xellos asked.
"Hmmph!" Naga replied with a smile, tossing her hair back. "A scientist/artist
brought them into the world so that my beauty could be shared with the masses."
"And now they're robbing carts," Xellos mused.
"They've obviously gone astray," Naga bit out. "Now, where do I find both a deus
ex machina AND a priestess? There are probably more troops and bounty hunters on their
way! If we take too long, one of THEM will get the reward money!"
Xellos thought for a moment and smiled. "I think I know someone."
"Oh?"
He nodded. "Yes…She'll do just nicely, I think."
"A friend of yours?" she asked him.
"Of course! There are none closer in this world than she and I!" the Mazoku
bragged.
"FILTHY NAMAGOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!" Filia cried, swinging her mace.
Xellos disappeared suddenly, and the mace found only dead air. Shadow Lina
squeaked and ducked under the bulky weapon. The Mazoku reappeared behind the blonde
and smiled. "Ah, Miss Filia! It's such a delight to see you again!"
The golden dragon growled. "Miss Lina! Why do you insist on traveling with such
trash?!" she asked.
"Who? Me?!" Shadow Lina asked. "I just met him!"
Filia blinked. She looked around and found that Lina had shown up on her door not
only Xellos, but a dark haired woman she'd never seen before, and a tall, lanky man as thin
as a rail. Where was Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis?
She turned back to Xellos. "How did you find me, anyway? I just moved to this
continent! No one knows I'm here yet!"
Xellos grinned. "Now, now, Filia san. Just because you don't see Mazoku doesn't
mean we aren't there. Of course we're keeping tabs on little ValGaav. We can't have a
repeat of what happened last time, with that whole destroy the world thing…unless WE'RE
doing it, of course. It'd get cliché!"
Filia growled.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the dark woman began. "I am Naga the White
Serpent!"
"Hi, I'm Jeffrey," the young man added with a wave.
"Jeffrey, please allow the leader of the band to do the negotiating," Naga reminded
him. "Now then, Miss Filia. Xellos tells me that you're a golden dragon."
"That's right. What about it?"
"Oneechan? Is everything okay?" a fox asked from another doorway, holding an
egg in his arms.
"Everything's fine, Jiras," Filia assured him.
"My, my, my," Xellos remarked, appearing next to the fox man. Suddenly, the
foot-long egg was no longer in his hands. Jiras cried out as Xellos disappeared,
reappearing behind Jeffrey with the egg. "Is this little ValGaav? My, how he's grown!"
Filia went pale. "Give him back, namagomi!" she shrieked.
"Aww! I just wanted to hold him!" Xellos pouted, spinning the egg on the end of
his finger.
"STOP THAT!!" Filia screamed.
"Oh, all right," Xellos surrendered, giving the egg back to Jiras.
"Er…Anyway," Naga continued. "We'd like to hire you on to join my band of
unbeatable heroes! Since you would be bringing rare and special talents, you would be
entitled to twenty percent of all loot gained in our travels."
"You came out here…to pitch a job?" Filia asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Exactly," Naga said with a nod.
Filia started to rub her temples. "Look, I appreciate the offer, however, I have to
look after little Val, and quite frankly, the thought of traveling with Xellos farther than the
local cemetery makes me ill."
Xellos smiled and blew her a kiss.
"ARRGH!"
"I see. You need some time to think," Naga told her.
"Actually, I need for you to leave," Filia told her point blank. "And please take
your scruffy-looking, pompous, egomaniacal Mazoku dog with you."
"Hey!" Xellos replied with a frown. "I am NOT scruffy-looking!" He faced off
with Filia and smiled. "Very well, Filia…You give me no choice…If you don't agree to
come with us right now…"
Filia folded her arms over her chest and waited.
Xellos grabbed Shadow Lina and pushed her towards Filia. "Then Shadow Lina
here is going to cry!"
Naga and Filia both hit the floor.
"Please…Miss Dragon Lady…" Shadow Lina began with a sniffle. "I know it's a
terrible inconvenience….but…but we really need your help…"
"Get out!"
The door slammed shut behind them.
"She just needs a little time," Naga said assuredly.
"Oh, indeed. She was starting to waver. I could tell," Xellos agreed. The band
began to walk down the street.
Shadow Lina sniffled. "I failed Miss Naga," she muttered. "She was counting on
me to talk Miss Dragon Lady into coming with us, and I let her down." She sniffed again.
"Oh, don't worry," Jeffrey assured her. "After all, Miss Naga and Mister Xellos
don't look mad or anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Shadow Lina said, smiling a little. "Thanks, Jeffrey."
"Come on. Let's catch up." The two started running down the street after Naga
and Xellos.
Unknown to them, someone watched them. Standing on the roof of Filia's tea shop,
a man in simple crimson robes and grey, swept-back hair observed their movements. He
watched the redhead and the young man run off together and smiled.
"Finally," he breathed. "Lina Inverse." The man took a breath. "Astral Phase," he
chanted.
A moment later, there was nothing on Filia's roof but birds.
"Okay, so we'll just have to make do without," Naga announced as the band sat
around the campfire. The White Serpent sucked down another fish and placed the bones in
the fire. "Now, there's one last thing we need," she told them.
Xellos, Jeffrey, and Shadow Lina listened closely.
"A name!"
The three of them sweatdropped.
"Now, I have been doing some heavy thinking on the matter, and have come up with
the perfect name with which to go into battle." Naga stood up and posed theatrically. "We
are….THE SLAYERS!!!"
"Taken!" Xellos announced from his seat between sips of tea.
Naga hit the ground. She crawled up to Xellos and brushed the hair from her eyes.
"What?! My perfect, beautiful name!? The one I spent hours coming up with?! Taken?!"
The Mazoku nodded. "Exactly."
The sorceress fainted.
"How about, 'The Flaming Heroes?!'" Jeffrey suggested.
"Yeah!" Shadow Lina cried, clapping in delight.
Naga recovered and went face to face with the man. "THERE WILL BE NO
FLAMING IN MY BAND OF UNBEATABLE HEROES!!!"
"I like it," Shadow Lina threw in.
"It's the stupidest name I've ever heard in my life!" Naga cried. Her eyes went
wide. "Oh god…"
Xellos put his tea down and blinked. "Does anyone else hear that whistling?"
The White Serpent sighed. "I do…"
WHAM!!!
Xellos, Jeffrey, and Shadow Lina jumped, startled, as a mallet held by a large
woman in a mask fell from the sky and smashed Naga into the ground.
"DID YOU CALL MY PRECIOUS JEFFREY'S IDEA STUPID?!"
"Hi, tourist lady!" Jeffrey said happily. "Would you like some dinner?"
The woman was suddenly tip toeing away as fast as she could. "Oh, no, thank you,
dear! I was just on my way to the theatre when I heard the commotion! Ta ta!"
Then she was gone.
"I wonder where the theatre is?" Shadow Lina asked, blinking in puzzlement.
Naga, by this time, had dug herself out of the hole Josephine's mallet had made and
was nursing her new headache.
Maybe hiring Jeffrey wasn't such a good idea after all…
"Terminators?"
"Taken."
"Justice League?"
"Taken," Xellos told her.
"The Wanderers!"
"Taken…"
"Damn!" Naga cursed as they walked. "What cool names AREN'T taken?!"
Xellos thought for a moment. "Light Warriors?"
"Now I KNOW that one's taken…"
Shadow Lina suddenly stopped and looked out before them. There was a town only
about a mile down the road. She blinked. There was a cloud of dust moving towards the
town from another direction…
Straining her ears, she could make out a sound…
"oooohohoohohohohoho!!!"
"THIS IS NOT WHAT I ORDERED!" Lina screamed at the chef. "I ordered items
A through Double Q! Triple portions! This is item Double R! AND I HATE SLUG
SOUFLE!!!"
Zelgadis sighed. "Lina, it's really not that…"
Lina threw a look of pure venom at him.
"What do you plan to do about this?!" Zelgadis demanded of the chef.
Standing at the back of the group, Amelia sighed. "Miss Lina has sure been cranky
ever since that day at the cottage," she muttered to herself. "I hope she gets over it soon."
"WHAT WAS THAT, AMELIA?!"
"Ah! Nothing, Miss Lina!" the princess cried, holding her hands out to to fight off
any fireballs Lina might throw her way in her wrath.
"oooohohohohohooo…."
"Ooooohohohohohoho…"
"OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOOHOOO!!!"
Amelia turned to the window just as a huge cloud of dust went by. She blinked and
shook her head, turning back to the battle at hand.
