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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 20:21:58 -0500
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Chapter 3: A Forced Retreat
...In Which the Enemy is Met
Zelas Metallium stood before the other leaders of the Mazoku, trying to
make the others see her point. The others consisted of way too few for her
liking- along with her were the two other surviving vassals of Shabradnigo,
and no more than a half-dozen priests and generals that lead the real
force. Xelloss' sudden resignation from her services- something which had
downright shocked her- had weakened their strength even more. If it had
not been for the destruction of almost the entire race of Golden Dragons a
few months beforehand, the Mazoku would be in serious trouble. For the
moment, however, they still had the upper hand in their war. And this
council was in session to figure out how to KEEP the upper hand.
"I realize that most of you are reluctant to take any form of direct action
against humanity, but this is not a case where we can sit out. Not
fighting now might be a fatal mistake. Besides, this would NOT be an
all-out war, just a minor conflict. Furthermore, the three surviving
Dragon Lords would not involve themselves in a conflict involving just a
few dozen humans and one single dragon. It must take something VERY large
to draw them out, now- even the entrance of Dark Star into the world, which
resulted in our temporary truce, didn't get them to move. But if we move
our entire force, however, they might panic and strike against us."
"We will have to pick our targets very carefully," Dynast noted. "'A few
dozen' may be too many. Who, specifically, should we strike against?"
Zelas smiled. "Well, of course the answer to that is simple. Lina Inverse
must be punished for destroying both a part of Shabradnigo and Hellmaster,
and revenge against her would be the perfect excuse while we pursue our
TRUE target. What she did to Dark Star should not be ignored, either-
while we were with her in that battle, we still should not forget that she,
a mere human, was the one who defeated Dark Star- her powers boosted by
others or not. A human of that strength should not be allowed to live.
And if several of her companions get in the way- like the former swordsman
of light- well, too bad for them."
Many smirks showed amoung the faces of those present. Dynast had one more
question. "And the dragon? Which dragon are we targeting?"
Zelas laughed. "Well, we'd really be killing two dragons with one blow.
Filia, the last of the Golden Dragons, must be destroyed." Her eyes
narrowed. "And she must be destroyed NOW, before she can bring Valgaav, a
member of the Ancient Dragon race, to maturity. Valgaav could EASILY shift
the balance of power in their favor, with no problem. For our own
survival, two Dragon races must be obliterated."
* * * * *
"*Flare Arrow!*"
A two-inch long needle-thin spark of magic, glowing pink, formed, and,
after a few seconds delay, slowly moved along the fifty meter stretch
between the wielder's hands and the target.
Lina twitched. "Pink? Gourry, I don't even WANT to know how you managed
to turn magic that color, but that's not even CLOSE to how that spell's
supposed to go. Now remember, when you're just learning a spell like this
you're going to HAVE to recite the words slowly, and fo-"
She was cut off when the pink needle of energy hit the bullseye. The
resulting explosion, which completely obliterated the target (and
everything another fifty yards behind said target) shook the ground so hard
she was knocked off her feet, tumbling into him as he bent over to cover
her from the debris. Usually, it wouldn't have been a bad way to fall, but
unfortunately her head collided with the hard steel of his shoulder armor.
"Ouch!" she hissed.
"Lina! Are you all right?" he asked hurriedly, hoping desperately that she
wasn't hurt seriously.
"Yeah... just bumped my head," she replied, wincing. She smiled up at him
through the pain. "If you want, you could try a healing spell again. I
think you almost got it right last time."
Gourry shook his head. "You'd better do it. Besides, I want to know what
I did wrong with that Flare Arrow before I move on to learning that healing
spell."
Lina looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Gourry... that spell you just
cast looked like the wimpiest attack spell I've ever seen, and it travelled
so slow that I would have been able to cast a Giga Slave after it left your
hands, and STILL have time to get out of the way... but that's a damn good
attack spell, if your opponent isn't moving much. Think you can do the
same thing again?"
Gourry blinked. "Uh... maybe."
Lina gestured loosely in the direction of the now incinerated target range.
"Try."
He closed his eyes, gathered the power into his hands, and started chanting
under his breath. He stopped, snapped his eyes open, and cried out two
final words. "*Flare Arrow!*" he cast.
Again, a pink needle appeared, and started moving towards the forest behind
the one-time target range. About a minute later, the explosion rocked the
ground beneath them, and another large tract of once-ancient forest was
obliterated.
Lina nodded. "It's not a Flare Arrow, really, but it's a damn good
original spell. Don't ever forget it, 'kay? If you do, expect a Dragon
Slave down your throat."
Gourry sweatdropped. "Uh... right."
While Lina hadn't initially planned to have him learn any attack spells,
Gourry had mastered the levitation spell much faster than she'd expected
(thanks in part to Zelgadis and Amelia helping him while she continued her
'research') and they still had several days prepaid for the instructor that
they'd hired. Still not comfortable with said instructors methods for
teaching healing techniques, Lina suggested Gourry learn something else.
The instructor, knowing of the lifestyle that they lead, figured a simple
attack spell might be rather useful for him. The final lesson was over,
and Gourry was showing what he'd learned in a hastilly erected target
facility about three hours outside of Femille- Amelia didn't want Gourry to
accidentally hit anyone.
Amelia and Zelgadis, who had been watching from a safely entrenched
magically-protected bunker, emerged and approached Gourry.
"That has to be one of the stupidest looking attack I've ever seen...
pretty powerful, though," Zelgadis commented.
"Congradulations, Gourry!" Amelia cheered. "That was impressive... even if
it didn't quite act like it was supposed to."
Lina nodded. "Now all we need is to find you a sword... and maybe get your
healing spell working."
"Gourry doesn't have a sword?" an unexpected voice arose, it's owner
obscured from view by the bunker. "I was hoping to have a sparring match
with him, but I guess that's not possible at the moment, is it?"
Lina's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as said owner rounded the
corner of the bunker to approach the foursome. "Zangulus?!" she squeaked
incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was just dragged along (against my will) by several of your
friends and associates in an attempt to find you, actually," he said.
"They're right behind me."
"Long time, no see, Lina!" Martina shouted, following her husband into the
clearing and grabbing hold of his arm.
Vrumagum approached behind Martina and bowed. "It will be nice to work
with you in person, this time, and not to work against you through copies
of myself."
Xelloss phased in on top of the bunker. "Hello, Lina. Did you miss me?"
"I don't know why I was dragged along to work with that piece of raw
garbage again, but it's nice to see you, Lina," Filia said as she, too,
teleported in, holding the egg of Valgaav.
"Gourry, it's been so long," Sylphiel said softly, announcing her presence.
"Martina... Vrumagum... Xelloss... Filia... SYLPHIEL?" Lina cried,
startled. "What are all of you doing here?"
"Oh, we aren't the only ones you'd be surprised to see," Xelloss said.
"Though why those other two haven't shown up yet, I don't know." He
blinked. "Oh, never mind- there they are."
Lina felt someone tapping her on the shoulder and spun around. "Hi!" Luna
greeted.
Lina fell backwards, her eyes now taking up most of her face, and started
pushing herself away from the new arrival. "B- B- B- B- BIG SIS!" she
cried in shock. As she slid back, she ran into the legs of someone else.
"Well, hello, my trusty sidekick. It's been a while since you've faced me,
your greatest rival. OOOOH HO HO HO HO HO!"
Shocked added onto shock for Lina. "Na- Na- Na- NAGA!"
Gourry scratched his head in confusion. "Um... I don't recognize half of
these people. Who is everyone?"
Zelgadis just rolled his eyes and walked over to Xelloss. "Excuse me,
but... what's going on?"
