Chapter 19
Gotterdammerung (part b)
Amelia plunged into the forest, in her pursuit of Kurt. As she hurried on through the trees, her mind was racing as quickly as her feet were moving.
Where was she going? Was she right in leaving her friends to fend for themselves against Adolphus' undead hordes? What she trying to achieve by taking out Kurt on her own? And where is the conniving little bastard planning in all of this?
Suddenly her ears picked up a sound. A distinctive sound. A disturbing sound. A sound that was enough to make her stop dead in her tracks.
It was the sound of an axe.
An axe being brought down to split chunks of wood.
Upon hearing this, Amelia's blood turned to ice. Her chimera hands began shaking and her eyes widened in terror. Could this be....?
And then, up ahead, she saw it.
The Woodsman. The very thing that had been haunting her dreams ever since that scuffle with Diol. There he stood, atop a slope in the forest, wielding his axe to deliver a splintering blow onto some wood nearby.
Just like in my dream the princess thought.
Just then, the Woodsman raised his head. He raised his head to reveal, instead of eyes, a pair of opaque discs. A pair of opaque discs that burned with red fury. A pair of opaque discs that burned right at the princess.
Amelia was nothing short of perturbed by this gruesome, and indeed disturbing, visage. Nevertheless she still managed to find courage to move. Movement that made her legs ascend the slope and advance towards the menace before her.
With hatred and vengeance in her heart, Amelia approached the Woodsman.
"You" she growled.
"Oh, but of course" Kurt grinned.
"So, that was you all along."
Kurt nodded, his crude-looking spectacles blazing with red light.
"Now what are you going to do?" the teenager mocked. "Curse my name? Break every bone in my body? Blast me into the stratosphere with one of your spells?"
But Amelia wasn't in any mood for questions. Instead, she growled in frustration and unleashed a fearsome punch aimed at Kurt's face.
But the punch never reached it's intended target. Instead, the punch was halted mere inches away.
Amelia blinked in astonishment as Kurt grinned in smug satisfaction.
"Did you forget something?" he chuckled. "As long as you are still a chimera, you are still under my control. And as long as you remain that way, you can still provide the means to bring Damenamecus back to earth!"
"Like hell I will!" Amelia snarled.
"Oh but you will" Kurt sniggered.
He then reached into the pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out a crystal vial.
"You see this?" Kurt proclaimed. "This is an antidote that will cure you of your chimera form. One dose of this will restore your human body. Every drop swallowed will be enough to bring you back to what you once were."
Amelia blinked in surprise. So it was true.....
"So, I guess I have your assistance in this matter now eh?" Kurt mocked.
"I don't think so" came the reply.
Amelia then launched herself into the air, with the intention of charging the malevolent Kurt and bringing him down with the wrath of Justice before grabbing the vial.
And her plan would've worked had it not been for the underestimation of what Kurt was capable of.
It happened when Amelia was mere inches away from the teenager. As she raised her fists, ready to pound Kurt into next week, the teenager pocketed the vial in his waistcoat before raising his hands before him. And then, in one magnificent gesture, a bolt of raw power erupted from his finger tips and burned it's way towards the princess.
Immediately, Amelia was thrown way clear of the blast. She came to rest several feet away from the smug teenager.
After coming down to earth, it didn't take long for Amelia to get back to her feet. Fortunately for the princess, her chimera skin had taken most of the damage and left her still capable of action. Yet as Amelia readied herself for another assault, she felt a small trickle run down her cheek. Slowly she reached up towards her face.....
....to receive a handful of blood.
Kurt noticed Amelia's startled expression. And still he retained his smug expression.
"As you can see, I am not a force to be trifled with" he boasted. "Your chimera form may save you from swords and the basic of spells but it can't save you from my powers."
"That doesn't stop me from trying!" Amelia snapped. "RA-TILT!"
Instantaneously, a force of pure destruction burst from Amelia's fingertips heading for Kurt. But the teenager, faced with a tsunami of magical power, didn't look worried at all. Instead he merely waved his hand.
And instantaneously, Amelia's spell was brought to an abrupt end. The tsunami of raw power dissipated as it was broken up by an intervention powerful beyond belief.
Amelia blinked in astonishment, as if uncertain on what to make on what she had just witnessed. What was this guy capable of....?
"Impressed by my powers are you?" the teenager said. "Then here! Have another example!"