"NOT ONLY DO I WANT A REFUND, I WANT FREE MEALS FOR THE REST
OF THE YEAR!!" Lina continued.
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
Outside, behind the princess' back, the Flaming Heroes ran by, Naga in the lead.
Amelia turned quickly to the sound and ran to the window. She looked down the
road at the backs of four figures, but couldn't make them out.
She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"Nah…Couldn't be…"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOO!!"
Naga laughed as she continued her pursuit. She could just make out the dust cloud in front
of her. "No copii can outrun the TRUE Naga the White Serpent!"
"Miss Naga! Wait up!" Shadow Lina begged as she ran, beginning to fall behind.
Jeffrey had unsheathed Razor Blade and was pointing it at the cloud. "HALT, EVIL
COPII NAGAS! HALT AND FACE JUSTICE'S WRATH!!"
Running alongside Naga, having no trouble keeping pace, Xellos smiled. "I trust
now that we've found these sorceresses, you have a plan?"
"Well…."
The Mazoku grinned.
The sorceress frowned at him. "Well, they're OBVIOUSLY on their way back to
their hideout! We'll just follow them right to their base! This way, we get the reward
money, AND their loot! OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"A plan worthy of your genius," Xellos sighed.
"I SAID HALT!!" Jeffrey shouted, beginning to pant.
"It looks like they're entering that forest," Xellos pointed out.
True enough, the dust cloud was disappearing into a grove of trees.
"Of course! Where else would I put a secret hideout! ONWARD!!
OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!" She put on speed and continued her pursuit.
Nagaichi, the self-appointed leader of the White Serpents Gang, looked over her
shoulder and saw a small cloud of dust in the distance behind them. She adjusted the sack
of loot she held over her shoulder and turned to Nagani, her second in command.
"We're being followed," she told her.
Nagani looked back and nodded. "We can lose them in the forest!"
"They'll get so turned around in there, they'll never find their way out!" Nagasan
agreed.
"They'll rue the day they thought they could outsmart Naga the White Serpent!"
Nagayon spoke up.
"OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" the gang chorused.
"Into the trees!" Nagaichi ordered.
The sorceress gang entered the dark forest, Ledendestra…
Jeffrey panted and rested against the side of a tree. "Halt….evildoe…" He broke
off and puked.
"Ah! Lord Jeffrey! Are you okay?" Shadow Lina asked, running up to him.
Naga and Xellos stopped and checked the tracks. "From these tracks…I can tell
only one thing for certain," Naga intoned, her voice deadly serious.
They all waited for her to finish.
The true White Serpent stood up, posed, and pointed. "THEY WENT THAT
WAY!!!"
The rest of the gang hit the ground hard.
"Um…Miss Naga, we kind of knew THAT," Jeffrey told her.
"Then why did you stop?" Naga asked. With that, she dashed into the forest after
her copiis.
Xellos smacked his forehead and grit his teeth. Shadow Lina watched Naga run off
in awe. "She's so courageous," she whispered.
"Wait! Miss Naga!" Jeffrey shouted, huffing after her. "Wait for me!"
"Jeffrey! Wait!" Shadow Lina cried, running after him.
Xellos took a breath and started muttering to himself. "It's only temporary. It's
only temporary. It's only temporary…"
He walked into the forest after Naga.
Naga stopped as she came to a fork in the forest path. She looked for tracks, but
couldn't find any on the ground before her. Her eyes narrowed.
"Miss Nagaaaaaaaaa!!!!"
She turned and found Jeffrey, Shadow Lina, and Xellos running toward her. Putting
her finger to her lips, she hmm'd in thought. How to decide which way to go…
Xellos hmm'd as well, except that he did it while looking through a guidebook.
Naga blinked. "Where did you get that?"
The Mazoku smiled. "Ah, this? I picked it up as we were dashing through that
town. I thought it might come in handy. See? It has a map and…" He was cut off as Naga
snatched the book from him and read the map portion. After several seconds, she pointed
to the right.
"We shall go this way!"
"Um…Miss Naga…" Xellos began.
"Why that way?" Shadow Lina peeped.
"Because it's EXACTLY the way I'd go if I were them!"
"Miss Naga…" Xellos tried again.
"ONWARD!! OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!" Naga laughed as she ran down
the path.
"FLAMING HEROES AWAY!!" Jeffrey called, following her.
"Um…Yay…" Shadow Lina meekly called out, giving pursuit.
Xellos watched them go. He shook his head and sighed. "Forget it. I'm watching
this one from the sidelines." In a flash he was gone.
The three unbeatable heroes, meanwhile, continued down the path…
Right up until it stopped…
With a cliff.
Shadow Lina backpedaled, almost going over the edge. Naga put her hands on her
hips and smiled. Jeffrey looked puzzled.
"Um…Miss Naga…I don't get it."
"Of course not, Jeffrey."
"Um…You said this is the way you'd go if you were them, right?"
"That's right."
"And this cliff was in Mister Xellos' guidebook, right?"
"Correct again," she told him.
"So….Why exactly would you go in this direction?"
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Naga laughed. "For precisely this reason!
This is the exact spot I'd choose if I were going to ambush someone chasing me!"
"WHAT?!" Shadow Lina and Jeffrey cried.
"FREEEEEEZE…."
"FREEEEEZE…"
The word echoed around them eight more times.
"Right on time!" Naga cried.
"ARROW!!!!"
The three ducked to one side as ten freeze arrows from ten different directions
flashed out of the forest around them and struck the ground where they had been standing!
Xellos appeared in a tree branch not far away, holding his staff in one hand and a
forty ounce Big Gulp soft-drink in the other. He watched the ice arrows hit the ground,
forming patches of thick ice near the cliff edge.
"Oooh!" he murmured, taking another sip from his drink. He settled in to watch.
Naga landed nimbly on her feet. "FREEEEEZE ARROW!"
A shaft of ice leapt from her hands and struck a tree, freezing the trunk and working
its way up to the leaves. One of the copii Naga's jumped down and faced off with her.
Three more copiis jumped out of their hiding places and faced Jeffrey. The young
man held his sword up and grimaced. "CHARGE!!!" he yelled running toward them! He
took a swipe at one, who deftly stepped aside and gave him a kick. Jeffrey fell on his face,
surrounded by the three Naga's.
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" they laughed.
"My god! He's pathetic!" Naganana commented.
"I'll say! What a clutz!" Nagahachi replied.
A cold wind blew past them.
"WHAT!? WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT MY JEFFREY!?"
The three sorceresses looked up to see a large, masked woman with a mallet flying
towards them out of the forest!
"WHAT THE…"
"MOTHERLY LOVE FLYING ATTACK!!!" Josephine screamed, using the
handle of her mallet to flatten the three copiis as she flew through them. The Naga's went
flying.
Jeffrey sat up and rubbed his head. "Wow…What was that?"
Another copii inched up behind him. "FREEZE…"
Shadow Lina gasped. "Jeffrey!" She pointed at the Naga and shut her eyes.
"FIREBALL!"
A ball of flame shot from her hands and struck the ground at the copii's feet.
Nagajuu went flying through the air.
Shadow Lina blinked. "Hey….I got one!" she cried.
"FREEEEEZE…"
"FLAAAARE…"
"ARROW!" Naga and Nagaichi cried at once, releasing their attacks at one
another. The two bolts deflected harmlessly and detonated to either side.
"Hmmm…" Naga said with a lazy smile. "You're obviously the leader…"
Nagaichi grinned. "How could you tell?"
Naga pointed at her. "BECAUSE ONLY THE LEADER WOULD DARE TAKE
ON HER PROGENITOR!!!"
"FREEEEZE…."
"FIIIIIIRE…"
"BRID!"
"BALL!"
Once again, the attacks deflected one another.
Xellos sipped and watched. "Hmmm….Now would probably be a good time for
the deus ex machina to show up…"
More Naga's were jumping from the trees.
Shadow Lina cried out as she was thrown forward by a blast from a Flare Arrow.
"Lina! I'll save you!" Jeffrey cried. He rushed forward.
Two Naga's smiled. "BEPHIS BRING!" they cried, striking the ground with their
palms.
The earth opened up in front of Jeffrey. "AUUUGHH!!!" He blinked and looked
up at the entrance of the newly formed crater. "Hey, where'd this hole come from?!"
"VICE FREEZE!"
"BURST FLARE!"
The two spells struck each other, exploding into a thick fog. Naga looked about,
trying to find her opponent.
"FREEZE ARROW!"
