Revelation! The Secret of the Silver Spell
Lina paused dead for a moment, reeling in the implications of what Sonjia had just said. "Whoa, hold it!" she shouted, putting her hands up. "Are you telling us that you're a god?!"
Sonjia raised an eyebrow and snorted irritably. "A god? Jeez, first you accuse me of being a Mazoku, and now you're calling me a god? Boy, are you still barking up the wrong tree."
Lina actually sighed in relief. For once, she was more than happy to be wrong. "Well, that's good. With all the weird stuff that's been going on, the LAST thing I need is you turning out to be a god."
"I can quite assure you that I'm not a god," said Sonjia. "In actuality," she continued, patting her chest, which had fully healed, "I'm a godDESS. I haven't had an operation or anything. No trips to Sweden for me." Everyone fell over.
"What's in Sweden?" Gourry asked dumbly.
"You KNOW what I meant!" shouted Lina, ignoring Gourry's question. "You don't have to get us worked up over your stupid semantic nonsense!"
"It's hardly nonsense!" said Sonjia, crossing her arms. "It would be like me going around calling you a man." She paused on that thought and looked Lina up and down. "On second thought, maybe there isn't much difference with you."
It was at this comment that a rather heavy atmosphere descended upon the grove. Almost like the air had turned black, and put a dark cover over Lina's face. Everyone minus Sonjia realized where this was headed, and looked warily at the fire-haired sorceress, backing slowly away in fear.
And then, a single word escaped Lina's lips, no louder than a whisper, and no more pleasant than a growl: "Kill."
And the entire forest blew up.
After the smoke cleared a few moments later, the forest was completely gone, Gourry was half-buried with his legs sticking out of the ground, Zelgadis and Amelia were tangled in some charred brambles, and Sonjia was draped backwards over a melted rock.
"Haaaaa..." Sonjia coughed, as smoke came out of her mouth. "I'm sincerely grateful that was for comedic purposes, because if you'd actually meant it, it surely would'a killed me."
Lina didn't care and was grinning proudly over her handiwork. "Ahhh, that felt good! What with that dumb Mazoku absorbing all my spells, and your rather off-colored remark, I needed to get that off my back!"
"No fair!" said Gourry pulling himself out of the ground. "You didn't need to blow us up, too!"
"Speaking of that Mazoku," said Zelgadis, looking around, "where do you suppose he went off to?"
Amelia stood up and struck a pose. "Does it matter? If he shows up again, since Sonjia-san is a god, she can smash him with her divine hammer of Justice!"
"I'm not a god, I'm a goddess!" Sonjia warned. "And believe me, I can do just about diddly-squat against that guy. That's just how the power in my family was divided up: Defensive, Offensive, Recovery," she listed, pointing to her fingers as she said them. "I happen to be the latter. So, unless you expect me to heal him to death, you're on your own against him."
Lina pounded her head against a charred tree. "Great. It's Sylphiel with a superiority complex," she muttered.
"But this is still good!" chirped Amelia. "For even if we fall in battle against the forces of evil, with a god or healing at our side, we shall always rise again!" Trumpets started blaring triumphantly in the background, while everyone else looked around frantically, trying to figure out where the music was coming from.
"Goddess," Sonjia reminded again, irritated. "And my services aren't free, you know. Heck, why should I even bother wasting my energy on a bunch of lowly humans? Besides," she added, before Lina could blow her up again, "if that spell he's got is what I think it is, I can't heal you, anyway."
"And for the millionth time," said Lina, glaring at her, "What spell is it?"
"It doesn't matter anyway, since you can't do anything about it!" Sonjia shot back.
Lina grabbed her by the collar. "Well, how 'bout letting us 'lowly humans' decide that for ourselves once we know what we're up against?"
There was a long silence. Almost agonizingly long. The wind blew through the charred clearing, and no one spoke, nor even moved. It was just a stare-down between sorceress and goddess. And, of all things, the sorceress appeared to be winning.
Finally, Sonjia lowered her head and smirked, letting out a little "Hmph." She looked back up, and actually smiled, seemingly understandingly. "You people... are just trying to survive, aren't you?"
Lina grinned back. "You bet we are." She released her grip on Sonjia's vest, who stumbled backwards a little.
"You intrigue me," said Sonjia. "My sister always wanted to protect humans, although I still haven't completely figured out why. But at least now... I think I've got it partially figured out."
"See?" said Lina, grinning. "We're not all that lowly and useless."
"A smidge," said Sonjia, pinching her thumb and index finger together. "I've got your usefulness figured out a smidge. A tiny, little, minuscule, itty-bitty, ever so minute amount."