And with that, he summoned another bolt of magical energy - only this one was aimed at the ground. The bolt struck the ground a short distance away from the princess. With little chance of escape, Amelia was blasted into the air. The princess screamed with pain as she was catapulted into the air, at an astonishing rate.
Seconds later, she came crashing down to the ground. The princess' bloodied and battered body came down without a sound.
Kurt stood triumphantly over Amelia's prostrate form.
"Oh my" he mocked. "The puppet tried to rebel against it's masters! How pathetic."
"Not at all" came a voice.
Kurt turned around at the sound of this voice, to see Zelgadis advancing towards him.
The chimera fixed the teenager with a glare of fury and hatred.
"I should break every bone in your pitiful body for what you did to Amelia" Zel snarled.
"Oh isn't that sweet?" Kurt said. "A chimera ready to avenge that of his flesh and blood."
"NO, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" Zelgadis roared. "This skin is not mine by choice!"
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that" Kurt replied sarcastically. "Did my great lord Damenamecus do that to you?"
"You know, I used to be like you" The chimera replied, changing the subject of conversation completely. "I wanted power. And I wanted it so much that I was prepared to do anything to achieve it. But I found that with such wishes, comes a price to pay."
Suddenly, the first few hints of rage ignited within Kurt. Immediately, his eyes grew with fury and his hands blazed with magical power.
"Nonsense!" he snarled. "Don't give me that line of crap!"
And to emphasise his point, Kurt unleashed another bolt of power. Zel's eyes grew with alarm but nothing could save him from being struck by the power of Kurt's wrath.
Zel was struck in the chest with such a force that he soon found himself catapulted right into a tree. Zel let out a pained groan and sank to the ground. And since Kurt's blow was a lethal one, the chimera began coughing up blood.
But Zel had no intention of giving up the fight. Even as he could feel blood pouring from him and even as his joints screamed their agonised protest, Zel still managed to get back on his feet.
Zel then grinned a sadistic grin, before drawing his sword.
"What's the matter, Kurt?" the chimera sneered. "Are you afraid to draw your sword and fight like man? Are you really afraid to fight a battle without you magic?"
"You know something?" Kurt retorted. "I guess I am"
And to prove his point, he unleashed another bolt of power at the chimera. Zel tried to jump out of the way but to no avail. His injuries had left him a sitting duck. And there was nothing he could do to escape Kurt's magic.
Zelgadis found himself, once again, blasted up against the tree. He roared with pain as the magic tore at his body in a way that even his chimera curse couldn't save him. He roared with pain most incredible.
Eventually, the roaring fell silent. Satisfied with this sudden silence, Kurt brought an end to his spell, thus allowing the battered chimera to fall to the ground, a silent, bloodied mess of stone hard flesh and bone.
Pleased with this achievement, Kurt chuckled to himself in triumph.
But what he didn't realise was that someone was in the shadows watching.
Xelloss observed the proceedings with open eyes. He wasn't liking the way this was turning out. It seems that his methods of manipulation weren't turning out the way he intended. It seems he underestimated his opponents greatly. It seems the evil he was ordered to destroy was too strong for his friends.
But, in any case, if one wants something done right, then one must do it himself.....
Yes, after spending so long in the shadows and manipulating everyone to do his bidding, the time for intervention was now at hand.
Clearing his throat, the Trickster Priest closed his eyes and emerged from the shadows.
"Impressive" he said. "Quite impressive. You're certainly a force to be reckoned with."
Upon hearing this, Kurt flicked his head around to face the newcomer. When he saw who it was, he chuckled.
"You" he laughed. "The mazoku himself. What do you want?"
"I am merely here to finish what has begun"
"What?" Kurt mocked. "Don't tell me you're coming to avenge your friends?"
Xel shrugged. "Well, I suppose that too."
Kurt blinked.
"You see" Xelloss went on, "I am merely acting on the orders of my master Zelas Metallium. I have been watching you ever since you began your plotting to resurrect Damenamecus. And now that your master's arrival has been averted, I have to finish the job. That does include YOU."
"Ha!" Kurt burst out. "How can you hope to achieve what your friends couldn't?"
"Well then" Xelloss said, opening his eyes. "Why don't we find out, eh?"
And to prove his point, Xelloss raised his finger and waggled it.
Eventually the flames died away, leaving a rather scorched Kurt. Although battered and burned, the teenager still stood.