Naga leapt back as the ice arrow landed where she had been standing. "BURST
RONDO!!!" A thousand tiny fireballs flew from her hands into the fog bank. She heard
something above her and looked up to see her copii flying towards her.
"FLARE ARROW!"
Naga didn't have time for a counterspell. She leapt to the left as the arrow
exploded next to her, knocking her off her feet.
Nagaichi stood over her and smiled. "OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"Er…You know…if you were really my copy, you'd invite me to join your gang,"
Naga said.
Nagaichi smiled. "No, I wouldn't." She pointed down. "FLAAAARE…."
A flash of gold appeared over the copii's shoulder. She turned quickly.
"What the…"
A golden dragon flapped her wings as she flew to a hover over the cliff. She
opened her mouth, a ball of energy collecting there.
"Oh crap!" Naga whimpered, diving to one side.
The Laser Breath shot from the dragon's mouth, carving up the cliff like a roast.
Copii Naga's screamed and ran about, trying to hide, but the explosive force from the
attack knocked them off their feet and into tree trunks or onto the ground, knocking most of
them out.
"Hey! What's going on up there?!" Jeffrey called from his hole.
Shadow Lina cried as she was tossed into the hole with him by another laser blast.
Naga stared up at the dragon in genuine awe.
Xellos clapped his hands. "Let's hear it for the o'l deus ex machina!"
The dragon landed on the cliff, obviously royally pissed…
"XELLOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed. She
gathered up more power and fired, leveling every tree in a one mile radius.
Xellos eeked and disappeared, reappearing at the base of his tree. "Ow…" he
muttered.
"WHERE ARE YOU, NAMAGOMI!!!!???" the dragon screamed. "COME OUT
HERE SO I CAN TEAR THE SKIN OFF YOUR BODY!!!"
"Hmmm…" Xellos remarked. "I hope that doesn't feel the way it sounds…" He
stepped out from the tree line. Naga was helping Jeffrey and Shadow Lina out of the hole,
while several copii Naga's lay about, singed and unconscious.
The dragon looked down at the Mazoku and growled.
"Er…Hello there, Filia chan!" Xellos greeted with a wave. "What brings you out
here?"
In a flash of light, the dragon shrank down to the human form of Filia Ul Copt. She
grit her teeth and marched up to Xellos, her mace in her hand. "Give him back THIS
INSTANT!" she ordered.
"'Him?'" Naga asked.
"VAL! THIS NAMAGOMI MONSTER TOOK HIM AND REPLACED HIM
WITH THIS CHEAP, PAPER MACHE EGG!!!" Filia cried, showing them the dummy
egg.
"Oh! That!" Xellos said as if it suddenly dawned on him. He reached into his
robes and removed the real egg. "I thought he might benefit from the field trip, so I…"
Filia reached out and snatched ValGaav's egg from him, cuddling it to her chest.
"There there, little Val…" she cooed.
"On another note, it appears that we've won," Xellos commented, scratching his
head.
"You sound surprised," Naga told him smugly.
"Closer to astonished, actually," the Mazoku confessed.
The sorceress smiled. "OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
The man in crimson observed the melee through a telescope from another cliff not
too far away. It was a good thing Lina Inverse had survived. He knew she was his best
hope for finding what he sought.
All he had to do now, was get to her.
The sack of gold coins made a heavy thud as they hit the table in front of her. Filia
looked up and saw Naga smiling down at her. "As promised, your twenty percent."
"I wasn't working for you," Filia reminded her. "I was looking for little Val."
She rocked the egg in her arms to emphasize this point.
"You know…" Naga began, sitting across from the golden dragon. "An egg is easy
to take care of…"
"And how would…"
"Hear me out," the sorceress interrupted, already shifting into her negotiation
mode. "It doesn't eat. It doesn't need diapers. Or milk. It doesn't need money for
school…But eventually, he will."
Filia blinked.
"Now, this money would go a long way toward helping that goal, wouldn't it?"
Naga asked her. "More would help with clothes, food, diapers, a college fund…"
The dragon looked down at the coins. Naga smiled.
"Um…Just what is it you're asking me?" Filia questioned.
"Join our band of heroes!" the White Serpent told her. "I guarantee you a
continued twenty percent fee, plus bonuses if the treasure is especially large!"
Filia thought about it. "But…What about Val?"
"Lots of mothers work!" Naga waved the question aside. "And wouldn't it be
better to work now, get the money for his future while he's…well…oblivious…then have
to go out and earn it while he's a child…" She sniffled dramatically. "Yearning for the
attention of a mother who can't be there because of her job…" She began to cry.
"MOMMY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" she wailed.
The dragon sighed. "I can quit anytime I want?"
"Guaranteed!" Naga assured her with a grin. "If you ever miss little Val, you can
just up and go! We'll understand!"
Filia bit her lip. A lot of what this woman said made sense….surprisingly enough.
She sighed. "Very well. For the time being, I'll accompany you."
"HOT DAMN!"
"I'll ask Milgasia and the golden dragons at Katart to look after Val's egg," Filia
said sadly.
"You won't regret this, Filia! I promise!"
Shadow Lina tightened the towel around her body and started down the inn's hall
toward the hot springs in the back. She decided to splurge a little with the ten percent Miss
Naga had paid her from the reward money and get a decent room near the springs.
She hummed to herself as she walked, but stopped dead in her tracks when she
sensed something behind her.
"Lina Inverse…"
Shadow Lina screamed!
Jeffrey was in his room polishing his Razor Blade and basking in the afterglow of a
hardly won battle. He added a few more drops of polish to the rag…
That's when he heard Shadow Lina scream.
"LINA!" He jumped and rushed out the door. Turning he saw a strange man
dressed in red standing near the sorceress. "FLAMING JEFFREY ATTACK!!!" he
screamed, raising Razor Blade over his head and running toward the man.
The man didn't even turn. A shield popped up around him, knocking the skinny
warrior back.
"Jeffrey!" Shadow Lina cried, on her knees in fright.
"Ahem!"
They looked up and found Naga and Filia standing not far away. Filia's mace was
in her hand, and Naga had a Freeze Arrow nocked and ready.
"Hi there," she remarked.
"I have no business with you," the man told her.
"Oh, but you're speaking to one of MY employees," Naga told him.
"I mean her no harm," the crimson man assured her. "I wish only to ask a
question."
"Then you really are talking to the wrong woman," the sorceress informed him.
"I'M her manager. If you want something from her, you talk to me."
The man seemed to consider this. "Very well," he said calmly. "I require
information. I am, of course, willing to pay for it."
"How much?"
"One hundred."
"Three, not a gold penny less," Naga told him.
The crimson man took an annoyed breath. "Agreed."
Naga smiled and held out her hand. The man blinked in surprise. "Up front," she
told him,
"Absurd! What if she doesn't know?"
"Then you're going to be awfully disappointed."
He growled. "Fine." He tossed her a sack of gold coins.
Naga smiled and lowered the Freeze Arrow. "You may ask her your question."
"Thank you," the man said with disdain. He turned to Shadow Lina. "Lina
Inverse, I have only one question for you."
Shadow Lina bit her nails and nodded fearfully.
"Where can I find Zelgadis Greywords?"
Naga's breath caught in her throat.
Shadow Lina shrugged. "I dunno…"
The man hit the floor. He climbed to his feet. "What do you mean, you don't
know?!" he cried. "He's traveled with you for more than three years now!"
"No he hasn't!" Shadow Lina cried tearfully. "And don't yell at me!" She curled
up into a ball.
"You're scaring her!" Jeffrey cried. "Leave her alone! Or taste the vengeance of
my Razor Blade!"
The crimson man grit his teeth. "Lying to me won't…"
"I'm not lying! I don't know who you're talking about!" Shadow Lina sniffled.
"Wha…"
"Um…Mister," Jeffrey began helpfully. "I think you have the wrong Lina Inverse.
This one is a copii…"
"I'm a shadow! Not a copii!" she cried.
"Uh…sorry…" Jeffrey said lamely.
"A…a SHADOW?!" the growled. "All this time…I was tracking…A
SHADOW!?"
Shadow Lina sniffed and nodded.
The man sighed and shook his head. "Thank you for your time," he growled.
"Astral Phase."
Before Naga could ask a question of her own, the man was out of sight.
"Who was that?" Filia asked.
"A very mean man!" Shadow Lina wept.
(Whoever he is,) Naga thought. (He's looking for Stony…)
"What should we do, Miss Naga?" Jeffrey asked.