Lina hung her head. "Well, I guess it's better than your opinion of us before."
"You still suck." Sonjia found herself flattened partway into the ground. "But, to humor you, I'll let you know what you want to know."
"You will do no such thing!" came a voice from above them. Jadarin had, obviously, not been incinerated by the explosion. Well, given his previous track record, this was a given. And he was now perched on a branch of one of the charred trees.
However, instead of being intimidated, Lina commented, "Um, I wouldn't stand there if I were..."
Snap. Such a result was to be expected. Now Jadarin had his claws dug into the trunk of the tree, which was still fairly sturdy. But if he had been hoping for a dramatic appearance, that wasn't the way to do it.
"Insolent little creatures," he muttered. "And I never expected Sonjia to agree to tell anyone about this particular spell. Especially after what everyone else has done to her to get her to cough it up."
"That's none of your business!" Sonjia shot back at him.
"And honestly," Jadarin continued, "doesn't this whole divulging of information seem rather dishonorable and dangerous?" He removed one of his hands from the tree. "We can't have that, now, can we?" He snapped his fingers and swung his arm to the side.
"That's that spell, isn't it?" said Lina, looking up. "But where is it? That little thread thing is so tiny, you'd never see it before it touches you!" Everyone else was frantically searching the sky, trying to catch a glimpse of a sparkle of silver. But it was useless. The thing would be floating down to their level any second now, and could kill any one of them.
"Simple solution," said Sonjia, clapping her hands. "Outta here."
And they all vanished.
Lina blinked, attempting to reorient herself. They had apparently just been teleported. Back to the outskirts of the dead town, actually.
"Sonjia-san just... saved us," said Amelia, somewhat surprised, in spite of herself.
"Don't let it get to your head," said Sonjia. "I just don't like anyone getting killed by that thing. It's a matter of principle."
Lina eyed her suspiciously. "And since when does teleportation fall under 'healing' powers?"
"Oh, gimme a break, I said that healing was my specialty. But there are a few abilities that I just have, simply because I'm a goddess. Mazoku have the same three basic abilities. Teleportation, levitation, and form shifts. You don't exactly 'specialize' in those things. It's like saying you specialize in breathing."
"That's nice," said Lina, waving off her excuse. "Why exactly did you bring us back here? Isn't this the most obvious place for us to go?"
"Well, yes, but it's also the safest," Sonjia reasoned. "We're trying to hide from a Mazoku, and no matter where we go, he can just use divining powers to find us. At least here, he won't be able to do that and would have to search around like anyone else."
"Why can't he do that here?" asked Amelia, still rubbing her eyes due to the sudden scenery change.
Sonjia motioned to one of the houses. "Just come in here, and I'll make good on my offer to explain this."
Lina eyed her suspiciously as she followed her in. "So what made you suddenly so willing to give us information?"
Sonjia flopped down into a chair. "Dunno. I guess it's because you're the least untrustworthy people I've met so far. And you're humans. You're not fighting a divine war for control of the planet. You're just caught in the middle of it. So, hopefully, whether you know this or not won't matter."
Amelia plopped down on the floor in front of her. "So, you're gonna tell us all about that Mazoku's power? And are you really a goddess?"
Zelgadis leaned against the far wall and glared coldly in Sonjia's direction. "We have no proof that what she says is the truth."
"I think she'll tell the truth," said Gourry.
"I'd rather have a fictitious explanation than no explanation at all," said Lina. She turned her attention back to Sonjia. "So, for starters, what sort of shield is that Mazoku using? And how did he kill everyone in this town? And what was with that ribbon of yours?"
"Magic Lock," Sonjia said simply.
Lina nodded. "And...?"
"And what? It's responsible for everything you just listed." Sonjia shrugged. "What more can I say?"
Lina sighed. "Well, first of all, you could explain to us exactly what this 'Magic Lock' is. What's with the dumb name, anyway?"
"We're Gods, not poets," replied Sonjia. "My sister just called it that because that's what it was. The thing doesn't even have an incantation, it's so simplistic."
"Oh, so you ARE a 'god' now," said Lina, mockingly.
"That's something completely different!" retorted Sonjia. "'God' refers to the race of Gods, while 'god' refers to a specific type of God. Sort of like how you are... well, sort of like how Amelia here is a girl, but of the race of Man."
"Like we can tell the capitalization difference when you're speaking!" retorted Lina. Then, a little flash of realization buzzed behind her head. "Hey, wait, what was that last comment...?"
"Forget it, forget it. Back to the original topic at hand," said Sonjia.