Xelloss smirked at him. "That... is a secret. For now, at any rate." His
smirk left his face. "Actually, even I'm not entirely sure- I haven't been
told WHY I was supposed to gather all of these people. I was just told to
do so."
Amelia, meanwhile, was experiencing a form of shock of her own. "Gracia?
Is it you?" she asked breathlessly.
It was then, for the first time, that Naga started to notice the presence
of people other than Lina. "Amelia?" she said, stunned. "You and Lina
know each other?"
Amelia nodded. "We've worked together a lot to further the cause of
justice!" she explained enthusiastically.
Naga twitched. "You sound just like dad, you know?"
Amelia smiled. "Thanks, sis!"
"SIS!?" Lina cried, still very nerve-wracked.
"That wasn't a compliment, Amelia," Naga sighed.
Luna walked over to her sister and gave her a hand up. "Surprised?"
Lina looked over at her sister and blinked. "Okay, let's see. Xelloss is
here, Naga's here, YOU'RE here, AMELIA AND NAGA ARE SISTERS! Which, of
course, means that NAGA'S A PRINCESS OF SAILOON! Why WOULD I be
surprised?"
Luna smirked, and patted Lina on the head. The younger sibling twitched.
"Poor sis," the elder sibling said.
Gourry approached them. "Lina, what's going on? Who are all these
people?" Lina said nothing, twitching from time to time. "Lina?" he
repeated, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. She still
didn't say anything.
"Look, slugs!" Luna said loudly.
Lina screeched. "SLUUUGS!" She nearly tackled Gourry, burying herself in
his chest. "Keepthemawaykeepthemawaykeepthemawaykeepthemaway..."
Once Gourry had recovered his equilibrium, he awkwardly pulled one of his
arms out of her grasp and used it to pat her on the back comfortingly.
"Calm down, Lina," he said soothingly. "There aren't any slugs. Someone
was playing a trick on you."
Lina lifted her tear-filled face to look up at him. "No slugs?"
Gourry shook his head and smiled. "No... no slugs."
Weakly, Lina stepped out of his grasp and took a deep breath to calm
herself down. After sorting things out, she turned to her sister with a
very aggrieved expression on her face. "Luna, did you HAVE to do that?"
"Payback," Luna explained. "Even, now."
"Um, Lina," Gourry said. "Who is this, and what's going on?"
Lina sighed. "Right... Gourry, meet Luna Inverse, the Knight of
Ceiphied... and my older sister."
Gourry blinked. He looked at Luna closely. He turned to look back at
Lina, then went back to Luna- concentrating on her bust. Luna's expression
didn't falter, though a small drop of sweat betrayed her uncertainty over
his examination. Finally, Gourry stepped back, shaking his head. "That's
odd... you two look nothing alike. And I would have thought your sister
would be just as flat chested as you are!" he explained.
Lina's eyes widened angrilly. How could he say something like that-
especially in front of her SISTER! "*Fireball!*" she cast, blowing Gourry
half-way across the field with her spell and knocking him out.
Luna chuckled, and wagged a finger at her sister. "Temper, temper!"
Lina opened her mouth to issue a loud protest, then snapped it shut when
she remembered who she was talking to. "He deserved it," she mumbled
instead.
Meanwhile, the other pair of reunited sisters were also getting
reaquainted.
"So why is Lina calling you Naga, Gracia?" Amelia asked.
"'Gracia' doesn't fit me, any more, Amelia. I'm no longer the proper,
gracious, peace-loving princess I was- I'm the White Serpent, Naga, the
greatest sorceress in history!" Naga explained. "And with the powers given
me by my self-confident laughter and my incredible figure, enhanced by this
outfit which I found in our late mother's closet, I will rule the world!"
Amelia might have said something about that 'take over the world bit,' but
something Naga said made her turn a little green. "That outfit was mom's?"
Naga nodded. "I took it when I left... it was the one thing of hers that I
was able to stand to look at after her death. I never saw her wear it, so
I wouldn't be reminded of her too much, but it was HERS and I knew it was
hers, so I could honor her memory by wearing it myself."
Amelia nodded. She found it hard to believe her mother ever wore anything
like that, but wouldn't try and convince her sister otherwise- obviously,
that outfit had been a great comfort to her. "What happened that night?"
Naga hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure. I walked in... saw all the
blood... I think I cast some spell, though I don't know what it was. All I
remember is afterwards, knowing mom was dead, and finding myself in her
walk-in wardrobe closet. I took this outfit and left... I didn't WANT to
be a princess any more. I quit using the white magic that was the symbol
of Sailoon, I abandoned father's drive for justice, and I dropped the name
of Gracia. I became Naga, the White Serpent, mercenary sorceress and
future ruler of the world."
Amelia sniffed. "Oh, Gracia... you've been through so much." Without any
more warning than that, she glomped her sister into an over-enthusiastic
comforting hug, and started bawling. "But don't worry! It's all over now-
we're together again, and no-one will be hurting us again! You can become
Princess Gracia once more! We'll reteach you white magic! Justice will
once more enter your heart! You'll no longer have to rely on the earnings
of being a mercenary sorceress!"
"Um, Amelia," Naga said, returning the hug awkwardly. "I actually LIKE
being Naga. I don't want to be Princess Gracia any more." She paused.
"But I would like to be able to see daddy again. Even if he DOES get
carried away with all that justice stuff."
Zelgadis approached the hugging pair. "Xelloss said you were Amelia's
sister," he said, ignoring the moment that they were sharing. "The hair's
the right color, but I really don't see the resemblance, otherwise."
Amelia smiled up at him, wiping the tears off of her face. "Zelgadis, I'd
like to introduce you to Gracia Ul Naga Sailoon, my sister."
Naga shook her head, reassuming her arrogant demeaner. "Call me Naga.
Naga the White Serpent. My, you have such interesting skin!"
Zelgadis winced. "It's a curse. I was turned into a chimera."
Naga raised an eyebrow. "A chimera? OOOH HO HO HO HO HO! Why, that
reminds me of the time that silly old man tried to turn Lina into a
chimera! It would have made her SO beautiful... and so much FUN, as well.
Lina, a demon, a dragon, and a serpent all put together! The ultimate
combination of the three major races!"
Zelgadis twitched. "You think being turned into a chimera would be FUN!?"
he cried angrilly.
Naga looked at him and blinked. "Of course- why wouldn't it?"
Amelia looked from her sister to Zelgadis and back. "Um, Gracia...
Zelgadis is a little sensitive about the chimera thing..."
"Is he, know? Well good, good! Now I know his greatest weakness! OOOH HO
HO HO HO HO HO!"
Zelgadis hand went to his sword, causing Amelia to jump between the two of
them. Grabbing the chimera's hands, she held on for dear life. "Please,
Zel- remember she's my sister! Don't kill her!"
Filia, standing next to Xelloss, looked over at him in annoyance. "You're
just loving all this chaos, aren't you?"
He smiled at her. "Of course I am! I'm a mazoku- I feast on emotions such
as those being generated right now. And, you might not like it, but this
is probably good for them- they'll need this release. I feed off of anger,
greed, lust, and such dark emotions. The thing is, though, dark emotions
aren't always wrong. Anger can be forged into a powerful tool, greed can
work with a human's survival instinct to keep them alive... and you'd
hardly fault a married couple for lusting after each other as well, can
you?" He pointed to Martina and Zangulus, who had taken advantage of the
confusion everyone was feeling to start making out.
Filia blushed, looking at the other people they had gathered. "Well, at
least there are a FEW people here who aren't feeling any dark emotions."
Xelloss opened one eye to look at her with amusement. "Oh? Who do you
believe those are?"