The White Serpent looked down at the sack of coins. (He was willing to pay an
awful lot for just his location. He wants Zelgadis pretty bad…) She raised her head. "Get
some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow," she told them.
"Where to?" Shadow Lina asked.
Naga smiled despite how she REALLY felt…
"We're going to find Zelgadis Greywords before the man in the red carpet does."
With that, she walked to her room and shut the door.
She bit her lip. Despite the bravado, she was worried. In the short time she had
known him, Zelgadis and Sylphiel had become her friends. And she knew he had enemies
now after what happened at Zarak Tor.
(Could the Wind Dragon King be looking for him? But if so, why ask about Stony
and not Sylphiel, who actually DESTROYED the island?)
There was no way to know. She collapsed on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
(Be careful, Stony, Sylphiel…) she thought.
(Trouble's coming.)
The crimson man waved his hand over a basin of water. In a few seconds, a human
face with inhuman, yellow eyes was looking back at him from the water.
"Well?" the man in the basin asked.
"There is a delay. My lead turned out to be false."
"I see," the man with yellow eyes commented. "But you WILL find him, correct?"
The crimson man nodded. "The method of locating him remains unchanged. Find
Lina Inverse and find Zelgadis Greywords."
"I have others looking for her now. She'll turn up. Her reputation won't allow for
anything else."
The crimson man nodded. "I'll report again when I have news."
The man in the basin's face disappeared. The crimson man looked out the window
of his room.
(You can't hide forever, Zelgadis Greywords…)
To Be Continued…
Please send flames to Davner, at doscher009@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading! ^_^ \/
XELLOS: Ah! Welcome all! Normally, Miss Lina would handle the intro, however…eh
heh heh…She's being changed…
LINA: I'm still going to kill you for this, Xellos!
XELLOS: Anyway, I, Xellos, the Mysterious Priest, have suddenly found myself…er…on
sabbatical…
NAGA: Oh, just say it! You're on the run from your old lady!
XELLOS: Er….enough truth to that, I suppose… Metallium IS rather irked by my inability
to bring back the Zarak trees…Oh well! You can't keep a good Mazoku down, and to give
myself something to do for the time being, I've banded together with an old associate of
Lina's, Naga the White Serpent.
NAGA: Side-Kick of Questionable Worth! Pay the breakfast check, would ya?
XELLOS: Um…eh heh…… Yeah, I know, but YOUR life isn't any better!
Faces: After!
Part 2
Not Quite Heroes…
Naga's New Gang!
"FREEZE ARROW!"
"FREEZE ARROW!"
"FREEZE ARROW!"
The guard ducked another icicle bolt and found that in trying to avoid all the
attacks, he had run in a complete circle.
"FREEZE ARROW!"
He cried out as he felt his legs freeze beneath him and tripped. Looking down, he
found his legs were blue and encased in ice. The wagon he had been guarding was on fire,
and the other two guards were dead.
A shadow fell over him, and he looked up into the blue eyes of a dark haired, well-
endowed woman in a skimpy outfit. Her lips curled back in a cruel smile.
He looked up as two more figures appeared next to her. Then more. Soon, he was
completely surrounded…
By the same dark haired woman.
They looked down at him and smiled. Throwing their heads back, they let out a
victory call.
"OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
Naga's fist struck the table, causing all twenty three of her breakfast plates to jump.
"What?! She has a GANG?!"
Sitting across from her at the inn's table, Xellos sipped his tea before nodding
slowly. "Exactly. Let's see…She has an expert swordsman, a chimera, a busty sorceress,
a priestess…and then there's me. Deus ex machina!" He grinned.
The scantily clad sorceress thought for a moment, then stood up. "In that case, we
will have a gang as well!"
"Um…Why?" Xellos asked.
"If I am to rival Lina Inverse, then I must rival her in all things!" Naga cried in
explanation. "It's obvious now that not having me around to curtail her excesses has given
her an even bigger ego than she had before!" She shook her head sadly. "If she is not
stopped, she could destroy the entire world!" An image of Lina with the Earth on the end
of a fork as she licked her lips hungrily popped into her head.
"Can't have that," Xellos muttered, sipping his tea.
"Therefore! To stop this red menace, I, Naga the White Serpent, shall assemble a
band of unbeatable heroes to put an end to Lina Inverse's reign of terror!
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"Check please…" Xellos asked a passing waitress.
"Come, Side-Kick of Questionable Worth!" she cried, running for the door.
"Destiny awaits!"
Xellos sighed. "Yareyare…" In a flash, he disappeared…
Leaving the check unpaid.
"Let's see," Naga mumbled, looking over her list as they walked down the road.
"I need a swordsman, a sorceress, and a monster at least…A priestess if possible…and
whatever the hell a deus ex machina is…"
"Ah, Miss Naga!" Xellos began. "A deus ex machina is a member of your party
who shows up at just the right time to prevent a calamity."
"Right…I'll underline that twice."
"So where are we going to find these unbeatable heroes?" Xellos asked her.
"Normally, I'd use the want ads…However! This is a very important matter! We
shall conduct tryouts at the next town!"
Xellos blinked. "Tryouts?"
"In the name of the Moon…."
"Next!" Naga called out, not even waiting to hear the rest of the speech.
The girl in the fuku sighed and walked off the inn's stage. A furry creature paddled
up in her place.
"And what are you?" Naga asked, looking over her list.
"I'm an otter," the creature replied.
"And what do you do?"
"I swim around and make cute little human gestures with my hands!"
"……………Next!"
The otter paddled dejectedly away.
"Rather disappointing results, don't you think?" Xellos asked.
"Despair not, Side-Kick!" Naga told him. "Patience is a virtue I must still teach
you, it seems!"
"Er…right…" Xellos agreed.
The next candidate stepped up onto the stage. "Um…hi…" she said in greeting.
Xellos blinked in shock. "But…"
Naga only smiled. "Hello there. Just a few questions. You are a sorceress,
correct?"
"Y..yes…" the girl spoke timidly. "I need a job…and well…I don't know where
else to turn."
"You're not the original." Naga said. It wasn't a question.
"No…" The girls confessed in embarrassment. "I'm a shadow."
Naga began to chuckle under her breath. Thirty seconds later, people outside the
inn were running in fear of the noise.
"OOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
Xellos could only blink in confusion.
"Tell me, dear girl!" Naga started again. "If you join my band of heroes, will you
swear unswerving loyalty to me, me alone, and do whatever I say!?"
The girl nodded quickly. She looked incredibly nervous.
"Then I accept you into my service in the position of 'Goody Two-Shoes
Sorceress.'"
"Um…" Xellos began.
The girl's eyes lit up. "You mean…I passed?"
"That's right!" Naga told her.
"Excuse me," the Mazoku tried again.
Up on stage, Shadow Lina, the double of Lina Inverse created by the Dark Mirror,
began jumping up and down. "I DID IT! I MADE IT! I MADE IT!"
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
Xellos shook his head and gave up.
"Well! I think we should find a restaurant and allow our newest member to buy us
dinner to celebrate her being accepted into my band of heroes!" Naga announced as they
left the inn.
"I…I would, Miss Naga, but I have no money at all," Shadow Lina told her sadly.
"Very well! We'll simply deduct the cost of dinner from your first cut of loot!"
"Oh, thank you, Miss Naga!" the copy replied enthusiastically.
"Oh, I'm going to love this," Naga muttered with a grin.
"Halt!"
The three "heroes" stopped and turned to find about a dozen men in uniforms
holding swords and shields standing there.
"There she is!" one of them cried, pointing at Naga with his sword.
"Ah," Naga sighed, her hands folded over her chest. "My adoring fans…"
"You," their leader growled. "You're under arrest. Charged with multiple counts
of banditry."
"What nonsense!" Naga cried, furious. "I haven't stolen anything in more than two
months!"
"Oh please!" Shadow Lina cried, dropping to her knees before the guards. "I
know Miss Naga has done some awful things in the past…"
"Now wait a second!" the sorceress began in her defense.
"But she's not a bad person!" Shadow Lina went on. "She has a pure heart and
only wants to protect the innocent! Like bunnies!"
"Enough!" the guard captain yelled. Shadow Lina sniffled. "Naga the White
Serpent! Either come with us now or prepare yourself for battle!"
Naga arched an eyebrow. "VU VRAIMER!!" The rocks beneath her feet rose out
of the ground, hoisting her into the air as they reformed into the shape of a shirtless
gladiator thirty feet tall. She looked down at them. "Okay! I'm prepared for battle now!"