And, in spite of coughing up ash, Kurt was also still quite capable of managing speech:
"That was quite a clever trick there." he snarled. "But tell me are you fast enough to dodge this?!"
And with these words, he unleashed his bolt of raw power. But Xelloss was too smart for that. Instantaneously, the Trickster avoided Kurt's destructive magic in his familiar vanishing act.
Kurt blinked at the spot where Xelloss once stood. Where did he go?! And so quickly?!
He began to grow uneasy. It seems the mazoku was more powerful then the Chosen One and the other chimera. And he was hardly the type to be underestimated.....
Could it be possible that Kurt is at the point where his end is approaching.....?
Suddenly, Xelloss appeared behind Kurt and dealt a vicious blow. Kurt came crashing down to the ground.
"Damn you!" Kurt snarled.
"Oh come on" the Trickster Priest retorted. "Who are you to challenge a mazoku?"
"Damn your master!" the teenager blurted out, without thinking. "Damn Zelas!"
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?!" Xelloss boomed. "You'll pay for that!"
And with these words, Xelloss reached down and grabbed Kurt by the collar - before delivering a lethal right hook to the face!
Kurt went flying through the air only to come crashing down a short distance away. Yet, in spite of his bruised face, the teenager still managed to get off the ground and into a sitting position.
"You'll pay for that" Kurt growled at Xel.
"Somehow I doubt that" came the reply.
Xelloss waggled his finger again. And suddenly Kurt could feel his arm moving out his control. His arm was moving on it's own and it was twisting. Twisting out of it's joints and out of shape. Twisting out of shape upon acting on a power that even Kurt's incredible magical prowess had no chance of overcoming.
As Kurt roared with pain, he could feel his other arm move on it's own. It too was twisting out of shape, and creating hideous pain to the teenager. And it wasn't long before both his legs also began following suite.
With both his legs and his arms broken and twisted out of shape, Kurt had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Consequently, he couldn't move as Xelloss advanced towards his stricken form. The end was truly nigh.
Kurt was powerless as Xelloss, bearing a glare that burned with hatred, reached down and picked him up by the scruff of his collar.
"This is for Zelas" the Trickster growled.
And with those words, Xel delivered the most lethal of all blows to Kurt's face.
The teenager couldn't even scream as darkness engulfed him.
Meanwhile, consciousness returned to Zelgadis. Dazed and battered as he was, his eyes still managed to gaze the scene of devastation before him.
And the sight of prostrate Amelia, caked with blood.
Upon seeing the princess like this, Zelgadis' breathing came hard and fast. His eyes grew angry and words flew from his mouth one after the other:
"Damn. You. All. To. HELL!"
In spite of his injuries Zel managed to get to his feet and raced towards the princess' stricken form. He knelt down beside Amelia and picked up her hand tenderly in his own.
Was she.....?
"No, she isn't dead." came a voice.
Zel looked up to see the Trickster Priest standing beside him, with his eyes closed.
"Xelloss...." Zel sighed.
"She isn't dead." Xel repeated. "It was only through her chimera flesh that she's managed to survive."
"What about Kurt?"
"He is dead" Xelloss replied. "I saw to it myself."
"But for now" he continued. "Onto more important matters."
Xel opened his eyes and drew his out-stretched hand before the chimera. In it was a small crystal vial of liquid.
"What's this?" Zel demanded.
"I found it on Kurt." The Trickster Priest explained. "He was planning to use it to bribe Amelia into doing his bidding."
"What is it?"
"A chimera cure." Xel replied, in a definitive tone.
Upon hearing this, Zelgadis' eyes slowly widened with wonder. Then, with shaking hands, he took the vial and examined it in awed silence.
"...I...I don't believe it...." he whispered eventually. "After all this time...."
"Now that you've found your cure at long last" Xelloss asked. "What are you going to do with it?"
"What type of question is that?" Zel snapped.
Xel didn't reply. Instead he merely nodded towards Amelia's form.
And suddenly, the brutal harshness of reality hit Zel like a sledge-hammer. He feel silent.
"What are you going to do, Zel?' Xelloss said. "Will you take it, or give it to Amelia?"
Zel didn't reply. Instead he bowed his head.
"This is your decision" the Trickster Priest said. "I leave it to you to decide"
And with that Xelloss vanished, leaving the chimera with the vial and Amelia.
