Chapter 19
Gotterdammerung (part a)
Lina glared at the scientist, her distrust for the lunatic coming in the form of burning daggers, aimed straight for the face of Alana. The red-head was too concerned with finding an exit - thus she had no time for Alana. If anything, she was only a mere obstacle in Lina's path.
An obstacle that needs removing.....
But if Alana was bothered by Lina's hateful glare, she certainly didn't show it. Instead she merely chuckled to herself.
"Well, Lina Inverse" she mocked. "Fancy seeing you up at this hour. You weren't thinking of escaping now, were you?"
"As a matter of fact I was" Lina snarled. She nodded to Gourry who, relying upon an instinct that knew danger when it reared it's ugly head, reached for the hilt of his sword.
But if Alana picked up on the signs of impending doom, she certainly didn't seem too perturbed. She let out another laugh. But this one was different to the rest: this was a softer laugh, a less mocking laugh, the type of laugh that could only come before a voice that radiated with intentions most dangerous and sinister.
"I can't let you leave now" Alana snarled. "If you escape and tell the world what you've seen, my experiments would be absolutely ruined!"
"I'm counting on it!" Lina grinned evilly. "FIREBALL!"
And upon uttering that fateful word, a ball of flame flew from Lina's fingertips aimed straight for the scientist. Alana tried to duck out of the way, but she wasn't quite so lucky. The flames struck the scientist, leaving her dress in tatters and her flesh scorched.
Yet even as Alana coughed up ash, she still retained her manic expression. She still had no intention of giving up her mad schemes at all. She still carried her malevolent expression at the sorceress.
"Oh come now!" Alana said. "Now you're here, you have no chance of escaping! Why, I still have to use your friend to...."
"You know something?" Lina interrupted. "I really don't care. FLARE ARROW!"
Instantaneously, a jet of pure, destructive magic burst from Lina's hands. Once again, Alana found herself in a position of impending doom with no chance of escape. The Flare Arrow burned it's way into Alana, destroying all that stood in it's path.
When the arrow had died away, Alana was now a complete mess: her once soft flesh had been scorched black, her once splendid gown was now reduced to a burnt scrap of cloth and her hair was now tattered and torn.
But Alana wasn't one to give up. No amount of damage could stop her from preventing any potential interruptions to her twisted schemes.
"Oh come now Lina." she chuckled. "I especially can't let you go. Why, some people will pay good money to spit on your grave...."
Lina's reply was short and simple:
"MEGA BRAND!"
The mansion was rocked by the destructive force of Lina's Mega Brand. So much so that it couldn't hope to endure such large amounts of earth being erupted in such a powerful manner. Thus, the mansion had no chance of escaping unscathed.
Such was the effect of Lina's Mega Brand, that it spilt open one of the mansion's strong walls. The room that contained Lina, Gourry and Alana was obliterated completely - along with several other rooms and a good-sized portion of the hallway. The mansion had had a good sized portion of it torn away completely, leaving it's insides exposed to the world.
Alana however was thrown clear of the explosion. She sailed through the air before coming down to the hard earth that offered itself below her.
But fate intervened. Alana did not come crashing down onto the ground underneath her. Instead, she found her fall being interrupted. Being interrupted by a pair of strong hands that reached out and caught the scientist.
Alana blinked at this sudden intervention. What on earth? How did this happen? Who..?
She looked up at her saviour and found herself staring into the friendly, familiar eyes of....
"Adolphus!"
The liche gazed with empty sockets at the scorched scientist. Alana smiled at him, but Adolphus remained silent.
"Right!" Alana grinned. "Lets go! Lina Inverse is weak now! All we need to do, is to descend upon her and finish her off for good! Let's do it together!"
Suddenly, Adolphus showed the first signs of reaction.
"Together?" he murmured.
"Yes!" Alana said with eagerness. "We're allies, remember?"
Upon hearing this, angry flames sparked and ignited within the liche. It was then that he remembered everything: the times when both Alana and Kurt both walked all over him. The times when they both took him for granted. The times when they both ignored his contribution to the resurrection of Damenamecus. And the times when he plotted and schemed to have his revenge.
The time for revenge is now. The Chosen One is within his grasp and, as long as she remains that way, Adolphus has no use for his 'allies' any more.