"RUN!!" one of the soldiers in the back yelled. The remaining troops dropped their
weapons and took off down the road…
All except for one.
The thin man stood before the golem and pointed his sword up at the monstrosity.
"I will not allow this injustice against mankind to continue!" he announced. "Naga the
White Serpent! I CHOOSE YOU!"
Off to the side, Xellos and Shadow Lina watched this exchange in
awe….or…boredom, depending on whether you're talking about Shadow Lina or Xellos…
Naga, however, paused and blinked. "I know that voice…"
"KI-YAH!" the guard yelled, hacking at the golem's stone foot with his sword.
"YAH! HAH! TAKE THAT! AND THAT!"
The golem sweatdropped.
"WITH MY INVINCIBLE RAZOR BLADE, YOU SHALL BE STOPPED,
MONSTER!"
Naga sighed. "Jeffrey, is that you?"
The guard paused for a moment. "Hi, Miss Naga!" he said with a wave. "I'm
sorry. I know we're old comrades and all, but I CANNOT ALLOW YOU TO FLEE
FROM JUSTICE ANY LONGER!"
"Who's fleeing?" Naga asked. "And why would I?"
"Miss Naga, it pains me to have to arrest you, but your bandit raids must be
stopped!"
"Hey! I haven't robbed anyone!….lately…" Naga told him. "This must be some
kind of mistake!"
"You think so?" Jeffrey asked. "I mean, there was only one survivor and he
described you perfectly!"
"He must be a liar! World's full of them!" Naga told him haughtily.
"Maybe….He must have been lying about the other nine you's too…"
Naga blinked. "Other nine me's?"
"Yeah. He said you and nine women who looked exactly like you attacked their
wagon full of gold bound for Boralis."
Naga felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. She gave a command, and the golem
began to disperse beneath her, returning to the earth. "And the reward for my capture?"
she asked.
Jeffrey posed theatrically. "A member of the royal guard does not expect
rewards!"
"For me, moron!" Naga growled.
*ka-POW!!*
Naga suddenly found herself under a one ton mallet.
"DID YOU CALL MY JEFFREY A MORON?!" she heard above her.
"I…Itai…"
"Well?!" the voice asked.
"Hi, wandering tourist lady!" Jeffrey greeted her. "Boy! You turn up in some of
the oddest places!"
"Hi…Josephine…" Naga ground out.
"I have no idea what's going on," Xellos confessed. He blinked. "That's never
happened to me before…"
Shadow Lina just watched, amazed.
"You mean you've been framed?!" Jeffrey asked in amazement.
Naga sniffled and dabbed at her eyes with the napkin that came with her dinner.
"That's right," she sniffed. "A horrible band of copiis have obviously taken up a life of
crime, and are using me to cover their tracks!" She buried her face in the napkin and began
to cry in earnest.
"Oh! Miss Naga!" Shadow Lina exclaimed from across the restaurant booth.
"That's horrible!"
Naga nodded as she cried. "I…I was trying to assemble a band of unbeatable
heroes to stop their awful reign of terror…" She sniffled again. "But…But now I have the
Royal Guard after me…"
"You poor woman," Jeffrey breathed sympathetically.
Sitting next to Naga, Xellos could only blink in shock…and just a touch of
admiration.
The sorceress peeked out from over the napkin and saw the masked face of
Josephine sitting at a table not far away, straining to listen. She smiled.
"I'm so unfortunate!" Naga wailed.
"This is an injustice of the lowest low!" Jeffrey declared. "Those evil copiis must
pay for their crimes against the world and against the pure-hearted Miss Naga!"
"I think I'm going to be sick," Xellos mumbled.
Naga clasped her hands in front of her and beamed. "You mean…you'll help me?!"
"I'll do whatever I can to assist you in your fight against evil, Miss Naga," Jeffrey
said with a heroic smile and a sagely nod. "By my sword, Razor Blade, I swear it."
"Then….Will you join my band of unbeatable heroes?!" Naga asked, pouring the
sugar on.
Xellos nearly spit up a mouthful of tea.
Jeffrey nodded. "I will!"
Shadow Lina clasped her hands in front of her and gasped in joyful admiration.
Naga smiled.
"OOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"Eh…Miss Naga?" Xellos began as they walked down the road towards the next
town. "While I do understand the world is facing a labor shortage at the moment, I don't
see how our young Jeffrey counts as an 'unbeatable hero.'"
Naga sniffed. "Once again, you refuse to look beyond the moment, Side-Kick," she
said condescendingly. Xellos let it slide for the sake of getting an answer. "Jeffrey has…"
She paused suddenly and looked from side to side fearfully. "Um….Perfectly normal and
justifiable weaknesses," she finished, cringing. A second passed, and nothing happened,
so she went on. "But with the acquisition of Jeffrey, we can scratch both 'swordsman' and
'horrific monster' off our shopping list."
"We can?" the Mazoku asked.
"Indeed, for where ever young Jeffrey goes, a certain tourist lady is always sure to
follow." She winked.
Xellos sighed and wondered how long he'd have to wait before he could be
reasonably sure that Metallium would be over him allowing the trees of Zarak Tor to slip
through his fingers.
A century, maybe?
Not long at all….
Behind the two leaders of their band, Jeffrey walked proudly, head held high and
one hand on the hilt of his sword as every warrior should. Walking next to him, Shadow
Lina kept glancing between him and the ground and back again.
He saw her do this again and turned, smiling at her. "Hi," he said. "My name's
Jeffrey."
Shadow Lina blushed. "Um…I'm…I'm Lina…."
"Yeah, I know. But you're not the actual, Lina, right?" he asked curiously.
"I'm…I'm a shadow…Like a copii…only I'm her exact opposite."
"Wow!" Jeffrey breathed. "I could sort of tell. I met Miss Lina and Miss Naga
before, and she's nothing like you are. She was kind of mean, you know?"
Shadow Lina blushed again. "Um…I just wanted to tell you…"
Jeffrey blinked and waited.
Finally, the shadow sorceress turned to him. "I think what you did back in town
was the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life!" she suddenly cried. She turned away
again and went back to fidgeting nervously.
Jeffrey smiled. "All in a day's work for a hero like me!" he bragged.
"And…And then…when you heard Miss Naga's horrible story…" she said
quietly, "The way you…you rushed forward to help her….I…I think that was very brave
and noble…"
It was Jeffrey's turn to blush. "Thanks," he said.
"Ugh!" Naga cried, throwing a look back at the two newest members of her band.
"If Lina were here, she'd kill herself," she muttered.
"And probably commit suicide right afterwards!" Xellos threw in with a smile.
The White Serpent went back to checking her list. "All we need now is a deus ex
machina and a priestess." She clenched a fist. "Then we can go back, beat those copii
me's, and claim the reward for myself…er…ourselves! OOOOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
"How is it that ten copiis of you were made, anyway?" Xellos asked.
"Hmmph!" Naga replied with a smile, tossing her hair back. "A scientist/artist
brought them into the world so that my beauty could be shared with the masses."
"And now they're robbing carts," Xellos mused.
"They've obviously gone astray," Naga bit out. "Now, where do I find both a deus
ex machina AND a priestess? There are probably more troops and bounty hunters on their
way! If we take too long, one of THEM will get the reward money!"
Xellos thought for a moment and smiled. "I think I know someone."
"Oh?"
He nodded. "Yes…She'll do just nicely, I think."
"A friend of yours?" she asked him.
"Of course! There are none closer in this world than she and I!" the Mazoku
bragged.
"FILTHY NAMAGOMIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!" Filia cried, swinging her mace.
Xellos disappeared suddenly, and the mace found only dead air. Shadow Lina
squeaked and ducked under the bulky weapon. The Mazoku reappeared behind the blonde
and smiled. "Ah, Miss Filia! It's such a delight to see you again!"
The golden dragon growled. "Miss Lina! Why do you insist on traveling with such
trash?!" she asked.
"Who? Me?!" Shadow Lina asked. "I just met him!"
Filia blinked. She looked around and found that Lina had shown up on her door not
only Xellos, but a dark haired woman she'd never seen before, and a tall, lanky man as thin
as a rail. Where was Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis?
She turned back to Xellos. "How did you find me, anyway? I just moved to this
continent! No one knows I'm here yet!"
Xellos grinned. "Now, now, Filia san. Just because you don't see Mazoku doesn't
mean we aren't there. Of course we're keeping tabs on little ValGaav. We can't have a
repeat of what happened last time, with that whole destroy the world thing…unless WE'RE
doing it, of course. It'd get cliché!"
Filia growled.