"That girl right there... and that Court Magician for Neo-Xoana."
Xelloss laughed. "Interesting. You're wrong of course." Filia turned on
him angrilly, gritting her teeth. "In fact, they're probably wielding dark
emotions in the most dangerous of ways."
"Oh? And just what dark emotions are they using, hmm? They certainly
don't SEEM to be feeling anything dark- the girl looks very happy, and that
sorcerer appears quite calm."
Xelloss paused, as if searching the emotions out himself. "The girl- her
name is Sylphiel, by the way- nice girl, you'll love her- Sylphiel has a
few issues to sort out. She's set her sights on a man who is totally out
of her reach, and is lusting after him quite fiercely. At the moment,
these emotions haven't lead to any actions which might appear evil, but her
lust is almost obsessive at this point. I don't know how she'd react if
she knew her man was taken by another."
Filia raised an eyebrow. "Who is it that she's lusting after?"
"It's no secret, I suppose," Xelloss considered. "It's pretty obvious,
when you see them together. Sylphiel has had a crush on Gourry since he
was first journeying on his own. The poor swordsman has yet to notice it,
of course- he barely notices his own attraction to Lina."
Filia blinked. "Perhaps... perhaps it would be best if we convince Gourry
to give up Lina for Sylphiel. Lina doesn't seem to care about whether
Gourry is with her or not- I noticed she wasn't too upset when he was
paired with Amelia during that whole fake 'Temple of Marraige' thing."
Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "And you think I'M evil- that's a more evil
plan than any Mazoku plan I can recall. No, I'm afraid that won't work- it
would be incredibly dangerous, as a matter of fact. Unless, of course, you
want Lina dead...."
"What do you mean by THAT?" Filia blurted.
"Well, see, THAT," he started, raising a finger. "Is a secr-"
He stopped mid-sentence, grabbed her quickly, and teleported the both of
them out of the way. Seconds later, a massive explosion rocked the entire
field in which they had all gathered. When he phased back in, he looked
around for the source of the attack.
"M... Mistress Zelas?!" he cried, startled.
Zelas floated down to Earth, smiling at him. "Well, well- this seems
interesting. I knew you had been recalled, but I had no idea it would be
to ally yourself to our enemies."
"It appears so," Xelloss said hesitantly. "Though honestly, I was not
given orders for this situation. I'm merely supposed to keep these people
alive until the Lord of Nightmares gives me further instructions. It's
entirely possible that I may be able to join you again at a later date, but
if you insist on attacking now I'm afraid I'll have to fight you." As he
talked, the others started circling around the newly arrived Mazoku,
getting ready for combat.
Zelas laughed. "You expect me, the Beastmaster, to get directly involved
in the combat this early in the game? Did you learn nothing about me in
your service, my son?"
Xelloss nodded. "Of course I did. I learned that you usually attack first
with your lesser demons, then send me in for the kill. But I'm not with
you any more, and you might decide to not do what you USUALLY do, so how am
I to know?"
"Well reasoned, son. But no, I'm not breaking with that particular
tradition... today, at least. My surprise attack obviously failed, so it
would do no harm to let you know the attack is coming soon," she admitted.
"I'll make a deal with you, though- if you happen to survive this incident
despite my eventual victory, I'll allow you back into the fold, with no
punishment at all. I swear it."
Xelloss smiled. "That's quite generous of you, mother. I'll make the same
deal with YOU- if we are pitted against each other, and you survive despite
OUR victory, I'll allow you to join ME... as MY servant."
Zelas raised an eyebrow. "That's a trifle arrogant of you, don't you
think?"
Xelloss shrugged. "If I pull off such a tremendous upset, don't I DESERVE
to be arrogant?"
Zelas laughed. "Indeed, you would. Then BOTH our destinies are about to
be decided, aren't they?" Her laughter continued as she faded from the
field.
Lina, who had positioned herself and Gourry at Xelloss' flank, looked
confused. "Xelloss, what's going on? Why are you literally fighting your
master? How are you ABLE to defy Zelas, anyway?"
Xelloss sighed. "It's a long story. Ask me again after we get through the
coming battle." He paused. "Lesser demons, coming in. Mostly
concentrating on you and Filia, it seems."
Lina nodded, getting ready to cast her spells. Thinking briefly, she drew
her sword and handed it to Gourry.
"Use this," she said. "It's no Sword of Light, but it should keep you from
getting killed. I placed a few enchantments on it to make it somewhat more
effective, but don't go up against any upper-level Mazoku with it."
He nodded. "Right," he said in a clipped tone. Lina almost smiled- that
was the first time she'd seen him in his 'fighting mood' since they
defeated Dark Star. He glanced to the other side of him, where Luna was
drawing a dangerous looking sword of her own. He frowned. "Aren't you a
magic user?" he asked her.
"Yep," she said.
"But you're going to fight with just a sword?"
"Yep."
"But-"
"Gourry," Lina interrupted. "Luna doesn't use her magic offensively. She
DOES use it to make magical weapons and shields, however." She paused.
"She's not as good with a sword as you are, but her magical abilities make
her better than the both of us put together."
Luna smirked at the compliment. "Not really."
Lina sighed. "At any rate, she's a swordsman, just like you, but she's
'magically enhanced' to be better than any normal swordsman could be."
"Is that why you kept asking for the Sword of Light all the time?" he
asked. "Lina, if you you wanted a present for your sister, you should have
told me- I'd have found something else for you to give her!"
Lina rolled her eyes. "No, Gourry, that's NOT why I wanted the Sword of
Light- I wanted it because- *Fireball!*" She was unable to finish her
explanation, as at that moment a dozen lesser demons emerged from the trees
in front of them.
The fireball took out the lead Mazoku, but several more charged in before
she had a chance to cast another spell. She leapt into the air and flipped
out of the way to give herself more time to deal with the next one, and
landed just in time to see two separate swords tearing the second demon
into three peices- all of them equally dead.
"See, sis," Luna said, allowing one of her enemies' attacks to hit her
magical defensive field before reversing the turn of her blade to tear off
its head. "This is why I said you should use weapons as your main offense-
it's faster to swing a sword than it is to cast a spell."
"*Elmekia Lance!*" Lina cast, fricasseeing another Mazoku. "I don't thing
we have time to debate the point, Luna."
The Mazoku who had attacked Lina were only a small portion of the attacking
forces. Trolls, ogres, goblins, berserkers, and other lesser demons had
surrounded the small party, and were attacking on all sides. By the time
Lina had cast her Elmekia Lance, there were hundreds of these creatures
attacking- concentrating largely on Lina's and Filia's locations.
"*Rah Tilt!*" Amelia and Zelgadis chorused. Their never-rehearsed but
always well-co-ordinated double attack didn't fail them, and the explosion
knocked several of their attackers off their feet, sending a few out of the
action.
"*Freeze Arrow!*" Naga cast, freezing one of the attacking berserkers in
his tracks. "OOOH HO HO HO HO HO! I see you followed in my footsteps and
became a powerful sorceress, too, little sister!"
"*Diem Wing!*" Amelia cast, clearing a path for Zelgadis to charge in with
his sword, which was glowing red from an Astral Vine he had cast on it
earlier. "I'm still learning... travelling with Lina's given me a lot of
experience, though."
"Whee! This is fun!" Xelloss said, casually batting away one of the
goblins with his staff.
"FUN?!" Filia cried, breathing hard as she brought her mace down on the
head of an ogre with a sickening crunch. "You've GOT to be kidding me!"