Lina eyed her dubiously for a moment and backtracked the conversation before it went off on a tangent. "So, it's a 'simplistic' spell, huh? How can it be simplistic, yet be versatile enough to shield against the Ragna Blade AND kill an entire town?"
"And that's where the aforementioned explanation comes in," said Sonjia. "I just hope I have time to tell all of it." She took a deep breath. "Okay.... It's like this... I just hope I don't regret telling you.
"Magic Lock is the reason behind the deaths in this town, that Mazoku's invulnerability, and my ribbon. My sister developed it... I'm not really sure when. Everything I know about it was relayed to me by her. And through my own experience of seeing the thing in action. She intended it to be a means to stop the war between the Gods an Mazoku without completely obliterating one of them.
"She wanted to create a shielding spell that was strong enough to withstand any attack from either side, but be simple enough to cast so that it could be used on a wide scale. If you can't hit anything, you can't really do a whole lot of damage. But she knew that such a shield would be impossible, because shields only defend against spells of equal or lesser power. And creating a shield to defend against any power in the world would require far too much energy. More than all the Gods combined had.
"But, it's amazing what a problem turns into when you disregard your greatest constraint. This being power. Her initial problem was that she needed a spell that worked regardless of the power thrown against it, so why not just disregard power entirely? That meant that the spell needed to work on a principle other than raw power. Instead, this spell works on energy."
Lina blinked. "What's the difference?" She then elbowed Gourry, who had begun to fall asleep.
"It's based on an analogy she used that gave the idea the name 'the drowning principle'. She said that no matter how strong you are, if you get pulled underwater, you drown. That's because anyone of any strength needs to breathe. And Magic Lock, in essence, makes spells unable to breathe. It drowns them, more or less. Power describes how strong a spell is. Energy is what keeps it going. So, instead of fighting against another spell's power, it just suffocates its energy.
"In more technical terms, the spell is practically zero energy. It acts like an energy vacuum, drawing energy in from the outside, rather than the caster. And since power is no longer a factor, it can absorb absolutely any spell."
Lina nodded. "So, I guess that explains his shield. But what about how he killed everyone in town? It's a defensive spell, right? Defensive spells don't kill people."
Sonjia's shoulders slumped. "This one does. It's not supposed to, but it was a side effect that she hadn't counted on....
"See, Magic Lock needs to be cast on something to actually do anything. It starts out as a minuscule thread, given a tiny amount of energy by the caster to actually make it exist. And when it touches an object, it immediately seizes that object's energy and expands itself to engulf the whole thing. Even inanimate objects have energy, simply because they exist.
"So, cast on a wall or shield, the spell was quite effective. No magical attack could ever get past something surrounded by an energy vacuum. And they're inanimate objects, so, besides the color change, you could never tell that they've had all their energy absorbed.
"But, for living things... the effects are more noticeable. Just like power is power, no matter what form it takes, so is energy. Whether it be magical energy, energy to exist... or life energy. Even soul energy. Like I said, as soon as this spell touches anything, bam, all that energy is gone. And I'm kind of under the impression that having your life and soul energy sucked into a void isn't all that pleasant. Unfortunately, my sister didn't realize it would have this effect on living things until after the matter."
Lina flinched a little, realizing that this is exactly what happened to the people in this town. Their souls, their very essence, just wiped out. She was beginning to see just why this spell was so dangerous.
"Granted," continued Sonjia, "Magic Lock will work on anything. Even Mazoku and Gods. The Mazoku and Gods, however, happen to be in a war to obliterate each other, which is what my sister was trying to stop when she initially created the spell. Instead, it had become both an impenetrable shield and a means of instant death. Obviously an easy victory for whichever side controlled it. Both sides tried different bargaining techniques, including... taking hostages... but in the end, my sister refused both."
"Why would she refuse the Gods?" asked Amelia. "Isn't she one of them? They should have worked together to smash the forces of evil!"
"She had a number of reasons, one being that the spell wasn't designed to kill anyone. She didn't want anyone using it for that purpose. The Gods weren't convinced and decided that she was a traitor to the race. They left my sister and their hostage in the care of the Gold Dragons, while the Mazoku ended up killing their hostage. But the Dragons still tried to negotiate, although in a much more... forceful manner than the Gods. And that's where the ribbon comes in."
Lina pointed out the bloodied blue ribbon still tied around Sonjia's wrist. "That isn't it, though, is it? Your ribbon was silver."
Sonjia looked at it. "Yes, actually, this is the ribbon. Although I really have no idea why the spell isn't on it anymore. There isn't a force in the world that can undo or defend against Magic Lock, since you can't really get rid of nothing."