"Allow me to introduce myself," the dark woman began. "I am Naga the White
Serpent!"
"Hi, I'm Jeffrey," the young man added with a wave.
"Jeffrey, please allow the leader of the band to do the negotiating," Naga reminded
him. "Now then, Miss Filia. Xellos tells me that you're a golden dragon."
"That's right. What about it?"
"Oneechan? Is everything okay?" a fox asked from another doorway, holding an
egg in his arms.
"Everything's fine, Jiras," Filia assured him.
"My, my, my," Xellos remarked, appearing next to the fox man. Suddenly, the
foot-long egg was no longer in his hands. Jiras cried out as Xellos disappeared,
reappearing behind Jeffrey with the egg. "Is this little ValGaav? My, how he's grown!"
Filia went pale. "Give him back, namagomi!" she shrieked.
"Aww! I just wanted to hold him!" Xellos pouted, spinning the egg on the end of
his finger.
"STOP THAT!!" Filia screamed.
"Oh, all right," Xellos surrendered, giving the egg back to Jiras.
"Er…Anyway," Naga continued. "We'd like to hire you on to join my band of
unbeatable heroes! Since you would be bringing rare and special talents, you would be
entitled to twenty percent of all loot gained in our travels."
"You came out here…to pitch a job?" Filia asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Exactly," Naga said with a nod.
Filia started to rub her temples. "Look, I appreciate the offer, however, I have to
look after little Val, and quite frankly, the thought of traveling with Xellos farther than the
local cemetery makes me ill."
Xellos smiled and blew her a kiss.
"ARRGH!"
"I see. You need some time to think," Naga told her.
"Actually, I need for you to leave," Filia told her point blank. "And please take
your scruffy-looking, pompous, egomaniacal Mazoku dog with you."
"Hey!" Xellos replied with a frown. "I am NOT scruffy-looking!" He faced off
with Filia and smiled. "Very well, Filia…You give me no choice…If you don't agree to
come with us right now…"
Filia folded her arms over her chest and waited.
Xellos grabbed Shadow Lina and pushed her towards Filia. "Then Shadow Lina
here is going to cry!"
Naga and Filia both hit the floor.
"Please…Miss Dragon Lady…" Shadow Lina began with a sniffle. "I know it's a
terrible inconvenience….but…but we really need your help…"
"Get out!"
The door slammed shut behind them.
"She just needs a little time," Naga said assuredly.
"Oh, indeed. She was starting to waver. I could tell," Xellos agreed. The band
began to walk down the street.
Shadow Lina sniffled. "I failed Miss Naga," she muttered. "She was counting on
me to talk Miss Dragon Lady into coming with us, and I let her down." She sniffed again.
"Oh, don't worry," Jeffrey assured her. "After all, Miss Naga and Mister Xellos
don't look mad or anything."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Shadow Lina said, smiling a little. "Thanks, Jeffrey."
"Come on. Let's catch up." The two started running down the street after Naga
and Xellos.
Unknown to them, someone watched them. Standing on the roof of Filia's tea shop,
a man in simple crimson robes and grey, swept-back hair observed their movements. He
watched the redhead and the young man run off together and smiled.
"Finally," he breathed. "Lina Inverse." The man took a breath. "Astral Phase," he
chanted.
A moment later, there was nothing on Filia's roof but birds.
"Okay, so we'll just have to make do without," Naga announced as the band sat
around the campfire. The White Serpent sucked down another fish and placed the bones in
the fire. "Now, there's one last thing we need," she told them.
Xellos, Jeffrey, and Shadow Lina listened closely.
"A name!"
The three of them sweatdropped.
"Now, I have been doing some heavy thinking on the matter, and have come up with
the perfect name with which to go into battle." Naga stood up and posed theatrically. "We
are….THE SLAYERS!!!"
"Taken!" Xellos announced from his seat between sips of tea.
Naga hit the ground. She crawled up to Xellos and brushed the hair from her eyes.
"What?! My perfect, beautiful name!? The one I spent hours coming up with?! Taken?!"
The Mazoku nodded. "Exactly."
The sorceress fainted.
"How about, 'The Flaming Heroes?!'" Jeffrey suggested.
"Yeah!" Shadow Lina cried, clapping in delight.
Naga recovered and went face to face with the man. "THERE WILL BE NO
FLAMING IN MY BAND OF UNBEATABLE HEROES!!!"
"I like it," Shadow Lina threw in.
"It's the stupidest name I've ever heard in my life!" Naga cried. Her eyes went
wide. "Oh god…"
Xellos put his tea down and blinked. "Does anyone else hear that whistling?"
The White Serpent sighed. "I do…"
WHAM!!!
Xellos, Jeffrey, and Shadow Lina jumped, startled, as a mallet held by a large
woman in a mask fell from the sky and smashed Naga into the ground.
"DID YOU CALL MY PRECIOUS JEFFREY'S IDEA STUPID?!"
"Hi, tourist lady!" Jeffrey said happily. "Would you like some dinner?"
The woman was suddenly tip toeing away as fast as she could. "Oh, no, thank you,
dear! I was just on my way to the theatre when I heard the commotion! Ta ta!"
Then she was gone.
"I wonder where the theatre is?" Shadow Lina asked, blinking in puzzlement.
Naga, by this time, had dug herself out of the hole Josephine's mallet had made and
was nursing her new headache.
Maybe hiring Jeffrey wasn't such a good idea after all…
"Terminators?"
"Taken."
"Justice League?"
"Taken," Xellos told her.
"The Wanderers!"
"Taken…"
"Damn!" Naga cursed as they walked. "What cool names AREN'T taken?!"
Xellos thought for a moment. "Light Warriors?"
"Now I KNOW that one's taken…"
Shadow Lina suddenly stopped and looked out before them. There was a town only
about a mile down the road. She blinked. There was a cloud of dust moving towards the
town from another direction…
Straining her ears, she could make out a sound…
"oooohohoohohohohoho!!!"
"THIS IS NOT WHAT I ORDERED!" Lina screamed at the chef. "I ordered items
A through Double Q! Triple portions! This is item Double R! AND I HATE SLUG
SOUFLE!!!"
Zelgadis sighed. "Lina, it's really not that…"
Lina threw a look of pure venom at him.
"What do you plan to do about this?!" Zelgadis demanded of the chef.
Standing at the back of the group, Amelia sighed. "Miss Lina has sure been cranky
ever since that day at the cottage," she muttered to herself. "I hope she gets over it soon."
"WHAT WAS THAT, AMELIA?!"
"Ah! Nothing, Miss Lina!" the princess cried, holding her hands out to to fight off
any fireballs Lina might throw her way in her wrath.
"oooohohohohohooo…."
"Ooooohohohohohoho…"
"OOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOOHOOO!!!"
Amelia turned to the window just as a huge cloud of dust went by. She blinked and
shook her head, turning back to the battle at hand.
"NOT ONLY DO I WANT A REFUND, I WANT FREE MEALS FOR THE REST
OF THE YEAR!!" Lina continued.
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
Outside, behind the princess' back, the Flaming Heroes ran by, Naga in the lead.
Amelia turned quickly to the sound and ran to the window. She looked down the
road at the backs of four figures, but couldn't make them out.
She thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"Nah…Couldn't be…"
"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOO!!"
Naga laughed as she continued her pursuit. She could just make out the dust cloud in front
of her. "No copii can outrun the TRUE Naga the White Serpent!"
"Miss Naga! Wait up!" Shadow Lina begged as she ran, beginning to fall behind.
Jeffrey had unsheathed Razor Blade and was pointing it at the cloud. "HALT, EVIL
COPII NAGAS! HALT AND FACE JUSTICE'S WRATH!!"
Running alongside Naga, having no trouble keeping pace, Xellos smiled. "I trust
now that we've found these sorceresses, you have a plan?"
"Well…."
The Mazoku grinned.
The sorceress frowned at him. "Well, they're OBVIOUSLY on their way back to
their hideout! We'll just follow them right to their base! This way, we get the reward
money, AND their loot! OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"A plan worthy of your genius," Xellos sighed.
"I SAID HALT!!" Jeffrey shouted, beginning to pant.
"It looks like they're entering that forest," Xellos pointed out.
True enough, the dust cloud was disappearing into a grove of trees.
"Of course! Where else would I put a secret hideout! ONWARD!!
OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!" She put on speed and continued her pursuit.
Nagaichi, the self-appointed leader of the White Serpents Gang, looked over her
shoulder and saw a small cloud of dust in the distance behind them. She adjusted the sack
of loot she held over her shoulder and turned to Nagani, her second in command.