"Allies?" the liche growled. "I don't think so"
And before Alana could stop him, Adolphus plunged his ancient claw of a hand into her stomach. The scientist's flesh could not hope to provide any sort of defence against the claw that burned it's way towards her heart.
And what happened next, happened very quickly.
Just as soon as Adolphus' hand smashed it's way into Alana's stomach, did the hand locate the scientist's heart and pulled it out.....
Then, in a gesture that was brutal and bloody, the liche pulled Alana's still beating heart out from her body. The scientist stared in horror as the liche then squashed the still beating organ in his hand.
"The game has changed" Adolphus growled triumphantly. "You are on the wrong side."
"You bastard...." Alana whispered, as death washed over her.
In amongst the ruins of the mansion, Lina Inverse coughed up a mouthful of dust and ash. Slowly, her hands reached out - only to feel to touch of blasted rubble.
Huh?
Slowly, the red-head lifted up her head.
And what she saw was nothing short of total chaos. Her Mega Brand had ripped the mansion apart, leaving a gaping big hole in the mansion revealing the rooms, corridors and inner workings to the outside world. And in amongst the rubble that used to part of the wall, were scattered flames, mountains of ash and scorched ruin.
Suddenly, Lina began to hear voices. A whole bunch of voices speaking at once.
A whole bunch of voices that sounded distinctively familiar.
"Look! Over there!"
Lina blinked. She could recognise that voice a mile away: Amelia!
Even as each of her joints screamed in protest, the sorceress hoisted herself onto her palms. She looked around to see the princess running towards her.
Amelia knelt down beside the sorceress, grinning a welcoming grin.
Lina managed a small smile. Yet, that smile was a lie: It was here that the sorceress could see the horror of Amelia's transformation this close for the first time. Amelia was a chimera. She, like Zel, had blue flesh of a rocky texture and hair that was made out of needles.
Yet, judging by her expression, she seemed hardly bothered. In spite of appearances, Amelia still retained her friendly disposition. Her smile was typically large and her eyes sparkled. And she still had every intention of doing what she did best: being a great friend.
Lina, let out of a soft sigh. Yes, despite the circumstances Amelia was still as optimistic as ever. But, in her heart of hearts, the sorceress caught something in the princess' eye: Somewhere, in amongst the sparkle, rested signs of pain. Pain of her situation.....
"Are you all right Lina?" Amelia inquired.
"Hey, how you doing kid?" Lina managed, with a small smile.
Amelia opened her mouth to speak.
Before being interrupted by a disturbingly familiar noise:
"OH-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO-HO!!!!!!!!!!"
Upon hearing this frightful, and indeed unexpected noise, Lina's blood turned into water.
Oh no. Not again! No way!
How could she be here?!
Forgetting all about the pain that cruised through her body, she immediately leapt to her feet, her eyes growing with fear, her muscles twitching with panic.
"Wow, Lina!" said Amelia in astonishment. "Now that's what I call a rapid recovery!"
"Oh no" Lina murmured, in fear. "Don't tell me SHE'S here!!!"
Suddenly Naga came charging up laughing her head off.
"There you are Lina!" Naga proclaimed triumphantly. "Fancy seeing you here! But when I saw that hole in that mansion, I immediately guessed it your was handiwork!"
"Now" she went on. "About that matter of the bill you left me with!"
Lina tried to run - but her legs refused to move. There was little she could do to escape her former associate. There was little she could do to escape the ghosts that had returned to haunt her. The was little she could do to escape settling a debt that was set up long ago.
Naga looming over her, bearing an expression that demanded revenge. The time for a long -awaited payback was now.....
Amelia, however, blinked in surprise.
"You two, know each other?"
Now it was Lina's turn to look surprised. "What do you mean: 'you two?!'"
"Oh don't you know?" Naga answered. "I'm your friend Amelia's sister!"
"Yes!" Amelia added. "This is my long lost sister Gracia!"
Lina didn't answer. Instead she fell over backwards, the shock of this revelation being too much to handle. They're sisters?! No way!
"Lina!" came a shout.
Both Naga and Amelia looked up to see Zelgadis running over. Hot on his heels came Gourry Gabriev - the swordsman looked bruised and battered but he still bore a large grin. It seemed no amount of injury hampered Gourry and he looked eager for battle.
But when he saw Amelia in her chimera form, his eyes dimmed. His smile still remained intact but, when confronted with the horror before him, his eyes turned grim and dark.