Xelloss shrugged. "Hey- I don't usually get to fight such wimps. My
orders rarely allowed it. It's fun having a light workout like this after
a thousand years of having to battle some of the more powerful fighters in
all of existance." He smiled up at her. "You look tired- why don't you
take a rest? Don't worry- I'll protect you!"
Filia bristled angrilly, her tail popping out from under her dress. "WHAT?
Me, just step aside and let YOU protect me? You've got to be kidding!"
With that, she redoubled her attack, determined to not give him any more
reason to even consider that.
"Don't lose control of your form!" he warned on a much more serious note.
"If you wear your dragon shape, they'll have a lot easier time fighting
you. You dragons are too big to fight a defensive battle- you make too big
a target. You're fine on offense, but we're not ON the offense, right
now."
Filia calmed down slightly. "Um... thanks."
In the center of the circle formed by the eight main combatants, Zangulus
and Vrumagum stood protecting Martina and Sylphiel from any of the
marauders who succeeded in making their way through. Martina looked at the
shrine maiden nervously. "Can't you do something?" she asked. "You WERE
helping us in the fight against Hellmaster!"
Sylphiel hesitated. "Well... I'd be better off waiting until the battle is
over, and using my healing abilities."
Martina's wild eyes looked into hers as a ogre was tossed over her head by
a blow from Xelloss' staff. "Please! You HAVE to be able to do
something!"
"Um... well, the Dragon Slave's out- I'd hurt more than help with that.
There's a couple things I could try, though, I guess," she said hesitantly.
Summoning her magic to her hands, she picked out a target. Getting a
determined look on her face, she cast her spell."*Flare arrow!*" she cast.
A tiny red carrot started floating over and smacked one of the lesser
demons on the back of the head. The blow didn't really hurt the Mazoku,
but it startled the creature a little, allowing Luna to cut it down.
Sylphiel blushed, and returned to the protected center with Martina, very
embarrassed. "There. I helped. Um, I think that's enough for me for now.
I'll save up my energy to heal everyone when the battle's over."
Gourry stumbled to his knees in front of Lina, coated in the black and
green colored blood of their enemies. Lina was a little anxious to note
that there were some red stains on his clothing, as well. "Lina," he
gasped. "It's too much- for every one I kill, more show up."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "You giving up on me, Gourry?"
He shook his head, lifting himself to his feet through sheer force of will.
"No, but maybe it's time for you to start using your bigger spells- like
the Dragon Slave or something like that."
Lina couldn't help but notice how hard it had been for him to stand.
They'd been fighting for nearly an hours straight, and they'd been fighting
against VERY tough opponents. If these people had been those idiotic
bounty hunters who tried to capture them thanks to Copy Rezo and Eris'
reward offer, they'd have been fine- but these were lesser Mazoku, and they
hadn't even had a brief pause in which they could rest. In fact, the
battle was more taxing than the ones they'd had against Valgaav and
Darkstar- and what was worse was that there was no end in sight. The
number of attackers had been growing the entire time they'd been fighting,
and it didn't look like they'd be stopping any time soon.
Also, she had to consider Gourry's shape in all of this. He was fighting
at his best, but without the Sword of Light- or at least without a nice
longsword that he was comfortable using- he wasn't nearly as good as the
rest of them. He'd push himself twice as hard to succeed, but just looking
at him showed that it was obvious he couldn't compete with just a lightly
enchanted short sword. He needed this battle to end more than anyone.
"Right. Okay, people- change of plan!" she shouted. "Everyone, get as
close together as possible. Xelloss, Luna, Filia- erect a shield spell
around us. Sylphiel... I'm going to cast a Dragon Slave on this side- you
cast one on that side. Zel, Amelia, Vrumagum, and anyone else who can do
so, cast a Raywing or Levitation spell and get us airborn! Anyone else...
well, be ready to fight again if this doesn't work."
"Check!" Luna called, fighting her way back towards the center- she'd been
moving further out as the battle progressed, and so it took her a bit to
return.
"But I was having fun!" Xelloss protested.
"Come ON, you piece of raw garbage!" Filia screamed, grabbing him by the
collar of his priest's robes and dragging him towards the center. "Let's
get this over with!"
"Gracia!" Amelia called. "Help me cover Zelgadis' retreat!"
Zelgadis had also been dragged off in the fighting, but he wasn't nearly as
capable as Luna was of retreating to the center. He was fighting a very
defensive battle, and was being pushed away by the onslaught.
Naga laughed. "OOOH, HO, HO, HO, HO! Of course, sister! These creatures
cannot stand up to the might of Naga the White Serpent! *Diem Wing!*"
"*Diem Wing!*" Amelia echoed, widening the path for Zelgadis to run
through. "Come on, Zel! HURRY!" she cried.
Zelgadis took one more swat at a Berserker before breaking into a dead run
to reach the rest of them. Blasting a couple of trolls out of his way with
a Rah Tilt and slashing through one last Mazoku, he reached the others.
The company assembled, they got into formation. The attackers surrounded
them, banging against the hastily erected shield spells that Filia,
Xelloss, and Luna were powering.
"Hurry up, Lina," Xelloss said. "We can't hold this up too long."
He didn't need to ask. "...Possess. *DRAGON SLAVE!*" she cast, using her
talismen to boost the power. A second later, Sylphiel echoed her with a
Dragon Slave of her own.
When the dust settled, the battlefield looked clear. Nothing was moving
outside of the circle that was protecting the twelve of them.
"Oh, darn," a sarcastic voice said. A few seconds later, Zelas appeared to
show herself as being the owner of said voice. "You've beaten my army.
No, wait- that wasn't my army. That was a small number of my toys." She
smirked. "Well, looks like I'll have to actually add my force to this
conflict. Not right away, though- I mean, I'm not really here, and haven't
been all day. I just contacted all of the Beasts under my control in your
area, and asked them to tire you out for a bit."
Xelloss smiled up at her. "I thought that was too easy," he said.
"I always knew you were a smart boy," she said. "Looks like I'll have to
take your charges seriously, after all. I'll see you when this war's
over!" With that, she faded away.
Gourry, being healed by both Sylphiel and Lina, looked up at Xelloss.
"Does this mean it isn't over?"
"Afraid not," he answered.
Gourry's reaction was a testament to how incredibly worn he was. He
sighed, looked over at Lina, and said, "I don't think I can handle this
one." Seconds later, he passed out.
"Gourry!" both girls treating him cried as he fell into Lina's arms.
Xelloss looked at his unconscious form dispassionately. "Lina, carry him
with you. We have to find somewhere safe to recover, then decide what
we're going to do."
Lina nodded, putting one of Gourry's arms over her shoulders. "Femille's
relatively close."
"Let's go, then," he said.
Amelia looked concerned as Lina carried Gourry away. "You know, I think
that's the first time I've seen Gourry that tired."
Zelgadis nodded. "This wasn't a normal battle, that's for sure. I guess
this is a victory for us, but it feels like we were forced to retreat." He
sighed. "Looks like we got dragged along on another of Lina's adventures,
doesn't it?"
Amelia smiled. "Yeah... but we've always made it before, right? And
always came away with a tremendous victory for justice, as well!"
Naga groaned. "Amelia?" she said, using the same tone of voice she used
when she was telling her story.
"Yes, Gracia?"
"Remember, sis, it's Naga now," she said haughtily. Returning to her
sisterly voice, she continued, "Wherever we go after we rest up in
Femille... let's not make it Sailoon, okay?"
"Why not?"
"Let's just say that you just reminded me of one of the bigger reasons I
never went back home."