"We're being followed," she told her.
Nagani looked back and nodded. "We can lose them in the forest!"
"They'll get so turned around in there, they'll never find their way out!" Nagasan
agreed.
"They'll rue the day they thought they could outsmart Naga the White Serpent!"
Nagayon spoke up.
"OOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" the gang chorused.
"Into the trees!" Nagaichi ordered.
The sorceress gang entered the dark forest, Ledendestra…
Jeffrey panted and rested against the side of a tree. "Halt….evildoe…" He broke
off and puked.
"Ah! Lord Jeffrey! Are you okay?" Shadow Lina asked, running up to him.
Naga and Xellos stopped and checked the tracks. "From these tracks…I can tell
only one thing for certain," Naga intoned, her voice deadly serious.
They all waited for her to finish.
The true White Serpent stood up, posed, and pointed. "THEY WENT THAT
WAY!!!"
The rest of the gang hit the ground hard.
"Um…Miss Naga, we kind of knew THAT," Jeffrey told her.
"Then why did you stop?" Naga asked. With that, she dashed into the forest after
her copiis.
Xellos smacked his forehead and grit his teeth. Shadow Lina watched Naga run off
in awe. "She's so courageous," she whispered.
"Wait! Miss Naga!" Jeffrey shouted, huffing after her. "Wait for me!"
"Jeffrey! Wait!" Shadow Lina cried, running after him.
Xellos took a breath and started muttering to himself. "It's only temporary. It's
only temporary. It's only temporary…"
He walked into the forest after Naga.
Naga stopped as she came to a fork in the forest path. She looked for tracks, but
couldn't find any on the ground before her. Her eyes narrowed.
"Miss Nagaaaaaaaaa!!!!"
She turned and found Jeffrey, Shadow Lina, and Xellos running toward her. Putting
her finger to her lips, she hmm'd in thought. How to decide which way to go…
Xellos hmm'd as well, except that he did it while looking through a guidebook.
Naga blinked. "Where did you get that?"
The Mazoku smiled. "Ah, this? I picked it up as we were dashing through that
town. I thought it might come in handy. See? It has a map and…" He was cut off as Naga
snatched the book from him and read the map portion. After several seconds, she pointed
to the right.
"We shall go this way!"
"Um…Miss Naga…" Xellos began.
"Why that way?" Shadow Lina peeped.
"Because it's EXACTLY the way I'd go if I were them!"
"Miss Naga…" Xellos tried again.
"ONWARD!! OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!" Naga laughed as she ran down
the path.
"FLAMING HEROES AWAY!!" Jeffrey called, following her.
"Um…Yay…" Shadow Lina meekly called out, giving pursuit.
Xellos watched them go. He shook his head and sighed. "Forget it. I'm watching
this one from the sidelines." In a flash he was gone.
The three unbeatable heroes, meanwhile, continued down the path…
Right up until it stopped…
With a cliff.
Shadow Lina backpedaled, almost going over the edge. Naga put her hands on her
hips and smiled. Jeffrey looked puzzled.
"Um…Miss Naga…I don't get it."
"Of course not, Jeffrey."
"Um…You said this is the way you'd go if you were them, right?"
"That's right."
"And this cliff was in Mister Xellos' guidebook, right?"
"Correct again," she told him.
"So….Why exactly would you go in this direction?"
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" Naga laughed. "For precisely this reason!
This is the exact spot I'd choose if I were going to ambush someone chasing me!"
"WHAT?!" Shadow Lina and Jeffrey cried.
"FREEEEEEZE…."
"FREEEEEZE…"
The word echoed around them eight more times.
"Right on time!" Naga cried.
"ARROW!!!!"
The three ducked to one side as ten freeze arrows from ten different directions
flashed out of the forest around them and struck the ground where they had been standing!
Xellos appeared in a tree branch not far away, holding his staff in one hand and a
forty ounce Big Gulp soft-drink in the other. He watched the ice arrows hit the ground,
forming patches of thick ice near the cliff edge.
"Oooh!" he murmured, taking another sip from his drink. He settled in to watch.
Naga landed nimbly on her feet. "FREEEEEZE ARROW!"
A shaft of ice leapt from her hands and struck a tree, freezing the trunk and working
its way up to the leaves. One of the copii Naga's jumped down and faced off with her.
Three more copiis jumped out of their hiding places and faced Jeffrey. The young
man held his sword up and grimaced. "CHARGE!!!" he yelled running toward them! He
took a swipe at one, who deftly stepped aside and gave him a kick. Jeffrey fell on his face,
surrounded by the three Naga's.
"OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!" they laughed.
"My god! He's pathetic!" Naganana commented.
"I'll say! What a clutz!" Nagahachi replied.
A cold wind blew past them.
"WHAT!? WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT MY JEFFREY!?"
The three sorceresses looked up to see a large, masked woman with a mallet flying
towards them out of the forest!
"WHAT THE…"
"MOTHERLY LOVE FLYING ATTACK!!!" Josephine screamed, using the
handle of her mallet to flatten the three copiis as she flew through them. The Naga's went
flying.
Jeffrey sat up and rubbed his head. "Wow…What was that?"
Another copii inched up behind him. "FREEZE…"
Shadow Lina gasped. "Jeffrey!" She pointed at the Naga and shut her eyes.
"FIREBALL!"
A ball of flame shot from her hands and struck the ground at the copii's feet.
Nagajuu went flying through the air.
Shadow Lina blinked. "Hey….I got one!" she cried.
"FREEEEEZE…"
"FLAAAARE…"
"ARROW!" Naga and Nagaichi cried at once, releasing their attacks at one
another. The two bolts deflected harmlessly and detonated to either side.
"Hmmm…" Naga said with a lazy smile. "You're obviously the leader…"
Nagaichi grinned. "How could you tell?"
Naga pointed at her. "BECAUSE ONLY THE LEADER WOULD DARE TAKE
ON HER PROGENITOR!!!"
"FREEEEZE…."
"FIIIIIIRE…"
"BRID!"
"BALL!"
Once again, the attacks deflected one another.
Xellos sipped and watched. "Hmmm….Now would probably be a good time for
the deus ex machina to show up…"
More Naga's were jumping from the trees.
Shadow Lina cried out as she was thrown forward by a blast from a Flare Arrow.
"Lina! I'll save you!" Jeffrey cried. He rushed forward.
Two Naga's smiled. "BEPHIS BRING!" they cried, striking the ground with their
palms.
The earth opened up in front of Jeffrey. "AUUUGHH!!!" He blinked and looked
up at the entrance of the newly formed crater. "Hey, where'd this hole come from?!"
"VICE FREEZE!"
"BURST FLARE!"
The two spells struck each other, exploding into a thick fog. Naga looked about,
trying to find her opponent.
"FREEZE ARROW!"
Naga leapt back as the ice arrow landed where she had been standing. "BURST
RONDO!!!" A thousand tiny fireballs flew from her hands into the fog bank. She heard
something above her and looked up to see her copii flying towards her.
"FLARE ARROW!"
Naga didn't have time for a counterspell. She leapt to the left as the arrow
exploded next to her, knocking her off her feet.
Nagaichi stood over her and smiled. "OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!"
"Er…You know…if you were really my copy, you'd invite me to join your gang,"
Naga said.
Nagaichi smiled. "No, I wouldn't." She pointed down. "FLAAAARE…."
A flash of gold appeared over the copii's shoulder. She turned quickly.
"What the…"
A golden dragon flapped her wings as she flew to a hover over the cliff. She
opened her mouth, a ball of energy collecting there.
"Oh crap!" Naga whimpered, diving to one side.
The Laser Breath shot from the dragon's mouth, carving up the cliff like a roast.
Copii Naga's screamed and ran about, trying to hide, but the explosive force from the
attack knocked them off their feet and into tree trunks or onto the ground, knocking most of
them out.
"Hey! What's going on up there?!" Jeffrey called from his hole.
Shadow Lina cried as she was tossed into the hole with him by another laser blast.
Naga stared up at the dragon in genuine awe.
Xellos clapped his hands. "Let's hear it for the o'l deus ex machina!"
The dragon landed on the cliff, obviously royally pissed…
"XELLOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed. She
gathered up more power and fired, leveling every tree in a one mile radius.
Xellos eeked and disappeared, reappearing at the base of his tree. "Ow…" he
muttered.
"WHERE ARE YOU, NAMAGOMI!!!!???" the dragon screamed. "COME OUT
HERE SO I CAN TEAR THE SKIN OFF YOUR BODY!!!"