"Amelia!" Gourry grinned. "There you are!"
"Great to see you too!" Amelia replied.
"Likewise!" said the swordsman. "Say, what happened to you? You look exactly like Ze...."
"Wait a minute" Zel said, interrupting quickly. "Where's Xelloss?"
It was there and then that everyone fell silent, realising that the Trickster priest wasn't with them.
Suddenly Naga shouted.
"Never mind Xelloss! What the hell is that?!"
There, emerging from the shadows came Adolphus, bearing the dead Alana in his arms.
"That" Lina said, getting to her feet and adopting a furious expression. "Would be the bastards who have been after since this entire episode started."
"That would be correct" Adolphus said. "But now it is me alone. I'm afraid Alana has just departed this realm of existence."
"Is she.....?" Gourry asked, pointing at the burden in the liche's arms.
"Yes she is" Adolphus answered. "I killed her myself."
"You bastard!" Lina snarled. "I think it's time I put you out of our misery!"
"Ha!" Adolphus laughed, casting Alana's body aside. "What hope do you have of defeating a liche such as myself? Especially when I can do THIS!"
The liche raised his arms into the sky and muttered several unintelligible words.
And then the ground erupted. Erupted with the sound of long-forgotten bones being called into action. Erupted with the force of the most forbidden of magic. Erupted with legion upon legion of long dead skeletons, each clutching rusty weapons and an intent of murder.
And it was this undead horde that advanced onto the five adventurers.
"What?" Amelia exclaimed. "You're using someone's remains against us?! That's unjust!"
"Surprised?" Adolphus chuckled. "This land has provided a home for generations of people. Generations that lived, breathed and died on this soil. And as long as their bones remain underneath the ground, I can use them as my army!"
"Hey! That's cheating!" Lina snapped back.
"Two can play at that game!" Naga shouted. "STONE GOLEM!"
"NO!" Lina screamed. "Not that!"
But it was too late. Naga's spell had already been cast. The ground rumbled with the force of a mighty stone construction crushing it's way through the rocks of the under world and towards the surface.
Within moments, a mighty arm of rock burst from the ground, quickly followed by a great stone head. Naga grinned in triumph as her golem rose up from the ground, like a mighty god of war.
There was just one small problem.
Naga had cast her spell in the wrong direction.
Consequently, the golem had emerged from underneath the mansion.
Thus, the golem had to negate this obstacle - by smashing it to pieces.
This left Gourry, Amelia and Zel staring in astonishment as Lina, with her face buried in her hand, shook her head in disbelief.
"This... is supposed to help us?" Zel inquired.
"Oh well" Gourry sighed. "I guess we better do this the hard way then!"
And with that, he drew his sword with dramatic flourish and began waving it challengingly at the advancing undead horde.
"Right behind ya!" Lina grinned. "FIREBALL!"
And then, within seconds, the mansion grounds erupted into a battle field.
In the midst of all the mayhem, Amelia and Zelgadis fought side by side. Each watching the others back. Each helping out the other with a quick blow with a sword or with a nasty spell. Each eager to not let the other die.
Suddenly a skeleton brought a rusty hatchet crashing down on Amelia's head. But Amelia didn't see it until it was too late. But nothing happened to the princess - The blow from the hatchet was negated by her stone flesh.
Blinking in surprise, Amelia then delivered a nasty punch at the skeleton, sending him, quite literally, to pieces.
Amelia sighed. If it wasn't the intervention of the stone skin, that hatchet would have penetrated her flesh and left her dead. It seems the chimera curse has it's advantages.
But a curse is still a curse. And one she wants to be free from.
Suddenly, Amelia caught sight of a familiar shape running away from the battle. A shape that was heading for the surrounding forests.
A shape that looked remarkably like Kurt....
Vengeance filled Amelia's heart. Vengeance for his manipulative and cruel ways. Vengeance for all the trouble he'd caused. Vengeance for giving her this chimera curse....
"KURT!" she shouted.
"What?" Zel replied.
Taking out the nearest skeleton with a lethal punch, Amelia leapt into the sky and out of the battle field.
"Amelia!" Zel shouted from below. "What are you doing?!"
But Amelia had no time to answer questions. She had vengeance to deliver.
She came down to earth a few feet away and began sprinting towards the trees.
Quick! Turn the page!
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