"Maybe it wore off," Gourry said.
"That could be," said Sonjia, "But I don't know why it would. Maybe it only has a five thousand year warranty...
"Anyway, the third explanation you asked for was the ribbon. My sister cast Magic Lock on this ribbon so that no one could find her, so she could be free of the Dragons' captivity. The void that the spell creates affects whatever it is cast on plus whatever is directly touching it. It's just that someone touching an affected object doesn't get their energy absorbed. But they're still blocked by the void. Therefore, that person cannot use magic nor have any magic used on them. And, in this case, can not be tracked."
"This being the reason we came here," summarized Lina. "Jadarin can't track us here because the spell is on all the buildings, and we're surrounded by them."
"Oh, good, you figured that out on your own!" exclaimed Sonjia. "I was just about to explain that, but it looks like you're not as dim-witted as I suspected." Lina grumbled at Sonjia's apparent lack of faith in her intelligence. No wonder this explanation had been so agonizingly long. And she had a feeling that the "back story" segment wasn't done with yet.
"Moving on," continued Sonjia, as Lina sighed at her correct assumption, "Since my sister was gone, the Gold Dragons, in a supreme act of kindness, decided to release their hostage. On one condition. That I, being close to her, locate my sister and bring her back."
"Ohhh," said Gourry scratching his head. "You were their hostage?" he asked, having not figured this out yet until this point.
"Very good," said Sonjia, like she was just praising a dog for rolling over. "And, so that's how it was for quite a while. Eventually I was getting hounded by both sides for the whereabouts of my sister, how to use the spell, which I didn't know at that point, and a bunch of other mundane pieces of information that I was incapable of divulging.
"However, one day, my sister just sort of... resurfaced again. Out of nowhere, there she was in front of me. I swore to her that I would never tell anyone that I'd found her. At that point, she took me to a small underground laboratory where she had been hiding for the past number of years. She said she wanted to make sure I was protected, so, well..."
"... She hid you down in that lab and turned you to stone," Lina finished for her. "You were telling the truth all along...."
Sonjia nodded. "I had no idea how much time had passed when I was released. Heck, I didn't even realize I'd been turned to stone. But now that I actually knew something, I wasn't about to let anyone else know. Well, at least until I knew I could trust them not to destroy the world if they DID know."
"I don't buy it," said Zelgadis. "If that spell absorbs magic, why didn't it absorb the stone spell while tied to your wrist?"
"Always the skeptic, I see," said Sonjia, "Magic Lock is a void, you see. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. Meaning nothing wears off. And if I can't use magic, I can't very well break whatever spell is on me, now, can I? Me touch, my magic go bye bye. Other magic already there stay all the time," she over-simplified for the irritated chimera.
"Oh, so that's how you broke Xellos-san's levitation spell when you first met him!" said Amelia. "He touched the ribbon and lost his magic! Um, but he was holding it before, and it didn't do anything to him..."
"It doesn't work through clothes," Sonjia explained. "He was wearing gloves, so it didn't affect him. It only affects what it's touching directly."
Zelgadis shifted his position on the wall. "Speaking of Xellos, mind explaining now how you saw through his act back in Sairaag?"
"You're blue," Sonjia said flatly.
Zelgadis fell over. "Pardon? So you've finally noticed, huh? But what does that have to do with anything?"
"Jeez, your brain must be made of rocks, too, stone boy," said Sonjia. "Me no use magic..." she began.
"And you can stop oversimplifying things," growled Zelgadis. "I'm quite capable of understanding normal speech."
Sonjia cleared her throat, and continued, "If I can't use magic and no magic can be used on me, I also can't sense it. See it, feel it, hear it, whatever. It sort of distorts reality. So, I could see through Xellos's magical disguise. And, since your condition obviously has magical sources, with the ribbon on, I could see and feel through that as well. But," she added, jabbing a fist at him, "like I said before, it doesn't work through clothes."
Zelgadis sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. "Distorts reality, huh? Are you expecting me to believe a word of what you.... Good Gods!!!" he shouted, leaping forward.
"Goddess," Sonjia corrected.
"I had it capitalized," Zelgadis grumbled to himself. He shook his head to reorient himself from the sudden vision shift he'd had, while everyone else looked at him in confusion at his uncharacteristic outburst.
"Hmm, you touched the wall with your skin," Sonjia said. "The wall has the spell on it. Looks like you got a firsthand look at that 'reality distortion' effect."
"I.... what?"
"You saw through my human appearance," Sonjia stated bluntly.