"Hmmm…" Xellos remarked. "I hope that doesn't feel the way it sounds…" He
stepped out from the tree line. Naga was helping Jeffrey and Shadow Lina out of the hole,
while several copii Naga's lay about, singed and unconscious.
The dragon looked down at the Mazoku and growled.
"Er…Hello there, Filia chan!" Xellos greeted with a wave. "What brings you out
here?"
In a flash of light, the dragon shrank down to the human form of Filia Ul Copt. She
grit her teeth and marched up to Xellos, her mace in her hand. "Give him back THIS
INSTANT!" she ordered.
"'Him?'" Naga asked.
"VAL! THIS NAMAGOMI MONSTER TOOK HIM AND REPLACED HIM
WITH THIS CHEAP, PAPER MACHE EGG!!!" Filia cried, showing them the dummy
egg.
"Oh! That!" Xellos said as if it suddenly dawned on him. He reached into his
robes and removed the real egg. "I thought he might benefit from the field trip, so I…"
Filia reached out and snatched ValGaav's egg from him, cuddling it to her chest.
"There there, little Val…" she cooed.
"On another note, it appears that we've won," Xellos commented, scratching his
head.
"You sound surprised," Naga told him smugly.
"Closer to astonished, actually," the Mazoku confessed.
The sorceress smiled. "OOOOOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!!!!"
The man in crimson observed the melee through a telescope from another cliff not
too far away. It was a good thing Lina Inverse had survived. He knew she was his best
hope for finding what he sought.
All he had to do now, was get to her.
The sack of gold coins made a heavy thud as they hit the table in front of her. Filia
looked up and saw Naga smiling down at her. "As promised, your twenty percent."
"I wasn't working for you," Filia reminded her. "I was looking for little Val."
She rocked the egg in her arms to emphasize this point.
"You know…" Naga began, sitting across from the golden dragon. "An egg is easy
to take care of…"
"And how would…"
"Hear me out," the sorceress interrupted, already shifting into her negotiation
mode. "It doesn't eat. It doesn't need diapers. Or milk. It doesn't need money for
school…But eventually, he will."
Filia blinked.
"Now, this money would go a long way toward helping that goal, wouldn't it?"
Naga asked her. "More would help with clothes, food, diapers, a college fund…"
The dragon looked down at the coins. Naga smiled.
"Um…Just what is it you're asking me?" Filia questioned.
"Join our band of heroes!" the White Serpent told her. "I guarantee you a
continued twenty percent fee, plus bonuses if the treasure is especially large!"
Filia thought about it. "But…What about Val?"
"Lots of mothers work!" Naga waved the question aside. "And wouldn't it be
better to work now, get the money for his future while he's…well…oblivious…then have
to go out and earn it while he's a child…" She sniffled dramatically. "Yearning for the
attention of a mother who can't be there because of her job…" She began to cry.
"MOMMY! WHERE ARE YOU?!" she wailed.
The dragon sighed. "I can quit anytime I want?"
"Guaranteed!" Naga assured her with a grin. "If you ever miss little Val, you can
just up and go! We'll understand!"
Filia bit her lip. A lot of what this woman said made sense….surprisingly enough.
She sighed. "Very well. For the time being, I'll accompany you."
"HOT DAMN!"
"I'll ask Milgasia and the golden dragons at Katart to look after Val's egg," Filia
said sadly.
"You won't regret this, Filia! I promise!"
Shadow Lina tightened the towel around her body and started down the inn's hall
toward the hot springs in the back. She decided to splurge a little with the ten percent Miss
Naga had paid her from the reward money and get a decent room near the springs.
She hummed to herself as she walked, but stopped dead in her tracks when she
sensed something behind her.
"Lina Inverse…"
Shadow Lina screamed!
Jeffrey was in his room polishing his Razor Blade and basking in the afterglow of a
hardly won battle. He added a few more drops of polish to the rag…
That's when he heard Shadow Lina scream.
"LINA!" He jumped and rushed out the door. Turning he saw a strange man
dressed in red standing near the sorceress. "FLAMING JEFFREY ATTACK!!!" he
screamed, raising Razor Blade over his head and running toward the man.
The man didn't even turn. A shield popped up around him, knocking the skinny
warrior back.
"Jeffrey!" Shadow Lina cried, on her knees in fright.
"Ahem!"
They looked up and found Naga and Filia standing not far away. Filia's mace was
in her hand, and Naga had a Freeze Arrow nocked and ready.
"Hi there," she remarked.
"I have no business with you," the man told her.
"Oh, but you're speaking to one of MY employees," Naga told him.
"I mean her no harm," the crimson man assured her. "I wish only to ask a
question."
"Then you really are talking to the wrong woman," the sorceress informed him.
"I'M her manager. If you want something from her, you talk to me."
The man seemed to consider this. "Very well," he said calmly. "I require
information. I am, of course, willing to pay for it."
"How much?"
"One hundred."
"Three, not a gold penny less," Naga told him.
The crimson man took an annoyed breath. "Agreed."
Naga smiled and held out her hand. The man blinked in surprise. "Up front," she
told him,
"Absurd! What if she doesn't know?"
"Then you're going to be awfully disappointed."
He growled. "Fine." He tossed her a sack of gold coins.
Naga smiled and lowered the Freeze Arrow. "You may ask her your question."
"Thank you," the man said with disdain. He turned to Shadow Lina. "Lina
Inverse, I have only one question for you."
Shadow Lina bit her nails and nodded fearfully.
"Where can I find Zelgadis Greywords?"
Naga's breath caught in her throat.
Shadow Lina shrugged. "I dunno…"
The man hit the floor. He climbed to his feet. "What do you mean, you don't
know?!" he cried. "He's traveled with you for more than three years now!"
"No he hasn't!" Shadow Lina cried tearfully. "And don't yell at me!" She curled
up into a ball.
"You're scaring her!" Jeffrey cried. "Leave her alone! Or taste the vengeance of
my Razor Blade!"
The crimson man grit his teeth. "Lying to me won't…"
"I'm not lying! I don't know who you're talking about!" Shadow Lina sniffled.
"Wha…"
"Um…Mister," Jeffrey began helpfully. "I think you have the wrong Lina Inverse.
This one is a copii…"
"I'm a shadow! Not a copii!" she cried.
"Uh…sorry…" Jeffrey said lamely.
"A…a SHADOW?!" the growled. "All this time…I was tracking…A
SHADOW!?"
Shadow Lina sniffed and nodded.
The man sighed and shook his head. "Thank you for your time," he growled.
"Astral Phase."
Before Naga could ask a question of her own, the man was out of sight.
"Who was that?" Filia asked.
"A very mean man!" Shadow Lina wept.
(Whoever he is,) Naga thought. (He's looking for Stony…)
"What should we do, Miss Naga?" Jeffrey asked.
The White Serpent looked down at the sack of coins. (He was willing to pay an
awful lot for just his location. He wants Zelgadis pretty bad…) She raised her head. "Get
some sleep. We're leaving early tomorrow," she told them.
"Where to?" Shadow Lina asked.
Naga smiled despite how she REALLY felt…
"We're going to find Zelgadis Greywords before the man in the red carpet does."
With that, she walked to her room and shut the door.
She bit her lip. Despite the bravado, she was worried. In the short time she had
known him, Zelgadis and Sylphiel had become her friends. And she knew he had enemies
now after what happened at Zarak Tor.
(Could the Wind Dragon King be looking for him? But if so, why ask about Stony
and not Sylphiel, who actually DESTROYED the island?)
There was no way to know. She collapsed on her bed and stared up at the ceiling.
(Be careful, Stony, Sylphiel…) she thought.
(Trouble's coming.)
The crimson man waved his hand over a basin of water. In a few seconds, a human
face with inhuman, yellow eyes was looking back at him from the water.
"Well?" the man in the basin asked.
"There is a delay. My lead turned out to be false."
"I see," the man with yellow eyes commented. "But you WILL find him, correct?"
The crimson man nodded. "The method of locating him remains unchanged. Find
Lina Inverse and find Zelgadis Greywords."
"I have others looking for her now. She'll turn up. Her reputation won't allow for
anything else."
The crimson man nodded. "I'll report again when I have news."
The man in the basin's face disappeared. The crimson man looked out the window
of his room.
(You can't hide forever, Zelgadis Greywords…)
To Be Continued…
Please send flames to Davner, at doscher009@hotmail.com
Thanks for reading! ^_^ \/