With shaking hands, Zel could feel his eyes well with tears....
Meanwhile, back at the battlefield, all was chaos.
Naga's golem had finally broken out of it's prison (by completely destroying that which contained it) and had now joined the battle against Adolphus' skeleton horde. Gourry welded his sword left and right, taking down any skeleton stupid enough to come near, whilst Naga and Lina both cast spell after spell, their past regressions now forgotten completely.
But no amount of swordplay or spells could keep the skeletons at bay. As Adolphus had no intention of losing this battle, his necromancy powers were running to their full extent. More and more skeletons emerged from the ground with each passing second. And even as the three adventures fought on, for every one skeleton that fell, two more stepped in it's place. And no amount of support from the golem could halt the tide of undead that swamped Naga, Lina and Gourry.
Lina growled her frustration.
Dammit!" she cursed loudly. "How many more of these bastards are there?!"
"Don't give up now Lina!" Gourry said. "We must keep fighting!"
"Oh screw this!" Lina snapped. "I'm gonna put an end to this! LEVITATION!"
"Wait!" Naga yelled. "What are you doing!?"
And before the raven-haired sorceress could stop her, Lina leapt right into the air. As the levitation spell gave her the benefits of an eagle-eye view of the mayhem before her, Lina looked around in contemplation of her next move.
And there, right behind the continuous tide of skeletons, was Adolphus, using his twisted sorcery to increase his legions and guiding them onward.
Lina grinned to herself. Time to put an end to his fun....
"FIREBALL!"
Had Adolphus not been too concerned with directing his legions, he would've noticed the sorceress in her elevated position. Had Adolphus not been too concerned with increasing the size of his legions, he would've noticed said sorceress cast a great ball of flame. And Had Adolphus bothered to look up, he would've noticed the fireball sailing over the heads of his skeletons, heading in his direction.
But this was not to be. The fireball struck the unaware liche with a tremendous explosion.
Lina grinned. Yes! Take that, Adolphus! That should swing the battle out of his favour, right?
Wrong.
Nothing could change the fact that Adolphus was a liche. A liche of great power. Within moments, Adolphus had managed to magically extinguish the flames that consumed him.
Then, he noticed Lina floating high above the battlefield.
"Very clever, Lina" the liche growled. "But lets see if you're smart enough to avoid this!"
And with that, a bolt of thunder burst from his hands, heading with great speed in Lina's direction. With such a force of power travelling at such a speed, Lina had no chance of dodging it. The thunderbolt struck the sorceress off guard and sent her plummeting to the ground.
"LINA!" Gourry shouted, over the noise of the battle.
The sorceress sailed over the remnants of the mansion and came crashing down to the ground. She skidded along the ground before finally coming to rest. Coming to rest near someone's feet.....
The next thing Lina, knew she heard a voice.
"Lina! Are you all right?"
Suddenly Lina heard another new noise. Sounds of shouting. Sounds of running feet. Sounds of battle cries being screamed.
And, in amongst the noise, came a soft chanting. A chanting that Lina recognised as a healing spell.....
What the hell.....?
Eventually the chanting stopped. Then Lina, although dazed and confused, slowly opened her eyes.
To see the friendly smiling face of Sylphiel.
Lina blinked. "Sylphiel!"
The shrine maiden just smiled.
"Was that you I heard casting that healing spell?" Lina inquired.
Syl nodded.
"Good" Lina replied, before jumping to her feet. From there, she surveyed the battle field before her. And to her surprise, she saw a new faction enter the battle. There, battling the skeletons came a whole bunch of farming folk, armed with whatever weapons at their disposal: Axes, pickaxes, shovels and, on occasion, swords.
Lina blinked at these newcomers. She turned to Syl.
"What are you doing here? Weren't you back at Dakeyras?"
"I was" Syl explained. "But after you got knocked out fighting that Damenamecus... thing, I found Amelia and.... took her back to the inn. After that she disappeared, so I went looking for her. I spent the whole day looking but I couldn't find her! So I went back to the inn in disappointment. Then Dakeyras was rocked by this huge explosion so some of the villagers went to investigate....."
"Right" Lina nodded. So the villagers have come to help! Great! In any case herself, Naga and Gourry need all the help they can get!
Suddenly, Lina blinked.
"Did you say, you met up with Amelia once you'd defeated Damenamecus?"