-------------------------
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desaix@sysnet.net
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
fanfics available at
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David A. Tatum's Used Anime Trading Post
http://www2.sysnet.net/~desaix/shop.htm
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From: "David A. Tatum" desaix@sysnet.net
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Subject: Slay3.txt
Date: Mon, 8 Jan 2001 20:21:58 -0500
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Chapter 3: A Forced Retreat
...In Which the Enemy is Met
Zelas Metallium stood before the other leaders of the Mazoku, trying to
make the others see her point. The others consisted of way too few for her
liking- along with her were the two other surviving vassals of Shabradnigo,
and no more than a half-dozen priests and generals that lead the real
force. Xelloss' sudden resignation from her services- something which had
downright shocked her- had weakened their strength even more. If it had
not been for the destruction of almost the entire race of Golden Dragons a
few months beforehand, the Mazoku would be in serious trouble. For the
moment, however, they still had the upper hand in their war. And this
council was in session to figure out how to KEEP the upper hand.
"I realize that most of you are reluctant to take any form of direct action
against humanity, but this is not a case where we can sit out. Not
fighting now might be a fatal mistake. Besides, this would NOT be an
all-out war, just a minor conflict. Furthermore, the three surviving
Dragon Lords would not involve themselves in a conflict involving just a
few dozen humans and one single dragon. It must take something VERY large
to draw them out, now- even the entrance of Dark Star into the world, which
resulted in our temporary truce, didn't get them to move. But if we move
our entire force, however, they might panic and strike against us."
"We will have to pick our targets very carefully," Dynast noted. "'A few
dozen' may be too many. Who, specifically, should we strike against?"
Zelas smiled. "Well, of course the answer to that is simple. Lina Inverse
must be punished for destroying both a part of Shabradnigo and Hellmaster,
and revenge against her would be the perfect excuse while we pursue our
TRUE target. What she did to Dark Star should not be ignored, either-
while we were with her in that battle, we still should not forget that she,
a mere human, was the one who defeated Dark Star- her powers boosted by
others or not. A human of that strength should not be allowed to live.
And if several of her companions get in the way- like the former swordsman
of light- well, too bad for them."
Many smirks showed amoung the faces of those present. Dynast had one more
question. "And the dragon? Which dragon are we targeting?"
Zelas laughed. "Well, we'd really be killing two dragons with one blow.
Filia, the last of the Golden Dragons, must be destroyed." Her eyes
narrowed. "And she must be destroyed NOW, before she can bring Valgaav, a
member of the Ancient Dragon race, to maturity. Valgaav could EASILY shift
the balance of power in their favor, with no problem. For our own
survival, two Dragon races must be obliterated."
* * * * *
"*Flare Arrow!*"
A two-inch long needle-thin spark of magic, glowing pink, formed, and,
after a few seconds delay, slowly moved along the fifty meter stretch
between the wielder's hands and the target.
Lina twitched. "Pink? Gourry, I don't even WANT to know how you managed
to turn magic that color, but that's not even CLOSE to how that spell's
supposed to go. Now remember, when you're just learning a spell like this
you're going to HAVE to recite the words slowly, and fo-"
She was cut off when the pink needle of energy hit the bullseye. The
resulting explosion, which completely obliterated the target (and
everything another fifty yards behind said target) shook the ground so hard
she was knocked off her feet, tumbling into him as he bent over to cover
her from the debris. Usually, it wouldn't have been a bad way to fall, but
unfortunately her head collided with the hard steel of his shoulder armor.
"Ouch!" she hissed.
"Lina! Are you all right?" he asked hurriedly, hoping desperately that she
wasn't hurt seriously.
"Yeah... just bumped my head," she replied, wincing. She smiled up at him
through the pain. "If you want, you could try a healing spell again. I
think you almost got it right last time."
Gourry shook his head. "You'd better do it. Besides, I want to know what
I did wrong with that Flare Arrow before I move on to learning that healing
spell."
Lina looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Gourry... that spell you just
cast looked like the wimpiest attack spell I've ever seen, and it travelled
so slow that I would have been able to cast a Giga Slave after it left your
hands, and STILL have time to get out of the way... but that's a damn good
attack spell, if your opponent isn't moving much. Think you can do the
same thing again?"
Gourry blinked. "Uh... maybe."
Lina gestured loosely in the direction of the now incinerated target range.
"Try."
He closed his eyes, gathered the power into his hands, and started chanting
under his breath. He stopped, snapped his eyes open, and cried out two
final words. "*Flare Arrow!*" he cast.
Again, a pink needle appeared, and started moving towards the forest behind
the one-time target range. About a minute later, the explosion rocked the
ground beneath them, and another large tract of once-ancient forest was
obliterated.
Lina nodded. "It's not a Flare Arrow, really, but it's a damn good
original spell. Don't ever forget it, 'kay? If you do, expect a Dragon
Slave down your throat."
Gourry sweatdropped. "Uh... right."
While Lina hadn't initially planned to have him learn any attack spells,
Gourry had mastered the levitation spell much faster than she'd expected
(thanks in part to Zelgadis and Amelia helping him while she continued her
'research') and they still had several days prepaid for the instructor that
they'd hired. Still not comfortable with said instructors methods for
teaching healing techniques, Lina suggested Gourry learn something else.
The instructor, knowing of the lifestyle that they lead, figured a simple
attack spell might be rather useful for him. The final lesson was over,
and Gourry was showing what he'd learned in a hastilly erected target
facility about three hours outside of Femille- Amelia didn't want Gourry to
accidentally hit anyone.
Amelia and Zelgadis, who had been watching from a safely entrenched
magically-protected bunker, emerged and approached Gourry.
"That has to be one of the stupidest looking attack I've ever seen...
pretty powerful, though," Zelgadis commented.
"Congradulations, Gourry!" Amelia cheered. "That was impressive... even if
it didn't quite act like it was supposed to."
Lina nodded. "Now all we need is to find you a sword... and maybe get your
healing spell working."
"Gourry doesn't have a sword?" an unexpected voice arose, it's owner
obscured from view by the bunker. "I was hoping to have a sparring match
with him, but I guess that's not possible at the moment, is it?"
Lina's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as said owner rounded the
corner of the bunker to approach the foursome. "Zangulus?!" she squeaked
incredulously. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was just dragged along (against my will) by several of your
friends and associates in an attempt to find you, actually," he said.
"They're right behind me."
"Long time, no see, Lina!" Martina shouted, following her husband into the
clearing and grabbing hold of his arm.
Vrumagum approached behind Martina and bowed. "It will be nice to work
with you in person, this time, and not to work against you through copies
of myself."
Xelloss phased in on top of the bunker. "Hello, Lina. Did you miss me?"
"I don't know why I was dragged along to work with that piece of raw
garbage again, but it's nice to see you, Lina," Filia said as she, too,
teleported in, holding the egg of Valgaav.
"Gourry, it's been so long," Sylphiel said softly, announcing her presence.
"Martina... Vrumagum... Xelloss... Filia... SYLPHIEL?" Lina cried,
startled. "What are all of you doing here?"
"Oh, we aren't the only ones you'd be surprised to see," Xelloss said.
"Though why those other two haven't shown up yet, I don't know." He
blinked. "Oh, never mind- there they are."
Lina felt someone tapping her on the shoulder and spun around. "Hi!" Luna
greeted.
Lina fell backwards, her eyes now taking up most of her face, and started
pushing herself away from the new arrival. "B- B- B- B- BIG SIS!" she
cried in shock. As she slid back, she ran into the legs of someone else.
"Well, hello, my trusty sidekick. It's been a while since you've faced me,
your greatest rival. OOOOH HO HO HO HO HO!"
Shocked added onto shock for Lina. "Na- Na- Na- NAGA!"
Gourry scratched his head in confusion. "Um... I don't recognize half of
these people. Who is everyone?"
