Chaos Ascendant

Chapter 9

            "My guess is that he's decided to be an agent of Chaos," Lina replied. "I did rather give him an order…"

            Luna's brow arched as she looked at her sister. "An order? What did you tell him?"

            "That he couldn't kill Sylphiel," Lina said calmly. "I think he was under orders from the Knight of Shabranigdo. He pretty much told me that she'd figured it out, and that we had to perform the ritual tonight, before she came after Sylphiel herself."

            Luna sighed. "I was afraid that we'd have that problem. If the Knight of Shabranigdo comes before we can begin the ritual…"

            Lina nodded to her sister. "I'd rather not have to go that route. We have Sylphiel, the Sun Stone, and the Cepheid Knight… all we need is a powerful place, and the Blessed Blade."

            "What kind of powerful place, Miss Lina?" Amelia asked, pondering. New Sairaag didn't have much in the way of temples or shrines yet.

            "I know!" Gourry said excitedly.

            Lina held up her hand before Gourry could open his mouth again. "No, Gourry. There's no way that the old city is safe enough. The ritual will be dangerous enough as it is with the Knight of Shabranigdo after us."

            Gourry pouted for a moment, and then slumped sulkily into his chair. "I was only going to suggest the Holy Tree Flagoon. You know, where we buried that copy guy."

            Lina stared at Gourry. Every great once in a while, he made a good deal of sense. She wasn't sure, however, what frightened her more: the fact that he'd thought of it, or that she hadn't.

            The shadowy figure stood outside the window listening. Shrouded in secret, the figure smiled to itself. Oh, yes. That was indeed a place of power. And the Knight of Shabranigdo knew it. It was time to prepare, for the Knight must be blocked…

            The shadow pulled more shadows in on itself, vanishing without a trace.

            Lina glanced to the window for a moment, then shook her head. She was entirely too jumpy. "Let's get moving. Gourry, you go with Sylphiel and Luna to get the Blessed Blade. Zel, Amelia, let's go on to Flagoon. When you get there with the sword, we should have it ready."

            The little group dispersed, Lina taking the SunStone into her care. Amelia looked to Sylphiel in concern for a moment, but decided that she'd probably be fine with Luna and Gourry guarding her.

            Just as she knew very little could harm her with Lina around. She had, after all, touched the very face of Chaos, and lived to tell the tale.

            Flagoon. Of course. The Knight of Shabranigdo had been furious that the Chaos Knight had interceded. She'd dismissed Xellos and decided to take matters into her own hands.

            She could not let the Protector come into power. At whatever cost, no matter the price. Let them all die, but Shabranigdo would be reborn.

            Xellos sat on a branch of the Holy Tree and watched in amusement. Very soon, he thought. Very soon now everything would fall into place. Violet eyes opened, and a dark smile spread across his face. It was little coincidence that the three powerful Inverse females held the three positions of Power. It was even less that they had gathered the people around them that they had.

            They were, after all, the instruments of the Four World's destruction.

            The Holy Tree looked happy to see them, Amelia thought. It looked brighter and there was a glitter of magic around it, unlike how she had seen it the last time she'd been here. Each leaf seemed to be trying to outdo the other in a brilliant display of varying greens.

            At least, that's what she thought before the trio got close.

            The unearthly glow glittering on the tree was a reflection of the power emanating from the figure standing at its base. Blood red on scarlet, shrouded in shimmering flames, the Knight of Shabranigdo stood before the tree.

            "Oh, Hell." Lina muttered. She grabbed the SunStone from Amelia, ignoring the girl's sudden squeak of surprise, and glared at the figure near the tree. If anything happened to the Sun Stone… she didn't want to think about that.

            Stepping in front of Zelgadis and Amelia, she looked at the opposing Knight. "I don't get it. Kira wasn't supposed to become Shabby's pawn, you know." Maybe if I can stall for enough time…

            A bemused expression crossed the Knight of Shabranigdo's face. "I am not Kira. I am the Knight of Shabranigdo, and you won't be able to stop me."

            Lina pondered. She knew that she had power over both Shabranigdo and Cepheid's agents, but the problem of Balance existed. She simply couldn't destroy the Knight of Shabranigdo – another would rise to place, or the Protector of Cepheid would have to be destroyed as well. Kira and Sylphiel. As if she could do that.

"Quite the dilemma, isn't it?" Xellos' tone was conversational as he appeared beside Lina. "Kill her, and either kill the Protector of Cepheid as well, or save the Protector's life and have to fight whoever becomes the new Knight of Shabranigdo." Violet eyes opened, their liquid depths turning to meet fiery scarlet eyes shot through with gold. "But can you, I wonder, save them both?"

Lina glared at the Mazoku. She did /not/ want to have to deal with him as well as… Suddenly a pithy string of invective ran through her head as two thoughts collided in a brilliant display of manipulation and betrayal.

As Zelgadis and Amelia watched in stunned surprise, Lina spun, and with a glowing hand, grabbed Xellos by his throat. Pulling him close to her face, she began hissing at him in a language that neither Priestess nor Shaman understood.

But Xellos understood it all too well, each word slicing into him as the power of the Chaos Knight collected in the hand that was most firmly wrapped around his throat.

            A dangerous golden glitter was glinting in Lina's eyes as she spoke. "You filthy piece of rotten garbage. You set this up. You deliberately did this. You manipulated me into telling you not to kill Sylphiel so that you could join forces here with the Knight of Shabranigdo and kill them all."

            Xellos blinked. No, that hadn't been his plan… but how to make her see that? He was keenly aware of the thin line on which he was standing. Lina had the power to literally wipe him off of the planet, not to mention the Four Worlds. He would be no more than a memory on the Sea of Chaos if he didn't say this right. "Lina," he said most seriously, "While I will admit to manipulating you into ordering me not to kill Sylphiel, joining with the Knight of Shabranigdo is not my intention. Quite frankly, her presence frightens me more than yours."

For a moment, Xellos felt a strange absolute nothingness as Lina's powers built up around him, threatening his very existence. He took a deep physical breath, something he hadn't truly done since he was a mortal. His voice dropped, the annoying edge falling away, and he allowed them to hear his real voice, the voice he had once had as a Human. "Send the Stone to Sylphiel, Lina. There's no more time. If you don't, everyone precious to you will die."

            The words spoken in the Ancient Tongue froze both Zelgadis and Amelia. While neither one had understood what he had said, the change in his voice and the simple phrasings with names had made it very clear.

            Lina let go of Xellos and cast the Stone into the air, spelling it to Sylphiel. As the Knight of Shabranigdo moved to counter, Xellos' staff began to glow, a shield blocking the attack. The Stone vanished, and an unholy silence fell in the night.