Syl nodded.
"So you know?"
Bearing a grim expression, Syl nodded her silent reply.
"Where is Amelia anyway?" the priestess asked.
"Somewhere over there" Lina replied gesturing towards the battle.
"You know, I heard that you had defeated Damenamecus with the Dragon Slave." Lina added. "I'm impressed."
Syl brightened at these words. "You mean it?"
"Yeah" Lina grinned. "But I should remind you that with such power, one must choose the right time and the right place to use a such a spell."
Syl nodded wisely. "Yes, I know. In destroying Damenamecus... I.... kind of destroyed Dakeyras altogether....."
Lina slapped her forehead.
"Never mind that now" she said eventually . "Now we have more important matters to deal with."
"Such as?" Syl asked.
Lina turned towards the battle and her expression grew darker.
"Dealing with that bastard liche" she snarled. "No one takes me out! Ever!"
"What about that time with Hellmaster Phibrizzo?" Syl inquired.
Lina face faulted, at the priestess' comment.
"Well" the sorceress said quickly . "No one takes me out and gets away with it!"
And then she began murmuring soft words. Yet even as softly as Lina chanted them, Syl was still in earshot. It didn't take her long, but she recognised those words.....
And those words were certainly cause for alarm!
She recognised those words all right!
"No!" Syl shouted. "Stop!"
But it was too late. Lina's arms were blazing with raw power and her chanting was reaching it's peak. Slowly, the red-head opened her eyes.
"DRAGON SLAVE!"
Suddenly, a huge bolt of power burst from Lina's fingertips. This bolt of power thundered down towards the battle and towards the liche.
Adolphus, however, was oblivious at first. He was far too concerned with raising the bones that lay in the ground to increase his army. Consequently, he didn't see the Dragon Slave thunder towards him until it was too late.
The Liche looked up at the tsunami of magic steam-roll towards him. Faced with so much power that he couldn't possibly avoid, there was little Adolphus could do. His skull face then adopted, what looked like, an expression of terror. There was no escape.
Suddenly the battle field exploded. Adolphus was vaporised completely. The skeletons all crumbled and fell into dust. The golem was blown apart completely. All the villagers were blown clear of the explosion.
And when the dust was settled, all that remained was a large smoking crater. There was nothing left of the mansion, the liche Adolphus or the legions of skeletons. There was nothing left. It was all over.
Lina smiled in satisfaction. "Yeah! Revenge is indeed sweet!"
"You see?" Lina said, turning to a startled Syl. "Like I said. You gotta choose the right time and the right place!"
The priestess opened her mouth to speak.
But before she could say anything, something large and heavy came plummeting down. Something that looked at lot like, and sounded like, Naga the serpent. The raven-haired sorceress came plunging down and hit the ground with a tremendous thud - right next to Lina.
"Oh man" Naga mumbled. "It's been a while since I last heard that!"
"Hey Naga!" Lina joked. "What happened? Can't you survive a Dragon Slave any more?!"
Seconds later, another object came plummeting down from the sky. An object that looked exactly like Gourry Gabriev. He too hit the ground with such an incredible force.
"Gourry!" Syl cried, shocked at his crash landing.
"Oh don't worry!" Lina grinned. "He's still alive! I know he is!"
The swordsman softly moaned. Lina grinned triumphantly at the priestess.
"See? I told you so!"
But Syl didn't answer. She was too busy staring right past Lina.
Lina turned around.
And there she saw Zel. Bloodied and battered, but still alive. The chimera was carrying Amelia. But, even as she was out cold, this was a different Amelia - This was an Amelia that was slowly returning to her human form: Even as Zel carried Amelia, the princess' chimera curse was slowly evaporating: Evaporating from one end of her body to the other. Evaporating to reveal her human flesh underneath. Amelia's freedom from the chimera curse was secured. Forever.
As Zel neared, Lina and Syl noticed that Zelgadis' eyes were swelled with tears. His facial expression was one wrought with emotion and his hands were shaking.
"Zelgadis!" Syl exclaimed. "What happened?"
It was then that the chimera spoke. Spoke in an emotionally charged voice.
"We found Kurt" he said. "He's dead now.
"But not before he promised a cure for Amelia's chimera curse....."
Lina blinked. Then she laid a comforting hand on Zelgadis' shoulder.
She understood completely.
"Oh Zel....."
It isn't over yet.....
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