Zelgadis just rolled his eyes and walked over to Xelloss. "Excuse me,
but... what's going on?"
Xelloss smirked at him. "That... is a secret. For now, at any rate." His
smirk left his face. "Actually, even I'm not entirely sure- I haven't been
told WHY I was supposed to gather all of these people. I was just told to
do so."
Amelia, meanwhile, was experiencing a form of shock of her own. "Gracia?
Is it you?" she asked breathlessly.
It was then, for the first time, that Naga started to notice the presence
of people other than Lina. "Amelia?" she said, stunned. "You and Lina
know each other?"
Amelia nodded. "We've worked together a lot to further the cause of
justice!" she explained enthusiastically.
Naga twitched. "You sound just like dad, you know?"
Amelia smiled. "Thanks, sis!"
"SIS!?" Lina cried, still very nerve-wracked.
"That wasn't a compliment, Amelia," Naga sighed.
Luna walked over to her sister and gave her a hand up. "Surprised?"
Lina looked over at her sister and blinked. "Okay, let's see. Xelloss is
here, Naga's here, YOU'RE here, AMELIA AND NAGA ARE SISTERS! Which, of
course, means that NAGA'S A PRINCESS OF SAILOON! Why WOULD I be
surprised?"
Luna smirked, and patted Lina on the head. The younger sibling twitched.
"Poor sis," the elder sibling said.
Gourry approached them. "Lina, what's going on? Who are all these
people?" Lina said nothing, twitching from time to time. "Lina?" he
repeated, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. She still
didn't say anything.
"Look, slugs!" Luna said loudly.
Lina screeched. "SLUUUGS!" She nearly tackled Gourry, burying herself in
his chest. "Keepthemawaykeepthemawaykeepthemawaykeepthemaway..."
Once Gourry had recovered his equilibrium, he awkwardly pulled one of his
arms out of her grasp and used it to pat her on the back comfortingly.
"Calm down, Lina," he said soothingly. "There aren't any slugs. Someone
was playing a trick on you."
Lina lifted her tear-filled face to look up at him. "No slugs?"
Gourry shook his head and smiled. "No... no slugs."
Weakly, Lina stepped out of his grasp and took a deep breath to calm
herself down. After sorting things out, she turned to her sister with a
very aggrieved expression on her face. "Luna, did you HAVE to do that?"
"Payback," Luna explained. "Even, now."
"Um, Lina," Gourry said. "Who is this, and what's going on?"
Lina sighed. "Right... Gourry, meet Luna Inverse, the Knight of
Ceiphied... and my older sister."
Gourry blinked. He looked at Luna closely. He turned to look back at
Lina, then went back to Luna- concentrating on her bust. Luna's expression
didn't falter, though a small drop of sweat betrayed her uncertainty over
his examination. Finally, Gourry stepped back, shaking his head. "That's
odd... you two look nothing alike. And I would have thought your sister
would be just as flat chested as you are!" he explained.
Lina's eyes widened angrilly. How could he say something like that-
especially in front of her SISTER! "*Fireball!*" she cast, blowing Gourry
half-way across the field with her spell and knocking him out.
Luna chuckled, and wagged a finger at her sister. "Temper, temper!"
Lina opened her mouth to issue a loud protest, then snapped it shut when
she remembered who she was talking to. "He deserved it," she mumbled
instead.
Meanwhile, the other pair of reunited sisters were also getting
reaquainted.
"So why is Lina calling you Naga, Gracia?" Amelia asked.
"'Gracia' doesn't fit me, any more, Amelia. I'm no longer the proper,
gracious, peace-loving princess I was- I'm the White Serpent, Naga, the
greatest sorceress in history!" Naga explained. "And with the powers given
me by my self-confident laughter and my incredible figure, enhanced by this
outfit which I found in our late mother's closet, I will rule the world!"
Amelia might have said something about that 'take over the world bit,' but
something Naga said made her turn a little green. "That outfit was mom's?"
Naga nodded. "I took it when I left... it was the one thing of hers that I
was able to stand to look at after her death. I never saw her wear it, so
I wouldn't be reminded of her too much, but it was HERS and I knew it was
hers, so I could honor her memory by wearing it myself."
Amelia nodded. She found it hard to believe her mother ever wore anything
like that, but wouldn't try and convince her sister otherwise- obviously,
that outfit had been a great comfort to her. "What happened that night?"
Naga hesitated. "I'm not entirely sure. I walked in... saw all the
blood... I think I cast some spell, though I don't know what it was. All I
remember is afterwards, knowing mom was dead, and finding myself in her
walk-in wardrobe closet. I took this outfit and left... I didn't WANT to
be a princess any more. I quit using the white magic that was the symbol
of Sailoon, I abandoned father's drive for justice, and I dropped the name
of Gracia. I became Naga, the White Serpent, mercenary sorceress and
future ruler of the world."
Amelia sniffed. "Oh, Gracia... you've been through so much." Without any
more warning than that, she glomped her sister into an over-enthusiastic
comforting hug, and started bawling. "But don't worry! It's all over now-
we're together again, and no-one will be hurting us again! You can become
Princess Gracia once more! We'll reteach you white magic! Justice will
once more enter your heart! You'll no longer have to rely on the earnings
of being a mercenary sorceress!"
"Um, Amelia," Naga said, returning the hug awkwardly. "I actually LIKE
being Naga. I don't want to be Princess Gracia any more." She paused.
"But I would like to be able to see daddy again. Even if he DOES get
carried away with all that justice stuff."
Zelgadis approached the hugging pair. "Xelloss said you were Amelia's
sister," he said, ignoring the moment that they were sharing. "The hair's
the right color, but I really don't see the resemblance, otherwise."
Amelia smiled up at him, wiping the tears off of her face. "Zelgadis, I'd
like to introduce you to Gracia Ul Naga Sailoon, my sister."
Naga shook her head, reassuming her arrogant demeaner. "Call me Naga.
Naga the White Serpent. My, you have such interesting skin!"
Zelgadis winced. "It's a curse. I was turned into a chimera."
Naga raised an eyebrow. "A chimera? OOOH HO HO HO HO HO! Why, that
reminds me of the time that silly old man tried to turn Lina into a
chimera! It would have made her SO beautiful... and so much FUN, as well.
Lina, a demon, a dragon, and a serpent all put together! The ultimate
combination of the three major races!"
Zelgadis twitched. "You think being turned into a chimera would be FUN!?"
he cried angrilly.
Naga looked at him and blinked. "Of course- why wouldn't it?"
Amelia looked from her sister to Zelgadis and back. "Um, Gracia...
Zelgadis is a little sensitive about the chimera thing..."
"Is he, know? Well good, good! Now I know his greatest weakness! OOOH HO
HO HO HO HO HO!"
Zelgadis hand went to his sword, causing Amelia to jump between the two of
them. Grabbing the chimera's hands, she held on for dear life. "Please,
Zel- remember she's my sister! Don't kill her!"
Filia, standing next to Xelloss, looked over at him in annoyance. "You're
just loving all this chaos, aren't you?"
He smiled at her. "Of course I am! I'm a mazoku- I feast on emotions such
as those being generated right now. And, you might not like it, but this
is probably good for them- they'll need this release. I feed off of anger,
greed, lust, and such dark emotions. The thing is, though, dark emotions
aren't always wrong. Anger can be forged into a powerful tool, greed can
work with a human's survival instinct to keep them alive... and you'd
hardly fault a married couple for lusting after each other as well, can
you?" He pointed to Martina and Zangulus, who had taken advantage of the
confusion everyone was feeling to start making out.
Filia blushed, looking at the other people they had gathered. "Well, at
least there are a FEW people here who aren't feeling any dark emotions."
Xelloss opened one eye to look at her with amusement. "Oh? Who do you
believe those are?"
"That girl right there... and that Court Magician for Neo-Xoana."
Xelloss laughed. "Interesting. You're wrong of course." Filia turned on
him angrilly, gritting her teeth. "In fact, they're probably wielding dark
emotions in the most dangerous of ways."
"Oh? And just what dark emotions are they using, hmm? They certainly
don't SEEM to be feeling anything dark- the girl looks very happy, and that
sorcerer appears quite calm."
Xelloss paused, as if searching the emotions out himself. "The girl- her
name is Sylphiel, by the way- nice girl, you'll love her- Sylphiel has a
few issues to sort out. She's set her sights on a man who is totally out
of her reach, and is lusting after him quite fiercely. At the moment,
these emotions haven't lead to any actions which might appear evil, but her
lust is almost obsessive at this point. I don't know how she'd react if
she knew her man was taken by another."
Filia raised an eyebrow. "Who is it that she's lusting after?"
"It's no secret, I suppose," Xelloss considered. "It's pretty obvious,
when you see them together. Sylphiel has had a crush on Gourry since he
was first journeying on his own. The poor swordsman has yet to notice it,
of course- he barely notices his own attraction to Lina."
Filia blinked. "Perhaps... perhaps it would be best if we convince Gourry
to give up Lina for Sylphiel. Lina doesn't seem to care about whether
Gourry is with her or not- I noticed she wasn't too upset when he was
paired with Amelia during that whole fake 'Temple of Marraige' thing."
Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "And you think I'M evil- that's a more evil
plan than any Mazoku plan I can recall. No, I'm afraid that won't work- it
would be incredibly dangerous, as a matter of fact. Unless, of course, you
want Lina dead...."
"What do you mean by THAT?" Filia blurted.
"Well, see, THAT," he started, raising a finger. "Is a secr-"
He stopped mid-sentence, grabbed her quickly, and teleported the both of
them out of the way. Seconds later, a massive explosion rocked the entire
field in which they had all gathered. When he phased back in, he looked
around for the source of the attack.
"M... Mistress Zelas?!" he cried, startled.
Zelas floated down to Earth, smiling at him. "Well, well- this seems
interesting. I knew you had been recalled, but I had no idea it would be
to ally yourself to our enemies."
"It appears so," Xelloss said hesitantly. "Though honestly, I was not
given orders for this situation. I'm merely supposed to keep these people
alive until the Lord of Nightmares gives me further instructions. It's
entirely possible that I may be able to join you again at a later date, but
if you insist on attacking now I'm afraid I'll have to fight you." As he
talked, the others started circling around the newly arrived Mazoku,
getting ready for combat.
Zelas laughed. "You expect me, the Beastmaster, to get directly involved
in the combat this early in the game? Did you learn nothing about me in
your service, my son?"
Xelloss nodded. "Of course I did. I learned that you usually attack first
with your lesser demons, then send me in for the kill. But I'm not with
you any more, and you might decide to not do what you USUALLY do, so how am
I to know?"
"Well reasoned, son. But no, I'm not breaking with that particular
tradition... today, at least. My surprise attack obviously failed, so it
would do no harm to let you know the attack is coming soon," she admitted.
"I'll make a deal with you, though- if you happen to survive this incident
despite my eventual victory, I'll allow you back into the fold, with no
punishment at all. I swear it."
Xelloss smiled. "That's quite generous of you, mother. I'll make the same
deal with YOU- if we are pitted against each other, and you survive despite
OUR victory, I'll allow you to join ME... as MY servant."
Zelas raised an eyebrow. "That's a trifle arrogant of you, don't you
think?"
Xelloss shrugged. "If I pull off such a tremendous upset, don't I DESERVE
to be arrogant?"
Zelas laughed. "Indeed, you would. Then BOTH our destinies are about to
be decided, aren't they?" Her laughter continued as she faded from the
field.
Lina, who had positioned herself and Gourry at Xelloss' flank, looked
confused. "Xelloss, what's going on? Why are you literally fighting your
master? How are you ABLE to defy Zelas, anyway?"
Xelloss sighed. "It's a long story. Ask me again after we get through the
coming battle." He paused. "Lesser demons, coming in. Mostly
concentrating on you and Filia, it seems."
Lina nodded, getting ready to cast her spells. Thinking briefly, she drew
her sword and handed it to Gourry.
"Use this," she said. "It's no Sword of Light, but it should keep you from
getting killed. I placed a few enchantments on it to make it somewhat more
effective, but don't go up against any upper-level Mazoku with it."
He nodded. "Right," he said in a clipped tone. Lina almost smiled- that
was the first time she'd seen him in his 'fighting mood' since they
defeated Dark Star. He glanced to the other side of him, where Luna was
drawing a dangerous looking sword of her own. He frowned. "Aren't you a
magic user?" he asked her.
"Yep," she said.
"But you're going to fight with just a sword?"
"Yep."
"But-"
"Gourry," Lina interrupted. "Luna doesn't use her magic offensively. She
DOES use it to make magical weapons and shields, however." She paused.
"She's not as good with a sword as you are, but her magical abilities make
her better than the both of us put together."
Luna smirked at the compliment. "Not really."
Lina sighed. "At any rate, she's a swordsman, just like you, but she's
'magically enhanced' to be better than any normal swordsman could be."
"Is that why you kept asking for the Sword of Light all the time?" he
asked. "Lina, if you you wanted a present for your sister, you should have
told me- I'd have found something else for you to give her!"
Lina rolled her eyes. "No, Gourry, that's NOT why I wanted the Sword of
Light- I wanted it because- *Fireball!*" She was unable to finish her
explanation, as at that moment a dozen lesser demons emerged from the trees
in front of them.
The fireball took out the lead Mazoku, but several more charged in before
she had a chance to cast another spell. She leapt into the air and flipped
out of the way to give herself more time to deal with the next one, and
landed just in time to see two separate swords tearing the second demon
into three peices- all of them equally dead.
"See, sis," Luna said, allowing one of her enemies' attacks to hit her
magical defensive field before reversing the turn of her blade to tear off
its head. "This is why I said you should use weapons as your main offense-
it's faster to swing a sword than it is to cast a spell."
"*Elmekia Lance!*" Lina cast, fricasseeing another Mazoku. "I don't thing
we have time to debate the point, Luna."
The Mazoku who had attacked Lina were only a small portion of the attacking
forces. Trolls, ogres, goblins, berserkers, and other lesser demons had
surrounded the small party, and were attacking on all sides. By the time
Lina had cast her Elmekia Lance, there were hundreds of these creatures
attacking- concentrating largely on Lina's and Filia's locations.
"*Rah Tilt!*" Amelia and Zelgadis chorused. Their never-rehearsed but
always well-co-ordinated double attack didn't fail them, and the explosion
knocked several of their attackers off their feet, sending a few out of the
action.
"*Freeze Arrow!*" Naga cast, freezing one of the attacking berserkers in
his tracks. "OOOH HO HO HO HO HO! I see you followed in my footsteps and
became a powerful sorceress, too, little sister!"
"*Diem Wing!*" Amelia cast, clearing a path for Zelgadis to charge in with
his sword, which was glowing red from an Astral Vine he had cast on it
earlier. "I'm still learning... travelling with Lina's given me a lot of
experience, though."
"Whee! This is fun!" Xelloss said, casually batting away one of the
goblins with his staff.
"FUN?!" Filia cried, breathing hard as she brought her mace down on the
head of an ogre with a sickening crunch. "You've GOT to be kidding me!"
Xelloss shrugged. "Hey- I don't usually get to fight such wimps. My
orders rarely allowed it. It's fun having a light workout like this after
a thousand years of having to battle some of the more powerful fighters in
all of existance." He smiled up at her. "You look tired- why don't you
take a rest? Don't worry- I'll protect you!"
Filia bristled angrilly, her tail popping out from under her dress. "WHAT?
Me, just step aside and let YOU protect me? You've got to be kidding!"
With that, she redoubled her attack, determined to not give him any more
reason to even consider that.
"Don't lose control of your form!" he warned on a much more serious note.
"If you wear your dragon shape, they'll have a lot easier time fighting
you. You dragons are too big to fight a defensive battle- you make too big
a target. You're fine on offense, but we're not ON the offense, right
now."
Filia calmed down slightly. "Um... thanks."
In the center of the circle formed by the eight main combatants, Zangulus
and Vrumagum stood protecting Martina and Sylphiel from any of the
marauders who succeeded in making their way through. Martina looked at the
shrine maiden nervously. "Can't you do something?" she asked. "You WERE
helping us in the fight against Hellmaster!"
Sylphiel hesitated. "Well... I'd be better off waiting until the battle is
over, and using my healing abilities."
Martina's wild eyes looked into hers as a ogre was tossed over her head by
a blow from Xelloss' staff. "Please! You HAVE to be able to do
something!"
"Um... well, the Dragon Slave's out- I'd hurt more than help with that.
There's a couple things I could try, though, I guess," she said hesitantly.
Summoning her magic to her hands, she picked out a target. Getting a
determined look on her face, she cast her spell."*Flare arrow!*" she cast.
A tiny red carrot started floating over and smacked one of the lesser
demons on the back of the head. The blow didn't really hurt the Mazoku,
but it startled the creature a little, allowing Luna to cut it down.
Sylphiel blushed, and returned to the protected center with Martina, very
embarrassed. "There. I helped. Um, I think that's enough for me for now.
I'll save up my energy to heal everyone when the battle's over."
Gourry stumbled to his knees in front of Lina, coated in the black and
green colored blood of their enemies. Lina was a little anxious to note
that there were some red stains on his clothing, as well. "Lina," he
gasped. "It's too much- for every one I kill, more show up."
Lina raised an eyebrow. "You giving up on me, Gourry?"
He shook his head, lifting himself to his feet through sheer force of will.
"No, but maybe it's time for you to start using your bigger spells- like
the Dragon Slave or something like that."
Lina couldn't help but notice how hard it had been for him to stand.
They'd been fighting for nearly an hours straight, and they'd been fighting
against VERY tough opponents. If these people had been those idiotic
bounty hunters who tried to capture them thanks to Copy Rezo and Eris'
reward offer, they'd have been fine- but these were lesser Mazoku, and they
hadn't even had a brief pause in which they could rest. In fact, the
battle was more taxing than the ones they'd had against Valgaav and
Darkstar- and what was worse was that there was no end in sight. The
number of attackers had been growing the entire time they'd been fighting,
and it didn't look like they'd be stopping any time soon.
Also, she had to consider Gourry's shape in all of this. He was fighting
at his best, but without the Sword of Light- or at least without a nice
longsword that he was comfortable using- he wasn't nearly as good as the
rest of them. He'd push himself twice as hard to succeed, but just looking
at him showed that it was obvious he couldn't compete with just a lightly
enchanted short sword. He needed this battle to end more than anyone.
"Right. Okay, people- change of plan!" she shouted. "Everyone, get as
close together as possible. Xelloss, Luna, Filia- erect a shield spell
around us. Sylphiel... I'm going to cast a Dragon Slave on this side- you
cast one on that side. Zel, Amelia, Vrumagum, and anyone else who can do
so, cast a Raywing or Levitation spell and get us airborn! Anyone else...
well, be ready to fight again if this doesn't work."
"Check!" Luna called, fighting her way back towards the center- she'd been
moving further out as the battle progressed, and so it took her a bit to
return.
"But I was having fun!" Xelloss protested.
"Come ON, you piece of raw garbage!" Filia screamed, grabbing him by the
collar of his priest's robes and dragging him towards the center. "Let's
get this over with!"
"Gracia!" Amelia called. "Help me cover Zelgadis' retreat!"
Zelgadis had also been dragged off in the fighting, but he wasn't nearly as
capable as Luna was of retreating to the center. He was fighting a very
defensive battle, and was being pushed away by the onslaught.
Naga laughed. "OOOH, HO, HO, HO, HO! Of course, sister! These creatures
cannot stand up to the might of Naga the White Serpent! *Diem Wing!*"
"*Diem Wing!*" Amelia echoed, widening the path for Zelgadis to run
through. "Come on, Zel! HURRY!" she cried.
Zelgadis took one more swat at a Berserker before breaking into a dead run
to reach the rest of them. Blasting a couple of trolls out of his way with
a Rah Tilt and slashing through one last Mazoku, he reached the others.
The company assembled, they got into formation. The attackers surrounded
them, banging against the hastily erected shield spells that Filia,
Xelloss, and Luna were powering.
"Hurry up, Lina," Xelloss said. "We can't hold this up too long."
He didn't need to ask. "...Possess. *DRAGON SLAVE!*" she cast, using her
talismen to boost the power. A second later, Sylphiel echoed her with a
Dragon Slave of her own.
When the dust settled, the battlefield looked clear. Nothing was moving
outside of the circle that was protecting the twelve of them.
"Oh, darn," a sarcastic voice said. A few seconds later, Zelas appeared to
show herself as being the owner of said voice. "You've beaten my army.
No, wait- that wasn't my army. That was a small number of my toys." She
smirked. "Well, looks like I'll have to actually add my force to this
conflict. Not right away, though- I mean, I'm not really here, and haven't
been all day. I just contacted all of the Beasts under my control in your
area, and asked them to tire you out for a bit."
Xelloss smiled up at her. "I thought that was too easy," he said.
"I always knew you were a smart boy," she said. "Looks like I'll have to
take your charges seriously, after all. I'll see you when this war's
over!" With that, she faded away.
Gourry, being healed by both Sylphiel and Lina, looked up at Xelloss.
"Does this mean it isn't over?"
"Afraid not," he answered.
Gourry's reaction was a testament to how incredibly worn he was. He
sighed, looked over at Lina, and said, "I don't think I can handle this
one." Seconds later, he passed out.
"Gourry!" both girls treating him cried as he fell into Lina's arms.
Xelloss looked at his unconscious form dispassionately. "Lina, carry him
with you. We have to find somewhere safe to recover, then decide what
we're going to do."
Lina nodded, putting one of Gourry's arms over her shoulders. "Femille's
relatively close."
"Let's go, then," he said.
Amelia looked concerned as Lina carried Gourry away. "You know, I think
that's the first time I've seen Gourry that tired."
Zelgadis nodded. "This wasn't a normal battle, that's for sure. I guess
this is a victory for us, but it feels like we were forced to retreat." He
sighed. "Looks like we got dragged along on another of Lina's adventures,
doesn't it?"
Amelia smiled. "Yeah... but we've always made it before, right? And
always came away with a tremendous victory for justice, as well!"
Naga groaned. "Amelia?" she said, using the same tone of voice she used
when she was telling her story.
"Yes, Gracia?"
"Remember, sis, it's Naga now," she said haughtily. Returning to her
sisterly voice, she continued, "Wherever we go after we rest up in
Femille... let's not make it Sailoon, okay?"
"Why not?"
"Let's just say that you just reminded me of one of the bigger reasons I
never went back home."
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desaix@sysnet.net
Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
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